Herbiers, there was the Les Essarts train station. The train disappeared in Les Essarts in 1950 and has been restored as a place to live. L’Ansonnière Mill: It is one of the last Mill that we could found before in this town. In 1926, Alcide Gautron stopped his activity. During WWII, German people occupied it and transformed it in an observatory point. In 1992, the Mill was bought by the town hall and restored. Clubs The town of Les Essarts has various associations with diverse goals. Thus, you can find sport clubs, like Les Korrigans dancing club, the soccer team, or the basketball team, cultural and leisure clubs, like a music club etc. Some clubs are working in the agricultural world, others in the social world, like Telethon. Also, some clubs are representing the military or the education. The town of Les Essarts is also the headquarters of the cycling team Vendée U Pays de la Loire, and of the professional cycling team Europcar (the leader of this team, Thomas Voeckler, ended up being 4th at the end of the Tour de France in 2011). Events The town of Les Essarts was a stage city of the Tour de France in 2005 and in 2011. First, Les Essarts was the ending town of the 2nd stage of the Tour de France 2005, which was linking Challans to Les Essarts. Then, on 3 July 2011, the 2nd stage of the Tour de France 2011, a team-time trial which had Les Essarts as a starting and an ending point! The departure was in the Old Castle, then they went to Boulogne, Dompierre-sur-Yon and La Merlatière, and came back to les Essarts. Partnerships with other towns Les Essarts has a partnership with Neunkirchen-Seelscheid in Germany since 1991 and with Bicester in the United Kingdom since 1992. Neunkirchen-Seelscheid is located in the Land Nordrhein-Westfalen, near from Cologne, and Bicester in the Oxford region. See also Communes of the Vendée department References Former communes of Vendée