Estrée-Blanche
Estrée-Blanche (; ) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. History. Indian cavalry were stationed at Estrée-Blanche during the First World War. Geography. Estrée-Blanche is a farming village some to the northwest of Béthune and west of Lille, at the junction of the D341, D186 and the D159 roads. The small rivers Surgeon and Laquette converge at the commune. Estrée-Blanche is found at the extreme edge of the coal-mining area of Nord-Pas-de-Calais. Part of its surface area was owned by the mining  company, which ceased in the 1960s. All that remains of that era are some typical miners' houses. It is one of many villages in the north of France bearing the name "Estrées". The etymology of the name is from "strata" (cognate of English "street"), the word for the stone-layered Roman roads in the area (some of which turned into modern highways). Hence "Estreti", "village on the road" which developed into "Estrées".