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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 4, 2023 6:54:05 GMT
Unlike most people (apparently), I enjoy making unplanned trips to places about which I know nothing. No research, no schedule. I just go and wander. So that's what I did in Le Mans. I know that the motor racing track is a big attraction, but I also knew I would not be seeing it. I have driven past it on the motorway, and of course it is in the middle of nowhere, nowhere near the city at all (I think). The train dropped me in Le Mans after 57 minutes. With the TGV, some places are much closer to Paris than you think. 40 years ago I sometimes spent a weekend with my cousins in the Sarthe (the département of Le Mans), and the drive there seemed like the ends of the earth, especially since cousin Marcel was the sort of blue collar worker who would not take a toll road even under threat of death. His family lived in the working class suburbs of northern Paris, and he was proud to say things like "I haven't been to Paris for 15 years." He didn't just hate Paris -- he also hated the suburbs, so we would leave Friday afternoon and not return until Monday morning. This meant getting up at 5 a.m. and being on the road before 5:30 (put out the fire, close all of the shutters, take the dog to do its business, pile into the car...). Talk about relaxation! A year or two before he died, now safely retired in the Sarthe, Marcel asked me if I could get him an Eiffel Tower for his trophy room, not a tiny one, more like the 30 cm version. I did so and sent it to him. I don't know if he was having any regrets about snubbing Paris over the years. When you live in a tiny hamlet with nothing to do except watch television, Paris looks like a shining beacon of civilisation in most programmes (except for the ones that depict it as a criminal polluted hell hole). I wonder if his wife Simone tossed the tower after his death, probably not; it probably went to the grandchildren. A few years later, she had to go to a nursing home, and on top of that she had gone blind. at the beginning of 2020, her daughter called me to say she had died. I still feel a tiny bit guilty, because I told her I was going to send flowers, but the very next days, France went into its first covid lockdown. So no flowers, no funeral, a calm empty country. None of that has anything to so with this trip. Before even going to the hotel, I bought a 24-hour tram ticket and jumped on the tram in front of the train station, not having the slightest idea where it was going. Later in the day, I disovered that the tram stop was shared by two different lines, so I could have ended up in a totally different place. When I spotted the cathedral (Saint Julien), I figured I might as well start there.
I entered through a side door.
Gee, the architecture looks the same as just about any other gothic cathedral. (15th century)
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 4, 2023 7:01:18 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 4, 2023 7:14:39 GMT
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Post by bjd on Jan 4, 2023 7:28:56 GMT
Finally a place I have been, although not for a long time. When we had to spend summers with my in-laws, the only break from being in the middle of nowhere was an occasional trip to Le Mans. It has been a long time but as I recall, the only area of any interest was the old town around the cathedral. By the time I saw it, in the mid-1980s, it had been restored and tidied up. My husband was in boarding school in le Mans in the 1960s and said that the old town then was really dire and poor.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 4, 2023 7:56:15 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 4, 2023 17:18:54 GMT
I know this sounds trite, but ~ wow, it's really picturesque! Somehow I wasn't expecting that. Much of it looks like old-fashioned illustrations from a fairy tale & you beautifully captured that charm. You also did a great job of capturing the colors in the cathedral's stained glass -- never an easy task. Speaking of the cathedral, parts of it appear to be well pre-gothic, so I looked it up and its ,... construction dated from the 6th through the 14th century ... Although there is no archaeological evidence for the building phases prior to 1080 ... sourceSo much to look at -- how steep the town is, how it must be quite damp there -- something that adds to the agéd charm, all the turrets and the half-timbered buildings. I wonder what those rough blocks of stone leaning against the buildings are in the photo right after you write that it's permitted to drive on those streets. Maybe they're barriers to keep vehicles from scraping the buildings? Anyway, very much looking forward to more.
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Post by onlyMark on Jan 4, 2023 17:29:25 GMT
what those rough blocks of stone leaning against the buildings I expect they now serve the purpose as you've said about keeping vehicles away from the houses but, my guess as I've seen them in old towns, is that they are to help you on your horse. Especially for the ladies of the house.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 4, 2023 17:35:27 GMT
Oh ~ others ladies don't arrive in the saddle via a graceful jeté, as I do? Probably the street is too narrow for that.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 4, 2023 17:43:19 GMT
Yes, the protruding stones are to protect the walls of buildings from all sorts of vehicles, dating back to when they were horse drawn.
As for ladies getting on horses (which very few did in the city -- the scandal!), I'm sure there was a stepping stool in the entrance of every building to assist in that endeavour, not just for women but also for stubby Lord Fatty.
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Post by bjd on Jan 4, 2023 18:44:28 GMT
I don't know if it's still there but there used to be a menhir outside the cathedral.
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Post by lugg on Jan 4, 2023 18:53:04 GMT
Those half timbered houses definitely deserve an order to preserve them. Really lovely even in the grey of January.
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Post by breeze on Jan 4, 2023 23:01:29 GMT
The menhir is still there, to remind the cathedral "I was here first."
Kerouac, I'm so glad to see this trip report. it was your comments on some travel website or other that first gave us an interest in seeing Le Mans. You said that the streets of the old Cite Plantagenet were authentic enough to be a film site for period movies and TV shows. And it's true, that center part of the original city is nothing but half-timbered houses, cobbled streets, tottery buildings, wooden carvings, and windows with small glass panes. Unspoiled and also unimproved, though apparently looking better than when your husband was there, bjd.
We went to Le Mans this fall to see an exhibit about the Roman walls and also the evening illuminations on and near the cathedral. As usual, kerouac, your photos are better than mine. I agree with bixa that you did an admirable job photographing the stained glass.
bjd, if you don't mind, would you say where in the Sarthe your inlaws lived or had their country house? Or was it in the Mayenne?
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Post by fumobici on Jan 5, 2023 1:09:01 GMT
Looks very nice, which I wasn't expecting from the descriptions of people I know who didn't seem particularly taken with the city. Hope there's more to see!
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 5, 2023 2:11:39 GMT
an example of placing stones to protect a corner from careless wheels
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 5, 2023 4:55:28 GMT
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Post by bjd on Jan 5, 2023 6:20:48 GMT
Breeze, my in-laws lived in the Paris suburbs but had a house in Mayenne. An absolutely tiny village of no interest whatsoever, but the house had been in my father-in-law's family for a long time when they bought it in 1965. The village is called Hardanges,20 km from Mayenne, and when the place was bigger (population of about 600 in 1900, I believe), my husband's great-grandfather was the schoolteacher there.
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Post by breeze on Jan 5, 2023 13:24:35 GMT
We've visited Le Mans twice in pouring rain and once at dusk, so I'm seeing more through your photos, kerouac, than we saw in person.
bjd, we've been down a lot of roads in the Mayenne, but Hardanges has escaped us so far. Maybe we'll jog off our usual route and take a look on our next trip. Population 203--hmm. No bakery in town, but it does have a B&B and chateau ruins. There are a lot of lifeless villages in rural France and this may be one, but we are not hard to please and I've put Hardanges on the list to visit next time.
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Post by bjd on Jan 5, 2023 14:49:08 GMT
I'm not surprised Hardanges has escaped you. There is literally nothing to see. Chateau ruins?! Even the church is uninteresting. Some of the surrounding countryside is pleasant enough -- green and rolling but that's not much reason to go there.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 5, 2023 15:36:51 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 5, 2023 16:05:00 GMT
I finally went down toward the Sarthe (river) and went into that church seen in the distance. These old women were chanting Hail Marys incessantly. needed at least one photo to justify having come inside A man asked me "Is this Saint xxxx?" "I don't know. I'm not from here." "Me neither." The river banks are of no interest, at least in January. I read that the Germans blew up all of the bridges but did not destroy the city. time to take the tram back to the hotel I had a totally uninteresting view out of my hotel window, but I took one photo anyway.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 5, 2023 18:28:23 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 5, 2023 18:29:35 GMT
Gosh!
Honestly, I'm at a loss for words. This place is crammed with interest. If I'd been there, I would have fallen flat on my face multiple times from gawking up at the buildings. It's a veritable museum of styles and techniques! You've captured all that beautifully along with wonderful details such as the firewood on a balcony, the wine bottle sign, the cobblestones fringed with grass, and so much more.
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Post by lugg on Jan 5, 2023 18:40:01 GMT
It really does draw me in the more you post. I would love to wander through this place. I know nothing about racing but presume this is the same Le Mans as the famous race ? If so ...How far from the town is the racetrack or does it pass through the town ?
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 5, 2023 18:42:11 GMT
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Post by htmb on Jan 5, 2023 19:07:57 GMT
I’m very surprised at how much character and history is still preserved. I’d always assumed Le Mans was a bit "blah." Your super photos show differently. I’d also thought the town was all flat terrain. The cars parking in the old town remind me of Lucca, Italy where I saw a lot of the same. It does tend to spoil the ambiance for visitors.
I’ve spent some time lately with a family member whose future son in-law races cars and is apparently the youngest person to ever race at Le Mans, or something like that.
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Post by breeze on Jan 5, 2023 19:24:05 GMT
The Roman wall at Le Mans is IT!!! I admit before I saw it I thought ho hum, pile of rubble stone, left over from the Romans, maybe 10' high; the tourist office is really reaching to call this a draw. But then I saw it, a patterned brick wall at least 30' high that at one time contained and protected about 25 acres. Those Romans built to last.
We visited the remains of a small Roman hill fort within sight of the city of Mayenne. Not much was left of it, just some of the stone walls of the fort and its separate bath house. It had a fabulous view. At the time it occurred to me that probably the best job in the ancient world was to be a Roman engineer.
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Post by lugg on Jan 5, 2023 19:29:36 GMT
The cars parking in the old town remind me of Lucca, Italy where I saw a lot of the same. Yeah you got there - hope you enjoyed it as much as I did?
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 5, 2023 19:33:46 GMT
.How far from the town is the racetrack or does it pass through the town ? The race track is 12 kilometres south of Le Mans.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jan 5, 2023 19:48:33 GMT
What a brilliant place, I expect it to be knee deep in water-colourists.. altho the angles and lines mean that only the best draughtsperson would do it justice. Fabulous my dear.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 5, 2023 19:54:28 GMT
Thanks to all of you for your kind comments. I think we often have misconconceptions about places we have not visited. I confess that I used to only think of Le Mans as the place with the big car race.
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