Royan is a commune in the Charente-Maritime département, in south- western France. Inhabitants are called royannais and royannaises in French.

A seaside resort, Royan is a city of 18,100 inhabitants in the heart of an urban area estimated at 38,638 inhabitants, which makes it the fourth largest conurbation in the département after La Rochelle, Rochefort and Saintes. Capital of the “Côte de beauté “, the city is located in the mouth of the Gironde Estuary, the largest estuary in Europe. Royan has five sandy beaches, a marina and a fishing port.

Famous from the 19th century for its “Bains de mer” (sea swimming), this very rich resort welcomed numerous artists during the ‘roaring twenties’. Ravaged by terrible bombardments in 1945, the city was declared a research laboratory on town planning and since then has an architectural heritage dating from the 1950s (modernistic architecture). The city’s post-war revival allows it today to welcome up to 90,000 inhabitants at the height of the season.

A photo of Royan (not from the race, just an image of the location).