The Hive Tour - Episode 47 - Walking the center of Le Mans (long but worth it!)

In my previous episode I walked you around the South end of Le Mans. Since it's one more nice day in a row I won't miss the chance to walk the center too. Wanna follow?

Haven't seen such a blue sky since I don't know when:

This commercial building is pretty interesting. Apart from the design look how it changes shades from one angle to another:

Just in case you don't believe that I walk towards the center😉:

The old France lies in this tunnel - me likey:

Tram lines and grass is a good idea:

I told you about the humble houses of the South part of the city but as you can see the same story goes while walking towards the center:

This one looks a bit more historic though:

The sign says it all but in case you didn't read it that's the Victor Hugo park:

Looks sweet inside,

but to be honest I am more attracted by the pictures of old Le Mans around it:

As you can see this exhibition brings us images of Le Mans from the beginning of the previous century, before the 24h circuit which made this city so famous worldwide:

The building of Mercure Hotel is also a time machine:

This is Le Mans's main square, Place de la republique:

Impressed by the lack of crowd? Me too. I want to say at this point how much I like that this city never feels too crowded (maybe unless the famous circuit is on). And it's easily explainable since the whole population of Le Mans is comparable to the population of the suburb I live in Athens. And the suburb I live used to be like Le Mans before all these shitty multi storey buildings rose that are nowhere to be found here.

On the same square is this building which, aptly titled as you can see, hosts the Chamber of Commerce and Industry:

Only a few steps away is the post office:

The "stars" of the square are the LCL bank and the local Chappell with the clock:

It's all so French around here and I like it:

See that detail on the above building:

Part of the absence of crowd is also due to the fact that I am an early bird hence some stores are still closed. This one hides a gem from the past:

The morning sun flatters the buildings:

And now the architecture changes drastically:

This area of the center consists of narrow cobblestone backstreets where the buildings look like they came out of some cartoon:

How sweet!

Continuing my walk in the heart of Le Mans I see in front of me this stairway:

There's gotta be some good view up there so up I go:

I have no idea what this sign talks about:

And it's such a pity cause later with the help of some online translating I find out that it refers to Isaac Moire, a poet who lived there from 1814 to 1822 in this room. Where's the room? If you see right side of the sign you'll see its window while on the left is a tiny bit of its door. You can find more about him here.

Clueless as I am I continue my ascend:

And that's the overview this tower offers here:

The backstreets up here are so picturesque:

This part of the city is the cutest by far and you can find it with the keyword Plantagenet - enjoy:

This piece of visual art is located here:

To give you an idea about its size, that's about 4 meters tall.

And the cuteness overload goes on:

This doesn't bridge a river,

there's a road underneath, Rue Wilbur Wright:

Jackues Dubois square is over that road:

Same story on the otherside (looking NW):

With a little better view though:

These cobblestone backstreets steal my heart:

These charming details on the buildings do the same:

The next image captures my first view of the tallest building around:

Which is nothing else than the Cathedral of Saint Julien. I take steps closer to it wondering how it's gonna look like at its full extend:

And when I manage I go WOW:

And that's not even half of it. The cathedral complex forms a nice square here:

But the height of this thing is beyond belief:

I like its entrance and the details on it:

Speaking of details there\s too many to observe on this historical building:

Time to walk to the other side of this colossal construction:

My walk around St. Julien's cathedral goes on where at its North end I find other interesting buildings too:

I'm not done with the cathedral yet though, massive as it is:

Speaking of tall buildings you'd better consider this one too:

Let's see where this gate leads to:

Unsurprisingly, it takes me to another impressive side of this cathedral which is also oriented more conveniently for me since the sun is behind me now:

Outside the cathedral at the North side I see some very lucky houses:

Just imagine that - a quiet scenic neighbourhood with your own garage while being in the heart of the city. On the other hand I guess winter here can be miserable while the bells of the cathedral might spoil your sound recordings. We can't have it all I guess right? 🙂

That's just part of St. Julien cathedral but speaks for its size:

Even this massive fortress wall cannot hide it:

This street leads me to more cuties while the sign on the left shows places that I've shown you already:

Time to walk back South to the core of the city:

This is another part of the fortification of Le Mans which as you can see is massive while the place literally has huge balls as you can see:

One more viewing angle to the cathedral from here:

It's so massive that it's almost impossible to miss it for any spot around the center of Le Mans:

Tram 'n grass - we do it like that in Athens too and I like it:

You turn around and what do you see? The cathedral again of course:

This is Montesquieu Lyceum:

Looks nice from outside and if you do the extra mile of reading the reviews of this school you'll offer yourself some good laughs 😂

The garden at the opposite side of the road named "Quinconces" has some pretty and tall trees, pretty tall trees if you prefer:

Plus this statue:

Next to it is the bigger park Tesse:

It doesn't lack in statues either:

The neighbourhood around it looks pretty sweet:

But for the moment I want to spend more time in it surrounded by these lovely old and tall trees:

Something's going on here but it's all French to me:

In the background you see the Museum of Tesse:

This is a piece of visual art named "Temps Imparti" (as far as I can understand at least):

Escorted by the local fountain:

Next to all these under the shade of a tree is the statue of Admiral Julien Lalande:

I had no idea before visiting Le Mans that the city is celebrating the centennial of its super famous 24h circuit!

Quite a coincidence. A much less pleasant one is that this fountain is now dry:

I think I'm done with Tesse park at this moment after all this walk around the city which took 3 parts to cover it so I'm stepping out heading back to my place walking on this lovely street:

The sun really highlights the beauty of these old buildings at Lionel Lecouteux roundabout:

Same story here at these more humble ones:

Unfortunately I am not as lucky with this building that now hosts a real estate office:

As I picture this next one attracted by its cavity in the middle,

I realise that this flag on the window is a Ukrainian one:

This square is named after George Washington:

In case you wonder what's that statue about here's a closer look:

At the same spot one can find this Gothic style church:

Built by King Henry II back in the 12th century for a very good cause, to welcome children in need and pilgrims.

The sign is all French to me,

but I can appreciate its look regardless the language barrier:

So that's it folks, I'm back tired, happy and full of those images in my head.

My Le Mans time is far from over so stay tuned and see you in my next explorations!