Vannes and cycling
Among the many riders from Vannes to have competed in the Tour, Robert Asse – known as the ‘disfigured man’ after being severely wounded in the First World War – took part in ten editions, most notably the 1925 race, when the race rode along the Gulf of Morbihan for the first time. More recently, the BMC Racing Team averaged over 52 kph to win the time trial between Vannes and Plumelec in 2015, whilst Vannes-born Jordan Jegat demonstrated his talent as a climber – despite being born on the coast – with two top-10 finishes in the general classification in 2025 and 2026.
2027 will mark the 80th anniversary of Jean Robic’s victory in the 1947 Tour, and Vannes played a major role in this by hosting the start of a time trial that has gone down in history: 139 km to Saint-Brieuc, featuring the climb up the Mur de Bretagne halfway through. René Vietto, then wearing the yellow jersey, saw his last hopes dashed there. Exhausted, ‘King René’ could no longer keep up, losing 14’40” to Belgium’s Raymond Impanis, the day’s winner, and handing the Yellow Jersey to Pierre Brambilla. The rider from the French Riviera had been worried from the start so much so that he had asked his journalist friend Jean Leulliot – future director of Paris–Nice – to keep him regularly updated on the gaps with his rivals. Unfortunately, Leulliot was involved in a motorbike accident, an incident that completely demoralised Vietto. That day, however, another Frenchman posted an excellent time. Jean Robic lay in wait, moving into third place overall 2’58” behind Brambilla. It must be said that the Breton had set off with a magic potion in his water bottle: two-thirds roasted barley and one-third 60-degree calvados. The day before, when the previous stage finished in Vannes, it was the Tour’s lanterne rouge, Swiss rider Pietro Tarchini, who had won the sprint, taking his revenge from the Bordeaux stage when he had been disqualified.
Sights
The ramparts
Built: 3rd to 17th centuries
Features: built between the 3rd and 17th centuries, the ramparts of Vannes are among the few surviving fortifications in Brittany. They have been progressively listed and restored since 1911.
History: Founded by the Romans at the end of the 1st century BC during the reign of Augustus, the civitas Venetorum took refuge behind a castrum at the end of the 3rd century, whilst a major crisis was shaking the Roman Empire. This first enclosure remained the city’s sole defence for over a millennium. It was under Duke John IV, at the end of the 14th century, that the walls were extended southwards. The area of the city within the walls was doubled, and the duke added his Hermine fortress to the new enclosure. The Wars of the League in the late 16th century prompted the town to build several polygonal bastions (Gréguennic, Haute-Folie, Brozilay, Notre-Dame). The Garenne spur was the last defensive structure built in Vannes, around 1630. From 1670 onwards, Louis XIV sold off sections of the ramparts piece by piece to finance his wars. The most significant event was, in 1697, the donation to the town of Vannes of the ruins of the Château de l’Hermine, which were then used for the redevelopment of the harbour and the upkeep of municipal buildings.
Listing: listed as Historic Monuments in 1912 and 1956.
Museum of Fine Arts or the Cohue
Construction: 13th to 17th centuries for the building.
Opening: 1982 for the museum.
Features: its collections, enriched by a loan from the Centre Pompidou and private donations, offer visitors an overview of painting from the second half of the 20th century. The museum is housed in La Cohue (a market and courthouse built between the 13th and 17th centuries), where the Act of Union between Brittany and France was signed in 1532.
History: Built between the 13th and 17th centuries, La Cohue hosted the Estates of Brittany on ten occasions between 1431 and 1703. Having become the property of the city in 1813, La Cohue was converted into a theatre, which remained in use until the 1950s. The dilapidated building was restored from 1970 onwards and, since 1982, has housed the city’s collections of paintings and engravings and hosted major exhibitions.
Listing: listed as a Historic Monument in 1929.
Château Gaillard Museum
Construction: 15th century.
Features: the history and archaeology museum is housed in a perfectly preserved 15th-century manor house, Château Gaillard, set against the first rampart of the town, where the Parliament of Brittany sat from 1456 to 1532.
History: built around 1430–1440 by Jean de Malestroit, bishop and chancellor to the Duke of Brittany, this medieval residence passed into the hands of the canons of Nantes before being purchased in 1457 by the Duke of Brittany. It was in this sovereign court that the Duke’s vassals voted on taxes. In 1485, François II entrusted the role of the Estates in legal disputes to a court of justice, the Parliament of Brittany. The château then served as the Parliament’s courtroom and as the residence of its president.
Current use: owned by the Société polymathique du Morbihan, the castle is leased to Vannes Town Council to house the town’s archaeological museum.
Listing: listed as a Historic Monument in 1913.
Hôtel de Limur
Construction: 17th and 18th centuries.
History: acquired by the City in 1947, transferred to the State in 1980 and reclaimed by the City in 1991, the mansion – listed as a Historic Monument in 1993 – retains the name of the de Limur family, who owned it from 1820 to 1947.
Features: built during a period of architectural renewal in the town, this mansion is now a venue for events, housing a European institute for early music and hosting exhibitions, lectures, workshops and concerts.
Listing: listed as a Historic Monument in 1993.
L’Île-aux-Moines: from Vannes, there are numerous excursions to the ‘Pearl of Morbihan’, famous for its unspoilt natural beauty, its captains’ houses and its history.
Angers and cycling
The legends of the Tour come to life in Angers. The city of the Dukes of Anjou fell for the pédaleur de charme Hugo Koblet, cheered on Jacques Anquetil, propelled Eddy Merckx towards his fourth overall victory, presented Tom Boonen with his first laurels in 2004 and granted Mark Cavendish one of his four stage wins in the 2016 Tour. It also played a part in the legend of the “eternal runner-up”: at the start of the 1967 Tour – the first to begin with a prologue – Raymond Poulidor was the favourite to claim the Yellow Jersey… but he finished second behind Spanish specialist José Maria Errandonea. Having already won the Vuelta prologue the previous year, the rider from Irun dashed the Frenchman’s dreams by a margin of six seconds on the winding 5.8 km course through the streets of Angers. After suffering a crash two days later, Errandonea did not hold onto his lead for long. He later finished fourth in the 1968 Vuelta. As for Poulidor, who suffered a crash in the Vosges, he ended one of his least successful Tour de France campaigns (9th) with a time trial victory on the final stage in Paris.
Sights
Angers Castle
Construction: 1232
Characteristics: a striking and unmissable symbol of the city, this fortress-castle with its 17 towers seems to have sprung from the schist rock upon which it was built. Built in 1232 by Blanche of Castile, regent and mother of Saint Louis, it served as the residence of the Dukes of Anjou during the 14th and 15th centuries. It houses the magnificent Apocalypse Tapestry, the largest medieval woven work in the world.
History: excavations have revealed settlements dating back to the Neolithic period, followed by a Gallic oppidum and a Roman temple. Faced with Viking raids in the 9th century, King Charles the Bald ordered a count to be installed in Angers. A fortified palace was built on the cliff. Under the leadership of the Plantagenets, who had become kings of England, Anjou became the heart of a vast empire. A sumptuous Romanesque palace was erected, of which the remains of the great count’s hall (the aula) still stand. In 1206, King Philip Augustus seized Anjou. Faced with the threat from neighbouring Brittany and the English, the regent Blanche of Castile and her son Louis IX ordered the construction of the present-day gigantic fortress. In barely ten years, a wall nearly half a kilometre long, flanked by 17 massive towers, was erected. In the 14th and 15th centuries, the castle moved away from its military role to become a refined stately home. The Dukes of Anjou built Flamboyant Gothic-style buildings and ornamental gardens. René of Anjou, born at the castle in 1409, left a profound mark on the site. An aesthete and nature lover, he fostered a thriving cultural life there and created menageries and exotic gardens. During the Wars of Religion, Henry III feared that the fortress might fall into the hands of the Protestants and ordered its demolition. Once ducal rule had ended, the castle served as a garrison and a prison. Listed as a Historic Monument in 1875, the castle finally shed its military status after the Second World War.
Distinctive feature: the Apocalypse Tapestry is a depiction of the Apocalypse of John of Patmos, created in the late 14th century on commission from Duke Louis I of Anjou. This work is the largest surviving collection of medieval tapestries in the world. The set, comprising six successive panels, each divided into fourteen scenes, was executed based on cartoons by Jean Bondol and bears witness to the prestige of its patron. The tapestry was bequeathed to Angers Cathedral in the 15th century by King René. After a long period of deterioration, it was partially restored in the mid-19th century, and is now housed in the Apocalypse Tapestry Museum, situated on the site of Angers Castle, in a long gallery built specifically for this purpose, which was inaugurated in 1954.
Listing: listed as a Historic Monument in 1875.
Terra Botanica
Opened: 2010
Features: Open since 2010, Terra Botanica is Europe’s first theme park dedicated to plants, combining both entertainment and education. With over 40 attractions and activities, the park covers 110,000 m². Visits are punctuated by adventures experienced through shows and games, offering a chance to discover the world of plants in all its facets, including from a hot-air balloon.
Museum of Fine Arts
Construction: 1486 to 1493.
Museum opened: 1801.
Features: the museum is housed in the Logis Barrault, a jewel of 15th-century Gothic civil architecture and the former home of Olivier Barrault, who served as mayor of Angers on three occasions. The Museum of Fine Arts offers 3,000 m² of exhibition space organised into two permanent exhibitions: Fine Arts (350 paintings and sculptures, from the 14th century to the present day) and the history of Angers. Throughout the year, the museum hosts exhibitions showcasing contemporary artists and heritage displays.
Notable feature: the museum welcomes nearly 100,000 visitors a year.
Designation: Musée de France.
Listing: the Barrault residence has been listed as a Historic Monument since 1902.
Jean Lurçat Museum and Museum of Contemporary Tapestry
Construction: 12th century.
Features: Saint-Jean Hospital, a remarkable 12th-century architectural complex, houses Jean Lurçat’s Chant du Monde (1957–1966) in the former ward. A manifesto by a socially engaged artist and a contemporary echo of the ‘Apocalypse’ tapestries, this series of ten tapestries presents an epic, poetic, symbolic and humanist vision of the 20th century.
History: founded around 1175 with the support of Henry II Plantagenet, Hôpital Saint-Jean served as a hospital until the 19th century, housing the Hôtel-Dieu of Angers, one of the oldest surviving hospitals in France. Decommissioned in 1865, the building was converted into an archaeological museum in 1874, before becoming home to Jean Lurçat’s ‘Chant du monde’ tapestry in 1968 and, since 1986, the Museum of Contemporary Tapestry.
Listing: listed as a Historic Monument in 1840.
David d’Angers Gallery
Construction: 11th century (abbey church)
Opening of the gallery: 1984.
Characteristics: since 1984, the restored 11th-century Toussaint Abbey Church has housed the works of sculptor Pierre-Jean David d’Angers (1788–1856). The museum’s collection is impressive: monumental works, commissioned pieces (the pediment of the Panthéon), busts and medallions. This architectural restoration combines the principles and materials of modernity with those of a bygone era.
Listing: the abbey church was listed as a Historic Monument in 1902 and 1925.
Pierre-Jean David d’Angers
David d’Angers (1788–1856) occupies a unique place in 19th-century French art. Whilst he is best known for the six hundred medallions depicting the famous men and women of his era, his body of work in monumental civic sculpture (more than forty statues in public spaces and over a hundred colossal busts) in Paris and the provinces is less widely recognised. His works can be seen together in Angers, where the city council has housed their plaster models in a gallery that has borne his name since 1839.
Born into a modest republican family, David d’Angers won second prize for sculpture at the École des Beaux-Arts at the age of 22. After winning first prize in 1811, he stayed in Rome as a resident of the Académie de France. In 1826, he was elected to the Académie des Beaux-Arts. He served the Restoration regime, which entrusted him with monumental commissions. However, around 1825, whilst frequenting progressive circles, he became a republican. His art then took a new direction and he turned his hand to depicting ‘great men’ (the funerary statue of Armand Carrel at Saint-Mandé cemetery). He was thus the obvious choice, in 1830, to carry out the new decoration of the pediment of the Church of Sainte-Geneviève, which had been converted into the Panthéon. His opposition to the regime and the Academy brought an end to public commissions but private clients and local authorities continued to commission work from him. Elected mayor of a Paris arrondissement and deputy for Maine-et-Loire in the Constituent Assembly, though not re-elected the following year to the Legislative Assembly, he was arrested and exiled following Louis Napoleon Bonaparte’s coup d’état. Returning to France in 1853, he completed his final monumental projects (the Bichat building, Paris School of Medicine; the General Drouot building, Nancy). A European of his time, a traveller and a man of wide-ranging curiosity, he had been keeping remarkable personal diaries since 1828, which were published posthumously.
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