Touring Angers (France): Viewing the Famous Apocalypse Tapestry with
Savvy Mom Ruth Paget
One
day while on the way to celebrate Easter at my in-laws home in Nantes, my
husband Laurent and I stopped at the Château d’Angers to go on the tour and
view the Apocalypse Tapestry.
We
climbed the massive black-and-white striped towers of the Château and admired
the gardens at the foot of the tower as well as the Maine River, a tributary of
the Loire River below us.
The
main item I wanted to see at the Angers Château was the Apocalypse
Tapestry. The tapestry was made for
Louis 1st – the Duke of Anjou following patterns made by Hennequin
de Bruges between 1373 and 1383. 76
squares form the ensemble.
The
guide told us that the tapestry symbolically transmits the original Greek
meaning of the word “revelation.”
The
guide was referring to the passing from an Old World to a New One. The New World is represented by a heavenly
Jerusalem versus the whore’s town of Babylon as it was referred to in the
Bible.
I
liked the scene where the Archangel Michael bested the demons in combat: you could not go to the New Jerusalem with demons
in tow.
We
walked around town and then went to the grocery store to buy some Easter gifts
for the family:
-Quarts
de Chaume wine, which is like a Sauternes from Bordeaux, but produced in the
Anjou region
-A
huge chocolate bell
Bells
are the symbol of Easter in Western France not bunnies as in Eastern France,
which has German influence
-Foil-covered
Chocolate Eggs
-A
large, mauve colored Hortensia for the garden
Everything
went in the air-conditioned car to go to the French grandparents’ home for
Easter.
The
next day my French father-in-law tied chocolate eggs to the bushes like Germans
do and hid the other chocolate goodies in the garden.
Florence
scampered around with her Easter basket and squealed, “Chocolat” as she found
some more Easter booty. We took photos
for her American grandmother to put in her company newsletter’s “Cute Grandkids”
column.
We
went inside and ate roast leg of lamb, green lentils from Puy, steamed potatoes
with chopped parsley and garlic on them, and a Bordeaux Haut-Médoc red. Desserts could vary, but that was the Easter
meal.
By
Ruth Paget, Author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
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