Épône
Épône () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is situated on the left bank of the River Seine west of Paris. Together with Mézières-sur-Seine and La Falaise, it forms a settlement of around 10,000 inhabitants. Its inhabitants are known as Épônois. The name comes from the Latin "Spedona" and, according to Daniel Bricon, has no link to Epona the Gaulish goddess of horses and protector of horseriders. Geography. Situated in the north west of Yvelines at the confluence of the rivers Mauldre and Seine, Épône is  located in the Mantois at around 10 kilometres to the east of Mantes-la-Jolie and 36 kilometres north west of Versailles. The commune is bordered by Gargenville to the north (on the opposite bank of the Seine), Aubergenville and La Falaise to the east, Maule to the south east, Jumeauville and Goussonville to the south west, and Mézières-sur-Seine to the west. The commune is relatively large, covering 1300 hectares in total. It consists of three main parts. Climate. Épône has a temperate climate of oceanic type that is typical of the Ile-de-France region. The average  temperatures vary between 2-5 °C in January to 14-25 °C in July. Annual rainfall is relatively low at around 600 millimetres per year, with October to January the rainiest months. Land usage. The majority of the commune is essentially rural (74%), with urban space accounting for around 20% of the total. The town area falls into three main groups; the old walled town, the Vélannes hamlet and the Élisabethville area in the alluvial plain. The urban area is more developed at the eastern end of the commune at the edge of the hamlet of Villeneuve (Mézières ), and an additional hamlet of around a dozen homes in the area known as "Canada" at the southern end. Épône includes a part (1500 out of the 4000 inhabitants) of the "garden city" of Élisabethville. Created in the 1920s and named after the then queen of Belgium, the area became popular among Parisians looking to escape the city during the "années folles" for its beach on the banks of the Seine, its casino and 18-hole golf course. It retains one of the first churches built from reinforced concrete, built in 1928 by the architect Paul Tournon and dedicated to  Saint Theresa. The majority of the houses (~75% ) are detached, but there are also around 600 homes in collective housing in the town centre, mainly council housing from the 1960s to accommodate employees of the Renault factory. Economic activity centres around the railway station in an industrial zone bordering the motorway and the RD133 road. Rural land is principally given to agriculture, with wooded land occupying an additional 20% (primarily the Lourdet and Étibot woods in the south of the commune). There is also a small lake in the Seine valley near Élisabethville on the site of a former gravel  pit now converted to a nature reserve. Culture. Education. Pupils usually then move to the Vincent van Gogh lycée at Aubergenville.