Extremely quiet at this time of year (May 20) with only two tourers. Mostly the site has empty caravans with big tents attached, where people presumably spend the whole summer.
I'm aiming to stay at Tours for the week to see chateaux and the like,
but St. Malo to Tours was beyond my daily driving limit, so I decided to
stop a couple of nights at Angers along the way. That's pronounced to
rhyme with 'lawnchairs', not 'bangers', I think. My Michelin guide steered
me to a site on an island in the Loire, a very pleasant corner of the
town park, with mature trees and bordered by the river. It's among the
trees in the background here...
Extremely quiet at this time of year (May 20) with only two tourers.
Mostly the site has empty caravans with big tents attached,
where people presumably spend the whole summer.
Saturday's jaunt was to Angers itself, on the bus (either I've recovered my environmental virtue, or I'm too lazy to stow the power cord). The buses here are very advanced, with a display at each stop to show how long until the next bus, and a display on the bus to tell you the next stop. Great for travellers. My French is better at talking than at listening, so I have trouble knowing how much to pay. In shops there is always a display. I can usually figure it out though, when they start holding up fingers.
Angers is a busy provincial town with a river running through it, and
has a pleasant old town. But the thing you notice most is the castle.
It appears enormous from the outside, because they took a natural rocky hill
and built the castle up its sides. They planted a formal garden in the moat
in the 19th century, and still keep it nice...
... and they recently added a herb garden high up among the battlements.
The sign says that Rue is the 'guardian of chastity in the Man's home' - I'm
not sure exactly how that works. Maybe you chew it, and nobody wants to kiss you.
The castle was built by the Angevins, who later became the Plantagenets and ruled
England for a while. I could imagine Elanor striding about, being bossy.
The building on the right is the chapel, a great big barn of a building made from an
unusual white stone. Some of the original paintings on the wall were preserved. I think
there must have been something covering them up when the Reformation came around.
The chapel had some unusual medieval plaster reliefs
...and a lovely old door from the 14th century.
I love the craftsmanship which went into everything that went into the space.
The decoration is just chiseled out of the board which makes up the door.
Attached to the chapel was a living area, with grilles on the
windows so the ladies could look out without being seen
Built into the ancient walls was a modern museum, built in the 80's in a
remarkably sensitive way. They used the same stone as the castle itself, and
managed to keep a low profile. Inside is the most amazing tapestry, from the
14th century
Depicting all the scenes from the book of Revelations. Some of
the characters were very familiar from Terry Pratchet - here's DEATH on his
horse.
Fluffy, from Harry Potter was there too, but I didn't get a picture.
I like all the lost souls burning in the box, in this one.
Amazing work, shame about the topic.
The nearby cathedral was impressive on the outside, with a lovely 'abandon
all hope' kind of doorway
(I've boosted the color in these pictures, as a little of the original paint was showing)
and a jolly line of saints above it
but the interior was disappointing, mostly heavy Victorian wood carvings
So, after picking up amazingly good food at the supermarket, back to the campground, ready to move on in the morning. The supermarket had a proper bakery on one side, with fresh bread baked through the day. The aisle with the packaged bread you'd normally see in a supermarket was labelled 'industral bread', which seems appropriate. I'm eating a lot of bread here, it's so good.
