The Château de Pignerolle, in the satellite village of ST-BARTHELÉMY D'ANJOU , to the east of Angers (signposted off the N147), is home to the Musée Européen de la Communication (daily 10am-12.30pm & 2.30-6pm; 50F/¬7.62), a typically histrionic French science and technology museum, which promises a complete history of communication "from the tom-tom to the satellite". It's quite good fun, with everything from Leonardo's helicopter drawings to German submarines brought into play, and fantastic scenes of the future, but don't expect to come out much the wiser. For something completely different, you could go on a guided tour around the Distillerie Cointreau , just off the ring road between Angers and St-Barthelemy d'Anjou (mid-June to mid-Sept Mon-Fri 9.30am, 11am, 2pm & 3.30pm, Sat 10.30am, 2pm & 4pm, Sun 4pm; mid-Sept to mid-June Mon-Fri by appointment, Sun & bank hols 3pm & 4.30pm; tel 02.41.43.25.21; 20F/¬3.05), reached on bus #7, where the famous orange liqueur has been distilled since the mid-nineteenth century. You'll learn a lot about the Cointreau brothers and how marvellous the drink is, a little bit about distilling techniques, and nothing, of course, about the recipe. You get a little sip at the end, but the highlight is definitely the rows of gleaming copper stills.

 

Northwest of the city at the Aéroport d'Angers Marcé (signposted off the RD766, direction "Tours"), one of the most romanticized twentieth-century means of transportation - early aeroplanes - are on show in the Musée Régional de l'Air (daily 2-6pm; free; take bus #6 from the centre). There are around forty well-restored examples on display, starting with a classic 1935 Potez 60.