TARBES

'Tarbes' is a French town and commune, in the ''département'' of Hautes-Pyrénées, of which it is the ''préfecture''. It is part of the historical region of Gascony. It is the second largest metropolitan area of Midi-Pyrénées, with 110,000 inhabitants.
It is the seat of the diocese of Tarbes-et-Lourdes.

Contents

Geography

Miscellaneous

Births

Twin towns

External links

Geography

To the south of Tarbes is the pilgrimage town of Lourdes and the border with Spain. The Pyrenees mountains, lying along the border between France and Spain, can be seen from the town.

Miscellaneous

★ Tarbes Gespe Bigorre, the main sporting team of the town, is a female basketball team which participates in the French League (LFB) and European competitions (FIBA EuroLeague Women, Ronchetti Cup – won in 1996 – and FIBA EuroCup Women).

★ The city also has a rugby union team - Tarbes Pyrénées Rugby.

★ One of the stages of the 2006 Tour de France departed from Tarbes.

★ The 2001 Tour de France included Tarbes as part of its route.

Births

Tarbes was the birthplace of:

★ Bertrand Barère de Vieuzac (1755-1841), one of the most notorious members of the French National Convention

★ Théophile Gautier (1811-1872), writer

★ Ferdinand Foch (1851-1929), the commander-in-chief of Allied forces in World War I

★ Henri Génès (1919-2005), actor and singer

★ Cécile Ousset (born 1936), pianist

Twin towns

Tarbes is twinned with:

★ Huesca, Spain

★ Altenkirchen, Germany

External links

★ Guide of Tarbes (in French)

★ Tarbes town council website (in French)

★ Tourism office website (in French)

★ Tarbes Salad on Wikibooks cookbooks

★ Properties in the region (in English).