Yesterday, we went to the large commercial centre, l’atoll, on the outskirts of Angers (49).
It is a large shopping centre, opened in 2012, in the shape of a circle, in actual fact it reminds me a bit of a doughnut, with all the shops in the ring with restaurants in the centre. There is plenty of greenery as well, as there is around 600 trees planted, which helps break up the concrete. There is also parking for 1700 cars, above ground and in an underground parking area.
When opened in April 2012, it was declared one of the first eco business park, as it design helps limit traffic noise, thermal insulation, it has rain collection facilities and solar panels as well. It covers a surface area of 91,000 sq.m. and has a retail space of 71,000 sq.m., nearly twice the size of the Stade de France in Paris.
In total there are about 55 shops to look around catering for all types, from different clothing chains, gift shops, electrical stores, DIY stores, furniture and design stores, which will fill an afternoon worth of shopping without any problem whatsoever.
In the centre, there are a selection of restaurants, of both the fast food variety and more of the traditional restaurants as well, to help you relax and refresh in between the shopping.
This is the first time we have managed to get along to it, as we tried to go last year on the way back from doing the Saturday market in Angers, but because we have a trailer, it was impossible to find a place to park, so made a note to go back one day when we were not working.
As Saturday, was forecasted to rain, which they got right and it did, we weren’t working, so decided to have the afternoon there and take a look around, and was very impressed of the good choice of shops that were available.
Despite the weather, it was very busy down there, creating a nice atmosphere, although it never felt crowded and you could imagine that in the warmer weather, it would really come alive with the bars and restaurants also being busy.
Most of the shops are open from 10am till 8pm, Monday to Saturday, with the restaurants open normally till around midnight.
I took a video, below to give you a bit of an idea.
Direct Link : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUisAw1is9M
