Monday 16 May 2022 - Angers

Cycled in to Angers (10 mins)  from the campsite using the wide level cycle /footpath  along the Maine River and left the bikes in the outskirts.

Visited Angers castle, the Duc d'Anjou had serious safety issues, so many fortified brick towers. 

Highlight  was the Apocalypse Medieval tapestry, depicting scenes from the last book of the New Testament according to St John. St John appears in a little TARDIS in each tapestry overlooking each scene of plague, pestilence, war etc;  it was a political move of appeasement by the Duke who  commissioned  the tapestry, to reassure the population that despite the misery of their 100 year war with the English, their reward would come when good finally vanquished evil and they all  entered the new Jerusalem. 

Wonderful depictions of many headed evil  beasts (7) to copy and deceive using the Godly mystic number of 7 

We walked briefly around the old town, rested in  the Jardin de Plantes and caught a bus  back to where we had parked our bikes. We found an outdoor bar cafe alongside the Maine River  (the Heron Carre ) where Andy enjoyed a pint and a half of Garron IPA. We cycled to Bouchemaine where the Loire and Maine River converge, very shallow waters, 20 mins each way. A dip in the campsite pool before it closed at 8 pm 

Jardin de Plantes in Angers 

Medieval house in the old town

And another 

Portcullis Angers castle  - no way out 😏

Formal gardens and the chapel 

Suspended herbal garden on the roof 

The Duke loved his towers. Andy suggested this framing. 

From the battlements, the tapestry museum and gardens.

The river Maine, seen from the 10th century main hall  in the quadrangle

 

The Apocalypse Tapestries 

All comes tumbling down in the Apocalypse

The detail is in the devil 😊

Drowning  and floods, fire rains down from the sky 

The first tapestry - St John giving his blessing to the quest on the far left 

The chapel 's stained glass windows, featuring the double crosses of the Duc d'Anjou 

The asymmetric archway (why?)

Heavily fortified when the Duke's marriage to a princess from the lands beyond fell through when he made an alliance with England. Once royalty moved out, this became a prison, at one time incarcerating 500 English sailors