Bustling with shops, bars, and excellent restaurants, cosmopolitan Angers (ahn-jhay; pop. 156,000) is a sophisticated city still in touch with its illustrious royal roots. From behind the imposing walls of their fortress, the medieval dukes of Anjou once ruled over the surrounding territory as well as an insignificant island across the channel called Britain. Today, alongside its 13th-century château and cathedral and its world-famous apocalyptic tapestry, the “city of flowers” offers first-class art museums housed in edifices as refined as the pieces residing within. Those who find themselves overwhelmed by upscale boutiques on the main thoroughfares should venture down Angers’s quiet side streets to discover the soul of the city.
Most restaurants and nightlife hot spots are on the pedestrian streets leading into place du Ralliement. To reach the château from the train station, follow rue de la Gare, then turn right at pl. de la Visitation onto rue Targot.
Angers caters to its student population with everything from crêpes to Chinese food, particularly along rue Saint-Laud, rue Saint-Aubin, and boulevard Maréchal Foch. The Monoprix grocery store on the ground floor of Les Halles, on pl. de la République, has its own bakery. (Open M-Sa 8:30am-9pm.)
Angers is famous for the tapestries that decorate its major sights. It is also home to beautiful parks, including the Jardin du Mail, which offers terrific promenades, and the Jardin des Plantes, a botanical wonder dating from 1901 with provocative sculptures that surround a tranquil pond. Cross the Pont de la Basse Chaine at the floor of the château and head into Parc Balzac to catch a romantic view of the château and the old city lights above the waters of La Maine.
Château D’Angers. Seventeen towers and an imposing 900m by 15m wall guard this eerie fortress that was erected over Gallo-Roman ruins in the 13th century. Tucked into an inner courtyard, the duke of Anjou’s flamboyant Gothic mansion lacks the Disneyland character of some of France’s more touristy châteaux. Beside the château stands a 15th-century chapel with a humble interior covered in fading red frescoes. These intricate buildings make it easy to forget that the château served as a prison for seven centuries and as an asylum until the 1940s. Angers’s prized possession is the Tapisserie de l’Apocalypse. Completed in 1375 during the Hundred Years’ War, its 74 scenes depict St-Jean’s visions of the battle between good and evil while its symbols of John (France) and a menacing, lion-like monster (England) also allude to a political conflict. (2 promenade du Bout du Monde, on pl. Kennedy. ☎02 41 86 48 77. Open daily May-Aug. 9:30am-6:30pm; Sept.-Apr. 10am-5:30pm. Last entry 45min. before closing. Free tours in French leave from the chapel 5 times per day. €7.50, ages 18-25 €4.80, under 18 free.)
Musée Jean Lurçat. Formerly one of France’s ancient hospitals, this museum now houses one of Angers’s woven masterpieces. The 80m Chant du Monde (Song of the World) offers a symbolic historical journey that includes a depiction of the WWII atomic bombings. The neighboring Musée de la Tapisserie Contemporaire has a permanent textile collection, which highlights pieces by Jean Lurçat and Grau-Garriga. The tapestries, including Thomas Gleb’s Zohar, should not be missed. (4 bd. Arago. ☎02 41 24 18 45. Open June-Sept. daily 10am-6:30pm; Oct.-May Tu-Su 10am-noon and 2-6pm. €4 for both museums, ages 18-25 €3, under 18 free.)
Musée Cointreau. This factory, owned by the Cointreau family, has been making Angers’s prized native liqueur since 1849. The exhibit includes documents related to the liqueur’s production, advertisements, and a 10min. historical film. (Bd. des Bretonnières, St-Barthélemy-d’Anjou. Take bus #7 to Cointreau. ☎02 41 31 50 50; www.cointreau.fr. Visit by guided tours only; must reserve ahead. €6-9.50, including free tasting. Prices vary depending on season.)
Galerie David D’Angers. This restored 11th-century abbey, now beneath a soaring glass roof, holds a collection of 19th-century David d’Angers sculptures. D’Angers produced 23 vibrant, life-size figures and over 50 busts of major literary and historical characters, such as Victor Hugo and Balzac, both of whom were friends of the artist. (34 bis rue Toussaint. ☎02 41 05 38 90. Open June-Sept. daily 10am-6:30pm; from late Oct. to May Tu-Su 10am-noon and 2-6pm. €4; students €3; under 18 and architecture, tourism, and art history students free.)
Cathédrale Saint-Maurice. The 12th-century building is a stylistic hodgepodge—with a Norman porch, a 13th-century chancel intersecting a fourth-century Gallo-Roman wall, and some of France’s oldest stained glass. Atop the cathedral’s main entrance, a trumpeting angel rises above an illuminated vitrage from 1944. The church’s single nave, with heavily decorated vault, is in the classic style of the Angevin Plantagenet (Anjou) dynasty. As with any sight in Angers, the church also has a rotating exhibit of rare tapestries. (Pl. Chappoulie. ☎02 41 87 58 45. Open daily 8:30am-7pm. Mass daily 9:30am, 7pm.)
Other Sights. The Musée des Beaux-Arts houses a small collection on the city’s history, complete with relics uncovered in the region. The upper floors feature paintings from the 14th to 20th centuries. Arranged by century, the second floor houses earlier art, primarily from the Italian Renaissance. Temporary exhibits offer contemporary paintings, sculptures, and graphic art to the tapestry-weary. (14 rue du Musée. ☎02 41 05 38 00. Open June-Sept. daily 10am-6:30pm, Oct.-May Tu-Su 10am-6pm. €4, students €3.) Though dominated by modern architecture and flashy cafe umbrellas, the vieille ville retains some 16th-century stone houses. The timber-framed La Maison d’Adam is the city’s oldest and grandest medieval residence. Originally called the “House of the Tree of Life” because of the sculpture on the corner, its name was changed when a scandal erupted 200 years ago, sparked by the theft of two wood figures of Adam and Eve from the tree. On its bottom floor, the Maison des Artisans sells handcrafted gifts from the region; the upper floors contain private residences. (1 pl. St-Croix, on the corner of rue Montault. ☎02 41 88 06 27. Open M 2-7pm, Tu-Sa 9:30am-7pm.)
The discos have been exiled to the suburbs, but cafes along rue Saint-Laud are always packed, and bars on student-dominated rue Bressigny get down before the sun does. Music echoes through the streets from behind dark red doors at Cinéma Les 400 Coups, 12 rue Claveau, which shows international films. (☎02 41 42 87 39. €7.50, students €6, Su 11am matinee €5.) The Théâtre Le Quai, across the river from the château, presents cutting-edge avant-garde plays all year. (☎02 41 22 20 20. Tickets €5-15. Open daily noon-6pm.)
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For 52 years, we have published the world’s favorite budget travel guides, written entirely by students and updated every year. With pen and notebook in hand and a few changes of underwear stuffed in our backpacks, we spend months roaming the globe in search of travel bargains.
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