Angers: Part 1 - October 9 - 16

2 days ago

3 min read

We arrived to Angers on October 9th to the first of what would be three rented apartments. This one was on the top floor of a beautiful old building with a spiral staircase; good thing our suitcases were only 50-some pounds. 🙄

The next morning, we decided to tackle the touristy-bits first. We started with a stroll through town passing by several medieval half-timbered buildings, a portion of Angers' ancient wall - with a modern playground and self-cleaning toilette in its shadow - and a visit to the Chateau d'Angers, a 13th-century castle famous these days for being the home of the Tapestry of the Apocalypse .

Angers is gorgeous from the chateau ramparts, leafy green at this stage of the trip, with the river Maine bisecting the town. Fun fact: most of Angers' rooftops are made of black slate, locally mined ever since rooftops were a thing. After touring, we met up with the fabulous Phoebe - the friend of my friend Sadie and of Steve's friend Michael - at her favorite coffee shop. Phoebe recently retired as the director of the English Language Library of Angers, so we got to hear about all the happenings there, including an upcoming relocation via a human chain through town.

The next day we explored the commercial center of town - Place du Railliement - the longtime local place to rally, even now, as we saw the following week. It's a pretty plaza replete with tram lines, cafés with scads of outdoor tables, an ornate Grand Theater, and beaucoup shops.

From there, we strolled through Jardin des Plantes - a peaceful park of with paved trails meandering through meticulous landscaping, sculptures old and new, an ancient church, and an enclosure containing lounging goats and bunnies. Since I didn't take many photos of it, I hope you'll click the link above to see the photos others have uploaded to the Jardin's entry on Google Maps. Because we had a vapor of energy in reserves, we visited the Musée des Beaux-Arts, which was impressive but deserves another visit when our stamina is fresh.

On October 12th, on Phoebe's recommendation, we met with Steve and Gail, a retired couple who'd recently moved to Angers from New Mexico. They filled us in on all that they had learned while making their big move. Since the pleasant conversation rolled along, the four of us went out for a delicious lunch at a new Persian restaurant via a drizzly detour through the jardin and place. This time through I captured a photo of the tram stop in the place and the little side street with Tadig. We ate at Tadig three more times because the food and service was consistently wonderful.

The next day we explored Angers on the other side of the river. To get there, we passed by the chateau where the flower garden glowed under the cloudy sky. A slightly scungy yet still darling art nouveau building snagged my eye. I don't know why I didn't take more photos or remember what else we did that day - just being in the moment, I guess.

On the day of our 9th wedding anniversary, we returned to the other side of the Maine river to explore a residential neighborhood of Angers called Belle Beille. Along the way, we poked our heads into a karate dojo where Steve got invited to join a class the next day, saw more medieval architecture (churches, half-timbered buildings, etc. etc.), found an appropriate sentiment on a bench (translates to: Love consists of being stupid together), and a view of a pretty moon from a rooftop restaurant that didn't dazzle us as much as we'd hoped. Probably a lot like eating dinner at the Space Needle, where you go for the view, not so much the food.

Again, we spent the next day on the other side of the river, but this time to the south where we explored Parc Balzsac, the equivalent to Seattle's Magnuson Park. To get there, we passed the chateau again. This time I captured the leaves changing colors, a few of the FREE bicycles Angers gives to every new resident to use during their first year in town, a baguette vending machine, an outdoor gymnasium (er, AngerStadium, per the writing on the awning), a foot-powered phone-charging station, and another self-cleaning potty with nearby cycling amenities. Later that day, Steve attended the Shotokan class at the karate dojo (which he says is akin to a Catholic attending a Lutheran church service, since he doesn't "do" Shotokan) and I took myself to see a movie adaptation to a book I enjoyed (I recommend both; bring a hanky 🥺🥹), shown in English, with French subtitles.