| ALENÇON, a fair-sized and busy town, is known for its traditional – and now pretty much defunct – lacemaking industry. The Musée des Beaux-Arts et de la Dentelle (July & Aug daily 10am–noon & 2–6pm; Sept–June daily except Mon 10am–noon & 2–6pm; €2.80) is housed in a former Jesuit school and has all the best trappings of a modern museum. The highly informative history of lacemaking upstairs, with examples of numerous different techniques, can, however, be tedious for anyone not already riveted by the subject. It also contains an unexpected collection of gruesome Cambodian artefacts like spears and lances, tiger skulls and elephants' feet, gathered by a "militant socialist" French governor at the turn of the century. The paintings in the adjoining Beaux-Arts section are nondescript, except for a few works by Courbet and Géricault. The Château des Ducs, the old town castle close by the museum, looks impressive but doesn't encourage visitors: it's now a prison, and people in Alençon have nightmarish memories of its use by the Gestapo during the war. Wandering around the town might also take you to St Thérèse's birthplace on rue St-Blaise, just in front of the gare routière. The tourist office is housed in the fifteenth-century Maison d'Ozé on place La Magdelaine (July & Aug Mon–Sat 9.30am–7pm, Sun 10am–12.30pm & 3–5.30pm; Sept–June Mon–Sat 9.30am–noon & 2–6.30pm; tel 02.33.80.66.33, www.paysdalencontourisme.com). The gare routière and the gare SNCF are both northeast of the centre, in an area that holds Alençon's prime concentration of hotels. The two logis, L'Industrie, 22 place Général-de-Gaulle (tel 02.33.27.19.30; €30–40; closed Fri eve & Sat), and the Grand Hôtel de la Gare, 50 av Wilson (tel 02.33.29.03.93; €30–40; restaurant closed Sat & Sun), are decent and have fixed-price menus for €10.50. Alençon has good shops and cafés in a few well-pedestrianized streets at the heart of its abysmal one-way traffic system. Good places to sample the thriving local bar scene include the half-timbered Café des Sept Colonnes at 2 rue du Château. The Forêt d'Écouves, north of Alençon and inaccessible by public transport, is a dense mixture of spruce, pine, oak and beech, unfortunately a favoured spot of the military – and, in autumn, deer hunters, too. You can usually ramble along the cool paths, happening on wild mushrooms and even the odd wild boar. Alternate spellings:: France, Alençon, Alençon, Alencon
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