THE OLD CITY

This is the  area up at the level of the Cathedral.  There are a series of quite reasonable restaurants along the Rue Grand and downwards toward the main road - Eperon Aigne.  This is the area known as "Plantagenet City".

"THE MAGIC OF LE MANS

Strategically positioned on the river Sarthe, Le Mans packs a picturesque punch from every angle, starting with the high walls built in red brick at the end of the 3rd century AD around the Roman city of Vindinium. Decorated with white geometric patterns, these towering ramparts are punctuated with round towers facing the river.

Head up into the pedestrianised Cité Plantagenêt where the whole dynasty got under way in 1128 with the wedding of Geoffrey V Le Bel, Count of Anjou, and Matilda, daughter of King Henry I of England. Clearly something of a fashionista, Geoffrey would ‘plant’ sprigs of broom

 –genêt – in his hat whilst out hunting, earning him the nickname of Plantagenêt. Their son would become Henry II and their grandsons, Richard the Lionheart and King John.

Start your visit at La Maison du Pilier-Rouge, one of many half-timbered properties in the historic quarter, and now home to the Tourist Office, to pick up annotated maps or book a guided tour. Must-see sites include Geoffrey and Matilda’s wedding venue, Saint-Julien Cathedral, with its glorious chapel decorated with 47 music-playing angels; the remains of the Roman baths; and the Carré Plantagenêt museum of local history and archaeology."

Extract from an article in FRANCE TODAY by Gillian Thornton