Chateaux

 It was a nice campsite but we have to leave sometime, so off we went. Having made the decision to head toward home everything tends to seem a little less interesting. Or maybe that just comes from spending 90 days tootling around a very small area?

Since the Loire is famous for chateaus we had to visit a few. This one was Plessis-Beurre. Disney turrets, moat, Disney entry prices. There was a very small sign on the side of the road announcing the entry - so small we missed it and had to u-turn to come back. Three parking spaces indicated this might not be the most visited chateau in France, and the taped over entrance sign lead at least one carload of tourists to leave without going in the gate. When I pointed this out to the receptionist she just shrugged:  She gets paid no matter how many visitors they get I suppose.

This room's roof was deemed too rude to be displayed by the 17th C owner so it was covered over thus preserving it near-perfectly. This particular panel shows Chicheface, a wolf that is starving as it only eats faithful women and couldn't find one for 200 years! Another panel shows a semi-naked woman pissing which is probably what put the Countess of Ruille off.

The attic had a stack of dusty bottles but no explanation. 

If nothing else this chateau shows clearly how much work there is just to keep the building from falling apart. They haven't cleaned the visitor areas for some time - there are cobwebs, dust, broken bits, etc, all over the show. Gotta wonder why they open at all really: their heart just isn't in it.

Ah, something pretty to finish with.

So not the finest pile in the world to visit. Ho hum, on to the next one. But not without an essential stop. It happened that the manufacturer of chocolate truffles that are a favourite of S was very close by so we swung by there to pick some up for her. OF course we arrived at lunchtime so it was closed. Never fear, we drove around looking for a boulangerie (to find it was also closed for lunch) and by the time we got back and had a cuppa, the shop was open. Tick.

We have parked up the road from another chateau which we'll visit tomorrow. We checked their season and found a number of different dates. 30 Sept which means it'd be closed tomorrow, open only on weekends so we'd miss it again, but when we asked at the office it's open until the 5th. Not professional at all! Worse though, the town boulangerie was closed on Wednesdays, so no dessert. Bummer.

Choo-chooing in Angers

We biked into Angers/Anjou around a lake so no traffic and a nice outlook. Then up to the 13th C++ chateau of the Ducs of Bretagne. It's on a rocky spur over the Maine river (apparently the shortest river in Europe at only 10 km long. It joins the Loir and Sarthe in some strange convolution). There were neolithic and Gallo-Roman remains found during excavations, so the site has a long past.

The castle is admired for its bands of tuffa and granite.

Probably the foremost reason for visiting is the Apocalypse Tapestry. Some massive 15th C tapestries depicting the Book of Revelations that ends the NT. You've seen it all in horror movies, TV shows and Terry Pratchett books so no need to go into it in detail here. Death and destruction, Satan and his helpers, four horsemen, plagues and pestilence. Big battle, Christians triumphant.

Death gathering souls

Satan (the dragon), the beast of the land (Donald Trump) and the beast of the sea (with the 7 heads). Apparently frogs symbolise lies and deception. That's St John the Narrator on the left of each panel. 

The Beast of the Sea with the Great Whore on its back.

Babylon, and its satan worshippers, destroyed.

The room created to house the tapestry. You can see the shape of the towers too.

Of course the castle changed over time so later exhibits showed those changes, including severe damage from bombing in 1944.

The other side of the river, not originally part of Angers as it was Norman territory. 

The chapel and an unexpected vineyard.

 

Hmmm. A cheesy tourist train. How we disdain people on those.

The moat is now a colourful formal garden.

Still some original paint to be seen on the chapel.

After leaving we were diverted by a rather large truck and trailer trying to u-turn in a rather small road. (Reduced in size due to workers parking there vans on a key corner.) As we watched the tourist train arrived, blocking the truck in. So of course we boarded so we could have a seat watching the fun. Add a firetruck to the mix, a laundry van and half a dozen cars and it was most amusing.

Does her bum look big in this?

Truck + train + firetruck + cars = chaos.

It was very difficult taking pictures from a moving train. On the right is a monastery. Most of these had to be bought back from the state after they had been taken over in the revolution.

View across the river (from a moving fake train)

After the fake train ride we went back for lunch and for a closer look at some of the sights.

Last glimpse of the castle

On lots of ancient churches you can see hints of buildings like these in the stonework of the walls - angled lines where roofs used to be for example. These are possibly the first we've seen that are still extant.

The skies were threatening so we cycled home quite a bit faster than we'd come in, arriving in time to avoid some rain. Another lovely shower, enlivened by a couple bonking in nearby stall.

Fortunately, we could then relax, and start thinking about leaving France. So much to do. Where will Reggie go for winter? Where will we stay? How/where will we quarantine? Etc.

Angers

 We left our dodgy park early and rocked up to a more respectable site. However, none of our cards were accepted, and even after a visit to the Mairee and an inspection by a technician the gates wouldn't open for us so we moved on. A shame as it looked really nice. I wonder if others had experienced the same problem because surprisingly there were no motorhomes there at all. Most unusual! So J found us a campsite that was still open where we could do our laundry, charge everything up, enjoy a wonderfully hot shower and as it happens have a swim. Close to Angers (Anjou) we could explore the city easily. 

We just took a rest day while the sun was out, so no photos!

Well, just this one. Back on the Liberty Road.

Mossies again so a less than perfect sleep. Bastards.

Nantes, and a decision made

 We followed the canal because it was a nice drive, then headed to Nantes, the capital of Brittany. It's on the Loire and we parked on a quayside before walking into town. 

A shipping crossroad...crosscanal? The side canal helps regulate the water levels in the main canal.

Ferry across the Loire. A Tomtom surprise, but not a problem. And free!

Tied up next door to this anti-submarine warfare vessel, Maillé-Brézé.

The quay was lined with trees and these dudes guarded a bar.

A replica of a Russian frigate from Csar Peter the Great's fleet

One of the artworks was this bendy football field. It looks straight in the mirror.

The chateau and public vege garden

One way of exiting...

Carvings and graffiti of prisoners over 18th and 19th C

A map showing the courses of the old river streams. The top-most stream was filled over the late 19th and early 20th C and is now a wide boulevard.

All that's left of the Lefevre Utile (LU) biscuiterie, a brand famous all over France

There was a special exhibition on the company in the museum. They had some beautiful artwork on their tins and adverts, and displayed a larger version of this at the Paris World Expo in 1900.

The museum showed the growth of the castle and of the town over time so was quite interesting.

Urban jungle

Belfry and clocktower, a sign of wealth

Slightly different rides on this merry-go-round

Look carefully - there's always a lump of a German concrete somewhere! And the mural is colourful.

The massive elephant. I took video but it's too big to upload.

NZ wasn't forgotten.

Another artwork, but a hands-on one. Basket tree I think it was called. Dad was playing on the hoop at left

It was late when we finished exploring and we hadn't found a park-up. We headed up-river trying one spot after another until we ended up parking illegally in a river-side picnic spot. (It used to be legit but the sign has been taken down.) We were joined by another Hymer and in the end neither of us was bothered by the authorities. 

We decided that with campsites closing up for the end of the season, the weather turning autumnal, and our power shortages starting to annoy we would turn and head for home.