Angers without students

Angers has been my home base in France ever since we established the exchange between the Lycée David d'Angers and the Waring School. The first exchange trip was in November of 1999. Actually there has been a previous exchange with a music group in 1998, but from 1999 to 2011 I spent a month in Angers every year, with only two exceptions. 

Today was a radiant, blue, windy day.  Perfect for a walk. We set off in the morning, just wandering. We headed first to the Jardin du Mail where the spring flowers are blooming, and the gardeners are setting out new plants for the next wave of color.  

The statues seemed to be interacting with the garden, watching in amusement as their clothes fell around them.

We headed into town, and wandered through the pedestrian zone until we reached the Place du Ralliment where the Grand Théâtre stands as elegant as ever.  

We also did some shopping, looking for items we had gotten used to on our frequent trips to France, and which had run out.

We headed back to la Rue Franklin for lunch.  On the way we passed the new tramway, which was completed after our last visit. Janick promised us a long ride tomorrow.

After lunch we went to the Giffard distillery famous for its liqueur Pastis Menthe, a very refreshing drink. After the tour we sampled four different liqueurs  including the Guignolet. 

Later we drank hot chocolate at a tea house across from the Maison d'Adam, where I have had many cups of tea with Yasmine. 

We decided to stick our heads into the cathedral before heading home. There was a service going on in the choir area and the singers were children from the cathedral school. We were treated to the Ave verum corpus by Mozart, once again,  it was a very different sound and setting than at the Madeleine in Paris, but it was beautiful to hear it sung by young voices.

It was an envigorating walk home where we had another delicious meal, and spent the evening relaxing chez les Pietin.