Blue, red and ivory coloured threads run through the 104-metre tapestry that sits in a carefully temperature-controlled room in the middle of Château d’Angers. Faded orange and green hues mix with gilt and silver woven into the wool and silk. In each stitch with which the material has been painstakingly repaired during its 644 year existence, there are stories of history, love and war. The Apocalypse Tapestry is the most significant and one of the few survivors from the first decades of the great period of tapestry. It is kept in Angers, approximately 300 km southwest of Paris, in the heart of the Pays de la Loire region.⁠ ⁠ I’d come to this part of France to ride bikes. To discover the gravel tracks that wind through the vineyards, the cycle paths that skirt the edge of the glittering Loire river and the technical trails that weave through the forests to secretly connect one quaint fairytale village to the next. That part of our visit, I knew was going to be good. I’d seen photos and ...