Because of its strategic location along the Loire, where the Maine River runs into the Loire, the village has always been historically a place where Loire River fishermen lived and used to be a vacation destination for wealthy Angers residents. It is composed of small traditional fisherman’s houses and a few large bourgeois properties.
Today, there are no longer any active fishermen, but traces of fishing activities can still be found in the traditional atmosphere of the local hotel and restaurants. The village is known for its slow, quiet rhythm. The village also attracts numerous artists including painters, basket weaver, and mosaic artist. The local hotel also serves as an art gallery. Some properties are used as weekend houses by Parisians.
This part of the Loire valley is also listed amongst the Unesco World Heritage sites. As a result, the village has kept all of its charisma in term of its architecture as it is nearly impossible to change anything due to strong patrimonial conservation laws. The 'Loire à Vélo' bike path runs across the village, and in front of our house. The portions on each side of the house are bike only portions, and allows to go to Angers, or cycle along the Loire to the surrounding vineyards (here is a video of about one of them). The population of the village is probably around 400 people.
The village has a bakery, an antique store, restaurants (fine French cuisine, traditional French cuisine, crepes) and 1 hotel with about 7 rooms. Not too far from it (10 minutes), there are large grocery stores and malls. The cobblestoned shopping district of Angers is also easily accessible (10 minutes away).
