Editing Tours (section)

==City==
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[[File:Tourswilson.jpg|thumb| Pont Wilson crosses the river [[Loire]] at the old civic core]]
The city has a population of 140,000 and is called "Le Jardin de la France" ("The Garden of France"). There are several parks located within the city. Tours is located between two rivers, the Loire to the north and the Cher to the south. The buildings of Tours are white with blue [[slate]] (called ''Ardoise'') roofs; this style is common in the north of France, while most buildings in the south of France have [[terracotta]] roofs.

Tours is famous for its original medieval district, called ''le Vieux Tours''. Unique to the Old City are its preserved [[half-timbered]] buildings and ''la Place Plumereau'', a square with busy pubs and restaurants, whose open-air tables fill the centre of the square. The Boulevard Beranger crosses the [[Rue Nationale]] at the Place Jean-Jaures and is the location of weekly markets and fairs.

Tours is famous for its many bridges crossing the river Loire. One of them, Wilson Bridge, collapsed in 1978 but was rebuilt.

[[File:Giant Lebanon Cedar in Tours, France.jpg|thumb|Giant Cedar tree.]]
In the garden of the ancient Palais des Archevêques (now ''Musée des Beaux-Arts'') is a huge [[cedrus|cedar]] tree said to have been planted by [[Napoleon]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://us.media.france.fr/en/node/6559|title=City summary: Tours|website=us.media.france.fr}}</ref> The garden also has a stuffed elephant named Fritz. He escaped from the [[Barnum and Bailey]] circus during their stay in Tours in 1902. He went mad and had to be shot down, but the city paid to honor him, and he was taxidermied as a result.

Tours is home to [[University of Tours]] (formerly known as University François Rabelais of Tours), the site of one of the most important choral competitions, called ''Florilège Vocal de Tours'' International Choir Competition, and is a member city of the [[European Grand Prix for Choral Singing]].