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By the way, the French food in the Loire Valley is very good and worth a try. Moreover, the high-end French food here is much cheaper than in Paris.

Angers' ancient name is Anjou, which has the historical origin of the Hundred Years' War. There are so many things that Britain and France have to say in the Middle Ages, which is really a headache!

Angers is the birthplace of the House of Anjou. The Count of Anjou (early 12th century) was originally a lord loyal to the King of France, and then became the King of England through marriage. The story is as gossipy as it can be (but it is historical fact).

At that time, King Louis VII of France married Eleanor, the daughter of the Duke of Aquitaine (southwest France), but they had no children. In addition, Louis VII spent a lot of money on the Crusades but didn't get anything. The two had many conflicts and divorced. Eleanor was very powerful and immediately remarried Henry, Count of Anjou, taking her own fiefdom (Aquitaine).

The mother of the Count of Anjou was Matilda, the daughter of King Henry I of England (his father was of course the old Count of Anjou). After Henry I died, this woman was also very powerful. She fought for the succession rights of the King of England for her son, who became Henry II. Summary: The Count of Anjou, who was remarried by the ex-wife of King Louis VII of France, became King Henry II of England.

You can imagine the feud between Britain and France as a result - here's a hint. See the relationship between Nicholas Tse and Li Yapeng.

The Plantagenet dynasty that ruled England for three hundred years from the 12th to the 15th century was actually the House of Anjou "bringing glory to the country" in England. When Henry II ascended the throne of England, the royal family could not continue to use "Anjou" as its title, after all, it was a "French brand", so they borrowed his father's nickname "Plantagenet" as their title in England.

In this way, Henry II was Henry, Count of Anjou in France. When he arrived in France, he was Henry II of the Plantagenet dynasty. Putting aside the matter of glory, after ruling for a period of time, the Anjou family really regarded themselves as British. This meant that they could take over both sides of the strait, being the king of the British and occupying the French.

Later, in the 14th century, the King of France was fed up and ordered them to leave. The Anjou family, who were squatting in France, surrendered. They were canonized as Dukes of Anjou, which was considered to be officially under the control of France.

But the Angevin family on the north side of the Channel refused to give in, and this led to the Hundred Years' War (After An Qingju summed it up himself, he suddenly realized: this is how the Hundred Years' War was caused!!).

Angers is the hometown of the Anjou family in France. The Angers Castle that An Qingju and An Chuyu wanted to visit was originally the hometown of the Count of Anjou. It was built in the early 13th century when the Anjou family was prosperous.

During the Hundred Years' War in the 14th century, Louis I, the youngest son of King John II of France, was crowned Duke of Anjou (another complicated marriage), and Louis I renovated and expanded the Castle of Angers, making it highly defensive. At that time, each tower had a spire.

Later in the 16th century, Catherine de Medici (another legendary woman from a legendary family. Wife of King Henry II of France) rebuilt it, and then in order to enlarge the cannon, the tower was changed to the current flat-roof style:

In fact, when An Qingju and An Chuyu went to Angers, they only had a vague understanding of this period of history. But because they stood on this land, their thoughts suddenly became clear. Encouraged by the strong sensory knowledge in their minds, they seriously put the abstract noun Angers into the four-dimensional space for research.

The fare to visit the Château d'Angers is 8.50 euros. A one-page Chinese introduction was provided, so An Qingjue and An Chuyu walked in in a daze and walked around the castle in a daze, following the Chinese introduction. To be honest, when An Qingjue arrived in Angers, he was basically confused. It was not until today that his mind cleared up.

Inside the Castle of Angers, you can see the ever-changing sand table model of the castle after three stages of construction, expansion and renovation, as well as 3D display instructions (there is no Chinese introduction, you can read the English one). It is worth visiting the top of the castle, with a wide view; and in the center of the castle, there is a French garden restored in ancient style. Although it is not large in scale, it is also unique:

In addition, the most recommended thing in the Angers Castle is to see a group of tapestries called "Apocalypse". This was custom-made by Louis I (the first generation to be named Duke of Anjou). There are 6 tapestries in total, each of which is 6 meters high and 23 meters long. It took 7 years to weave - which was quite fast for the craftsmanship at that time.

The tapestry depicts scenes of heaven and earth, mainly for preaching, saying that one must do righteous things, otherwise one will go to hell, etc. However, because of the fear that light would damage the fibers, the hall where the tapestry was displayed was very dark, and the story was not as vivid as the Bayeux tapestry. In addition, there was no Chinese tour guide, so An Qingju and An Chuyu took a quick tour and left.

I found two pictures of tapestries on the Internet, and this is the dim one (the pictures were found on the Internet, and taking pictures inside is not allowed). It is quite exquisite for the Middle Ages; but the story is really unattractive and too preachy: the Château de Angers is in the old town, and it was almost completely bombed during World War II, so the area outside the castle is all new cities.

After driving all the way here, An Qingju felt a little dizzy and took a rest in the parking lot. This is when he discovered one of the benefits of Sunday: even the parking lot was closed and free.

After settling down on the banks of the Loire River and leaving Angers, An Qingju and An Chuyu headed south to the Loire River, and the car drove along the Loire River.

Looking at the wide river and the rolling clouds on the horizon, my mood brightens up! These rolling clouds always remind me of the clouds in those French romantic landscape paintings. The clouds in their paintings are actually realistic, but people living in cities like ours can only make them up:

The road along the Loire River is quite spacious, with parking lots for cars to rest and picnic every few meters. There are usually steps down the river bank from the parking lot, and sometimes you can see locals playing on the river bank.

After crossing the Loire River, we headed south to the Chinon-Vien River, a tributary of the Loire River. The castle was very inconspicuous, neither grand nor gorgeous, but just guarding the bank of the Loire River. It was a bit like a fortress. I took a look from a distance and left.

Back to the Loire River, this time on the south bank of the Loire River, An Qingju and An Chuyu followed the GPS through a large field of golden sunflowers and finally found the Chateau d'Usse. This castle is hidden in a forest on the south bank of the Loire River. It is probably only possible to drive there by yourself, it is quite remote.

It is also composed of a city wall and a castle, but the castle itself is the main part, and the defensive function of the city wall is not so obvious. The castle is famous for giving Charles Perrault (Charles Perrault) the inspiration for the fairy tale "Sleeping Beauty Castle", so tourists simply call it "Sleeping Beauty Castle". There are wax figures of Sleeping Beauty scenes inside - to attract tourists.

It was already past six o'clock. Although it looked like it was just past noon, An Qingjue and An Chuyu's stomachs faithfully reminded them that it was time for dinner.

An Qingju walked around the wall twice, but was too lazy to go in. When the car turned back and left the Chateau d'Usse, he suddenly discovered from the rearview mirror that the best place to view the castle was actually on a straight country road outside the castle:

There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!

This day was basically spent in the car: looking for gas stations, parking lots, and toilets everywhere, which made us mentally exhausted. It was almost 7 o'clock before we arrived at An Qingju and An Chuyu's residence.

It reminded An Qingju and An Chuyu of the village offices and cooperatives they had seen in remote villages in China. The B&B that An Qingju and An Chuyu booked used to be a winery. There was a large slope behind it, and the slope was the wine cellar. The slope was cleverly converted into a parking lot for guests.

Actually, looking at this room now, it is quite nice: I will eat after I settle in. It is Sunday again! The proprietress Marie said that all restaurants in the village are closed, and we have to go to the old town of Amboise to eat - only the tourist area is open on Sundays. OK.

The two hungry guys drove across the Loire River into Amboise. As expected, there were many restaurants open there. We randomly found an Italian restaurant and had steak. There was also pizza. When we ordered drinks, we tried a local French drink: orangina, which is an orange peel soda. The taste was a bit surprising, like fresh orange juice with carbonated water:

By the way, An Qingjue never thought that it was possible for him to eat a whole pizza. After all, the pizza at Pizza Hut was too big and the crust was too thick.

In France, An Qingju and An Chuyu did not encounter piánchùyù with thick crust - probably not. All piánchùyù are actually thin pancakes with fillings on a plate with a diameter of about 30 cm. There are no cut marks and you have to eat it yourself with a knife and fork.

But I have to admit that even the piánchúyù sold to foreigners in tourist areas tastes pretty good. As for the steak, it was OK, it was fried well, but it must be added with salt, pepper and mustard to taste better. (The novel "He Came from the End of the World" will have more fresh content on the official WeChat platform, and there will also be a 100% lucky draw gift for everyone! Now open WeChat, click the "+" sign in the upper right corner to "add friends", search for the public account "dd" and follow it, hurry up!) (To be continued..)