|
Post by mickthecactus on Jan 5, 2023 21:33:46 GMT
It really is a quite terrific report. Thanks!
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Jan 5, 2023 22:17:26 GMT
|
|
|
Post by htmb on Jan 6, 2023 0:56:37 GMT
It looks like this would be an interesting day trip from Paris.
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Jan 6, 2023 6:30:03 GMT
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Jan 6, 2023 6:46:06 GMT
|
|
|
Post by bjd on Jan 6, 2023 7:47:55 GMT
I'm glad to see there is more to Le Mans than I had previously realized although the blah part is what I remember most. Is the picturesque old area fairly big or did you just take a lot of pictures there?
Given its short train ride from Paris, I would guess it's one of those medium-sized cities where people moved to during or after the covid epidemic in search of cheaper housing and more space.
Just to answer my own question, I read that the population has started rising for the first time in 30% and that the number of houses (not apartments) sold in Le Mans was 3rd highest in France in 2020.
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Jan 6, 2023 11:25:48 GMT
Here is a map showing the extent of the "Cité Plantagenêt" which is not tiny.
|
|
|
Post by fumobici on Jan 6, 2023 15:56:34 GMT
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. Where inside the walls of Lucca did you see car parking? I can't remember much in the way of cars, traffic or car parks, except the ones just outside the city walls. There is a car park just barely inside the East gate, in front of a bicycle shop I recall. Edit: I do remember seeing cars parked in Piazza Napoleone but not too many, probably only city employees.
|
|
|
Post by fumobici on Jan 6, 2023 16:03:55 GMT
You should get paid by the LM pro loco for this, the photos are outstanding. My perception of the city has been utterly changed by your report. I'd like to see it in a warmer time of year.
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Jan 6, 2023 16:20:06 GMT
Yeah, I would kind of like to see it on a warm sunny day myself, even though it wasn't cold this time, due to our freakish climate change situation.
|
|
|
Post by lugg on Jan 6, 2023 18:39:25 GMT
Super report ..love your latest additions of the town at night. And yes - it would be great to see it in warmer times when I uess the gardens will come into their own.
|
|
|
Post by htmb on Jan 6, 2023 20:02:56 GMT
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. Where inside the walls of Lucca did you see car parking? I can't remember much in the way of cars, traffic or car parks, except the ones just outside the city walls. There is a car park just barely inside the East gate, in front of a bicycle shop I recall. Edit: I do remember seeing cars parked in Piazza Napoleone but not too many, probably only city employees. In the old town of Lucca T here’s lots of (expensive) on-street parking for locals, all up and down the narrow streets. Plus I saw cars tucked into several little piazzas: Via della Citadella, Piazza della Magione, Vicolo S. Pierino, Cortile degli Svizzeri, Piazza Bernardini, Parcheggio Piazza Santa Maria Foris Portam, Piazza del Carmine, Piazza S. Pietro Somaldi. I’m guessing many of those parked in the little piazzas were employed nearby.
|
|
|
Post by htmb on Jan 6, 2023 20:09:23 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? Yes, I spent several nights in Lucca last spring. It was the perfect place to relax and recover from a ten day grueling organized tour that ended in Lucca. I appreciate your earlier advice and input, Lugg. Lucca was a great choice.
|
|
|
Post by htmb on Jan 6, 2023 20:12:32 GMT
Kerouac, this is a wonderful report and your pictures are superb. I agree with Fumobici’s suggestion. The City of Le Mans could probably use your help in improving the public perception. Then again, maybe they don’t really wish to encourage many visitors.
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Jan 6, 2023 22:07:11 GMT
Of course Le Mans would be beautiful to see in another season, but I think the wintry weather added to the beauty of this report. What was green was somehow greener & of course the good bones of the botanical garden were still worth seeing. What was old and damp and mossy was even more romantic and all the Christmas lights at the end are a reminder of how valuable is the opportunity to light up the early dark of winter with twinkle and color. This is a greatly enjoyable report ~ thank you!
|
|
|
Post by fumobici on Jan 7, 2023 5:26:25 GMT
I didn't know the Lucca centro had that many piazze! There's not much traffic there.
|
|
|
Post by htmb on Jan 7, 2023 6:21:40 GMT
It felt like there was when I was there last April. Watching for cars was a big part of my strolls through the old town.
|
|
|
Post by breeze on Jan 7, 2023 15:10:37 GMT
This quote, which I've run through Google Translate, endeared Le Mans to me. Sorry, I don't know where I read this online; I just copied it into my info file about Le Mans years ago.
"It nevertheless has a reputation as a working-class and combative city, where the Catholic Church has a much less influence than in its rivals Angers and Tours. Do we not speak of the "bourgeois of Angers, gentlemen of Tours and guys from Le Mans"?..."
In the original, it was "bourgeois d'Angers, messieurs de Tours et gars du Mans."
|
|