Experience the best of Angers

Angers' château is a fortress of dark slate and pale tuffeau stone with seventeen round towers, raised in the thirteenth century above the Maine river. Inside hangs the Apocalypse set, a monumental series of tapestries woven in the late fourteenth century that illustrates the Book of Revelation. The cathedral of Saint-Maurice and the half-timbered Maison d'Adam stand in the old centre.

A museum in a former hospital shows modern woven art, and a gallery under a glass roof in a ruined abbey church displays the plaster casts of the sculptor David d'Angers. The Maine runs on to join the Loire a few kilometres south, the Château de Brissac lies to the south-east, and the Savennières vineyards climb the Loire's slopes.

Anjou's wines include Chenin Blanc whites from Savennières, sweet wines from the Coteaux du Layon and rosé d'Anjou. Crémet d'Anjou, a dessert of cream and whipped egg white, is the local sweet. The mild Atlantic climate keeps the gardens green, and the slate roofs gleam after rain.