As glorious spring sunshine begins to bathe Mayenne we thought we’d remind you all of the upcoming Tour De France. The race is due to stop and start at two of Mayennes more lively destinations.
On Friday the 12th of July the race will end in the town of Alençon. Alençon is built on the banks of the river Sarthe and has a population of some 30,000. Recent developments with funding from the European community haven’t spoilt it’s charm and the wonderful Chateaux’s are worth a look. Alençon is also famous for it’s lace.
On
Saturday July 13th the race will start again at Bagnoles De l’Orne
a town famous for it’s spa. The local story goes that in the distant
past a farmer had a pure white shire horse who he dearly loved, when the
horse came to the end of it’s working life he could not bear to
see it killed so he sent off into the woods and retired to bed, the next
morning he awoke to hear the clatter of hooves in the farm yard and there
was his beautiful horse returned as young pure white stallion and so the
spa waters began to be taken as a cure all and you can still get sent
there buy the French health service to have your varicose veins sorted,
maybe the tired legs of the cyclists will take the waters. The town is
full of very good and reasonably priced restaurants and also popular hotels
and is a weekend retreat for many Parisians. On a recent trip there we
felt the architecture had more than a hint of Switzerland about it. It’s
also a place well used to English tourists and many restaurants even provide
a menu in English, seafood fans are particularly well catered for.
So if the idea of a lot of men in Lycra appeals or even if you just need another excuse to visit the Mayenne why not join us for a true French institution. The tour has an official website at http://www.letour.fr/ which has an English version available by clicking on the UK flag in the bottom right corner of the start sceen.
