ANGELS ON THE TRAM

62 years! It's the time it took Angers to get a new tram line. After the closure in 1949 of the old network, a new modern line, line A, was created in summer 2011, linking the north and south of the city. Ready for a ride? Avrillé direction, in the north of the town, a pavilion suburb where many parks and bicycle paths have been developed, but also the theater of past past, with its old open-pit ardoisises and quarries, as well as its aerodrome, closed since the 1990 s, with a beautiful Art Defacade co-op But Avrillé is also a wonderful golf course, as well as the hundreds of thousands of plants of Terra Botanica (Angers/Avrillé), the huge thematic park of the plant welcoming more than 200,000 visitors every year. Do we continue the trip? Place now at the plateau of the Mayenne and the Hauts de Saint-Aubin, a modern, expanding neighborhood. A little further north, the Mayenne flows, separating Saint Aubin Island from the rest of the Angevine metropolis. An idyllic place in the beautiful days, when you borrow the ferry to the beautiful Guinguette of the island of the island. Farniente on the terrace, small aperos among friends, bicycle walks… Our tram continues its journey, descending the Capuchin district towards Maine. The district hosts the vast CHU area, but also the faculties of medical sciences and pharmacy. Crossing the Maine River on the Confluences bridge, dedicated specifically to tram, pedestrians and cyclists, before going through the Multiplex Gaumont and the law school, at the heart of the Saint-Serge campus. The hyper-center is approaching… Judgment Molière: There are growing restaurants and bars. The Rue de la Roë is located up to the Place du Ralliement, the heart of the city, with its Grand Theater with its majestic façade, its bars-breweries at the terraces taken by assault and its pedestrian street Lenepveu, very close to the addicts of shopping. South of the square, Alsace Street goes back to Foch Boulevard. At the corner of the street and the boulevard, you quickly turn to the Blue House, decorated with mosaics of the artist Odorico, before our tram takes direction of the station. Foch Boulevard is a bit of the Champs Elysées of Angers! Less impressive, less impressive and less prestigious, but after a long period of decline, the artery gradually regained momentum, with numerous new shops and a brand new department hotel. Stations (in the plural) give access to railway and road stations (below). Caution! The immediate surroundings, close to the stop and parking lots, are sometimes mismatched in the evening. We continue our journey south via Lafayette Square, a very nice market on Wednesday and Saturday morning. A little further in Bamako, the commercial area of the Roseraie welcomes forty shops, including the Giant supermarket. The circuit is coming to an end: Angers-Roseraie, everybody goes down! In this large area of social buildings, considered to be «sensitive urban areas», it was once a vegetable area. The last stop is a car park where you can leave your car, just like in Avrillé. 35,000 travelers take this line daily. How much will they be in 2022 for the future B line? This new axis will connect the neighborhoods of Belle-Beille, to the west of the city, to that of Monplaisir, to the northeast.