A Walk to Remember

I would like to introduce you to a town, a city even, that calls itself Angers, France. Reader, Angers. Angers, Reader. (This would be a polite time to shake hands or touch cheeks if your feeling French)

We start our tour at the Catho (alias; Université Catholique de l’Ouest = my school away from school). Not two steps off the campus sits a quintessential European traffic circle.


Five roads (possibly all with different names) meet here. The center island is called the Place André-Leroy. No one knows what he did to get this prestigious title, so don’t even bother asking. Anyway, each street proceeds only when directed by the appropriate traffic signal. This is not a free for all like the roundabouts I’m used to at home (although I saw one of those here as well).

Take a right at the circle and a left on the first street. This is Rue Bressigney:


The roads are indeed skinny (not unlike the people here). To be fair, the cars are also much smaller here. Rue Bressigney is a pretty happening place full of cheapish food, bakeries, and the like. Its close proximity to the Catho means that I will likely visit often.

Walking down this same road leads us closer to the downtown area. There are all kinds of stores, restaurants, cafés, bakeries, etc. The narrow roads create this intimate environment that is like no other I’ve experienced in the States. Another thing I haven’t experienced in the States:


Two thoughts: 1)SuperMan France Edition still has a place to change clothes, and 2) this could possibly be the entrance to the Angers branch of the French Ministry of Magic (perhaps I should dial 62443).

Further down the road, I took these pictures:



Regarding the first – This is a sign announcing a Chocolatier. Forgive me. I was really excited to see bakeries and pastry shops until I realized they are, indeed, everywhere.
Regarding the second and third – These may or may not be the Cathedral. There are quite a few tall, gothic looking buildings in Angers. It is hard to keep them all straight. In any event, they are pretty.

Ahh yes. Le maison d’Adam (Adam’s house). This is a perfect example of what buildings in Angers used to look like (and there are still quite a few around, but this one is probably in the best condition and the only one I’ve seen that is one-third blue):


There are really intricate carvings all over the exterior. I’ll likely go back one day and get better pictures and more information. Stay tuned.

From there, we went to the Cathedral. It was pretty amazing. Unfortunately for you, that is another blog. But really. Make sure to check back because this involves 15th century stained glass. C’mon. That is old, people.

It is cold outside. I don’t know if you notice, but it is also cloudy and trying to rain (although it never actually succeeds). So let’s go get some hot chocolate, shall we? My first patisserie:

Inside, I got a hot chocolate and my very first macaron!



The hot chocolate came with a cube of sugar on the spoon and a little cookie. It was so chocolaty. I put the clean spoon in and it came out coated in chocolate (see the picture above). The macaron was café flavored. There were others, like pistachio, lemon, and chocolate, but I’ll save those for another time. It was delicious. Soft. Light. A creamy filling. Just. Good.

It is getting late, so lets head back. We end up passing this:

This is known as the Place de (someone I can’t remember and let's face it, you really don't care that much). You see, Angers is currently undergoing major construction, which you will hear about soon enough. This giant square used to be a parking deck, but they knocked it down to complete the aforementioned project. The reason I bring this up is twofold: 1) This is where the guillotine (humanely?) killed people during the Revolution, and 2) during the demolition/excavation, they found human bones that dated back to the 2nd Century (don’t tell Bob Dutco of 103.5 WMUZ The Light Detroit, MI, because he won’t believe you).

And this concludes our tour, for now. I have so much more to show you. Alas, I am tired and have some unpacking to do.

Until next time. À bientôt.