Angers

Angers is a city of about 200,000 people (plus or minus 50,000 if you count the surrounding areas) an hour by train south-west of Paris. The city traces its roots to early Roman times. The city, while under Roman rule, was called Juliomagus. You can read the rest of Wikipedia's description of Angers here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angers

Angers, France

 http://www.castles.org/castles/Europe/Western_Europe/France/france11.htm provides a much more interesting short-and-sweet history.

Angers, the capital of the historic province of Anjou, is considered one of the most beautiful cities in France. Foremost among its many notable structures is the magnificent twin-spiraled Cathedral of Saint Maurice (12th-13th century) and  the massive Castle of Angers (early 13th century), with its moat and soaring towers. Angers was once inhabited by fierce Celtic people who tenaciously opposed the Roman penetration.

Cathedral St. Maurice

The court of Rene on Anjou, known as the Good, regent of Sicily and Jerusalem resided here. A man of letters and benefactor of the local community, he was fond of fetes and tournaments which were often held at the castle.
The religious wars later led to the decline of the castle and Henry III ordered it to be demolished in 1585. The cylindrical towers of the pentagonal stronghold began to be torn down and the conical roof and the upper part were dismantled. When Henry IV came to the throne the destruction came to a halt and Angers was the scene of the engagement of Cesar of Vendome with Francoise of Lorraine.  It was restored in 1950.

Chateau d'Angers

So, there's a brief overview of my home-away-from home from January to June, 2011. For more on how it's treating me, go back to my blog and read my archives!