Nouvelle ville, nouveau château

Sometimes, I get caught up being in France and in Europe in general, and forget to explore my own region.  There's one city in the Académie de Nantes that I've meant to visit many times, but my plans have always fallen through: Angers.  Early in November, I finally made it happen.  I took a train about an hour and a half north toward Paris for a day trip.

Angers is the third-largest city in my académie (after Nantes and Le Mans).  It's a comfortable size with a beautiful centre-ville and architecture similar to that of Paris and Nantes.  It has a university as well as plenty of cafés, restaurants, shopping, a cathedral, and an impressive castle.  It's the envy of all assistants in the Académie de Nantes waiting for their placement: a perfect liveable town.  After walking around to get my bearings for the first hour, I stumbled on possibly the best crêperie I've ever been to, La Crêperie du Château, on a small side street near the castle.  I stopped by the cathedral on my way.

It was a beautiful sunny day for visiting the château itself.  Inside the fortified walls, there's a huge garden and a chapel.  It was mostly built in the 13th  century; it's one of the few defensive castles built that never fell thanks to its enormous walls and seventeen towers.  You can walk on the ramparts, where there are many small gardens and a view of the city and Loire river.  But the castle's claim to fame is the Tenture d'Apocalypse (Apocalyse Tapestry), commissioned at the end of the 14th century by Duke Louis I of Anjou.  It's located in a huge dark room underground: six pieces of tapestry, two stories high, divided into fourteen story panels each, depicting the apocalypse according to John.  It's massive, very well-preserved...and recognized as the world's most important medieval tapestry.  During the16th century, the castle was home to Catherine de Medici.

After the château visit, I searched for, and found, a decent pair of boots for the upcoming rainy season.  I know it's not very interesting compared to epic medieval tapestry, but the Vendée is not the best as far as fashion goes, and I have to take advantage when I get out.  A day trip well worth it.