- Royale-les-Eaux
Royale-les-Eaux is a
fictional town in NorthernFrance . It features in theJames Bond novels ofIan Fleming and others, particularly "Casino Royale" and "On Her Majesty's Secret Service".Location
Royale-les-Eaux is a
seaside resort , described in "Casino Royale" as being "just north ofDieppe "Ian Fleming, "Casino Royale", Ch. 2] and lying "near the mouth of the Somme before the flat coastline soars up from the beaches of southernPicardy to theBrittany cliffs which run on toLe Havre "Ian Fleming, "Casino Royale", Ch. 5] . This would seem to place the town in the "département " of Somme, which takes its name from the river, but a telegram addressed to Bond in the same novel gives the "département " as the more southerlySeine-Inférieure [Ian Fleming, "Casino Royale", Ch. 1] (which was renamedSeine-Maritime on 18 January 1955). References in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" suggest yet another "département": when driving northwards along the N1 (now the D901), James Bond passes aMichelin road sign saying "Montreuil 5, Royale-les-Eaux 10,Le Touquet-Paris-Plage 15". After passing through Montreuil and over theÉtaples -Paris railway just to the north of the town, the turning for Royale-les-Eaux is on the left [Ian Fleming, "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", Ch. 2] . This would put Royale-les-Eaux on the coast just south of Le Touquet, perhaps in the vicinity ofStella-Plage , and in the "département" ofPas-de-Calais , to the north of Somme.Description
"in progress"
History
The town's history is outlined in "Casino Royale". Formerly just a small
fishing village named "Royale", it rapidly became fashionable as atourist destination during the Second Empire. However the subsequent rise in popularity ofLe Touquet meant a loss in custom for Royale. A parallel is drawn between the history of Royale and that of Trouville, a once-popular destination which was eclipsed byDeauville . The fortunes of Royale seemed to be recovering at theturn of the century , when a spring in the hills behind the town was found to contain enoughsulphur to make it marketable asmineral water . Royale reinvented itself as aspa town , renamed itself "Royale-les-Eaux" and began exporting "Eau Royale", in atorpedo -shaped bottle. This success was short-lived, and following lawsuits from Vichy,Perrier and Vittel sale of Eau Royale became merely local once more. The town thereafter survived on seaside holidaymakers in the summer and its smallfishing fleet in the winter, as well as "the crumbs which fell to its elegantly dilapidated Casino from the table at Le Touquet".Royale's renaissance came after the
Second World War . Encouraged by the post-war revival ofBrighton andNice , in 1950 Royale-les-Eaux was identified as a potential source of revenue by a Paris syndicate which invested funds on behalf of exiledVichyite s. The Casino, the public gardens and the two main hotels were refurbished and Paris jewellers and couturiers were given rent-free sites on which to establish branches. For the year in which the events of "Casino Royale" take place, the "Société des Bains de Mer de Royale" has succeeded in securing bookings from "a considerable number of the biggest operators in America and Europe", and leased some of thebaccarat tables to a group of Egyptians, the Mahomet Ali Syndicate. This is the context in which "Casino Royale" opens.James Bond at Royale
"in progress"
In film
"in progress"
References
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