Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Three Hours in Angers—June 20, 2009

On the way to Nantes, I stopped in Angers for a few hours. When I was in college, I spent my sophomore year abroad studying French in Angers. The program was called CIDEF (Centre International d’Etudes Francaises) at the Universite Catholique de l’Ouest. It was an excellent program. I would recommend it to anyone. We studied French language, Conversation, French history, French literature, Art history, and Music. It was very interdisciplinary, for example… when we studied the Renaissance, we studied, the history, literature, , art, and music of the Renaissance. It was the first time that I truly understood the interconnectedness (is that a word?) of it all—instead of just memorizing a jumble of random facts.
I returned to Angers with the intention of revisiting some of my old haunts, and finishing some unfinished business. You see, even though I lived right down the road from the chateau and passed it several times a day, I never went inside and I never saw the medieval tapestries displayed at the museum within. I always regretted that. So, this visit, it was top on my list.
First of all, BOY HAS ANGERS CHANGED in the last 18 years! Well, I guess it would, huh? For starters, there’s a whole new train station—big and clean and covered in glass windows. AND, most importantly, there was a baggage area with lockers, so I didn’t have to lug my backpack all over town. That was definitely a relief.
I stepped out of the train station and didn’t recognize a darn thing. Luckily, I had a map. I found the right road and headed directly for the chateau. The chateau still looked the same, but everything around it was completely different. The roads were wider and some buildings had been cleared. There was a new traffic circle with a new monument in the middle of it. AND, the most surprising change was that our favorite café, across from the chateau was now replaced by a humongous Tourist Bureau. What!?! Oh la la! That was a blow to my sweet memories of sitting at night across from an illuminated castle having a drink with friends. Oh well, I still have my memories.
While I was at the chateau, they did a little medieval theatrical show. I walked around the caslte a bit, then I went to see the tapestries. They were beautiful, amazing, and huge. I can’t even imagine how much work went into creating them. The tapestries tell the story of the Apocalypse. They are over 700 years old and very delicate. They are kept behind glass in a very dimly lit, but very large L-shaped room. I took some pictures, but please keep in mind that flashes are definitely not allowed.
After the tapestry museum, I left the chateau and made my way through the winding streets until I got to a street that I actually recognized—Rue St. Aubin, the pedestrian shopping street…. Although most of the stores and restaurants had changed. I remembered that at the end of the street was another favorite café—Varietes. So, I walked up the street and—lo and behold—IT WAS STILL THERE! Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to stop in though. I walked a little further, but everything had changed. I looked down at the time. Uh oh1 I only had 20 minutes left to catch my train. SO... I hauled tush back to the train station, got my bags from the locker, and remarkably still managed to catch my train. And on to Nantes we go!

1 comment:

  1. Gabrielle,
    I have truly enjoyed reading about your fantastic French journey. You have def. had some rough patches, but a journey is usually filled with hills to climb I suppose and you have still made the most of it. I am a former FFT fellow and had the great opportunity of reading and being part of the committee that selected your grant. My own trip last year was life-changing and one of the best experiences of my life. I hope that "La Grosse Tournee de France" is everything you hoped it would be. Wishing you all the best,
    Jill
    www.fftstorytellers.blogspot.com

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