Nantes

Random observations and photos

Nantes is about three times the size of Tours, and at first it just blew us away with its wide variety of historic sites and very active centre ville.

The local tourism bureau makes it easy to get around town with a green line painted on the cobblestones. Just follow it and you’ll see everything. Cafes, boutiques, a castle, a few cathedrals (one of which was closed due to a fire) and - most impressively - a ton of public art.

The city, a longtime ship-building center takes great pains to own up to its role in the colonial slave trade. An abolition exhibit along the Loire is stunning.

Curiously, though, we quickly lost a bit of our enthusiasm for moving to this town, mainly because of the apparent lack of decent, affordable housing near the city center. We want an apartment with an elevator on a street within a five-minute walk of a cafe or restaurant (I know, picky…) - and we just weren’t seeing those types of places, other in a small area near the Erdre River. We also encountered the usual urban problems of graffiti, litter and street begging that we just didn’t see in Tours.

Still, there is so much to like about Nantes. Excellent transportation, markets, beautiful waterfronts and a giant, mobile, trunk-spraying elephant.

Don and Theresa doing the selfie thing on Place Royale.

Spectacular fountain on Place Royale.

Sculpture by Philippe Ramette on the Rittenhouse Square-esque Cours Cambronne.

Crazy 40-foot mechanical elephant at L’Ile de Machines. It’s a crazy Steampunk park for kids and adults.

Theresa and I called this Place Stand Aside. The sculpture, also by Philippe Ramette, was installed as part of Nantes’ annual art festival

Widespread support for Ukraine throughout Nantes. Most government buildings in the region fly Ukraine’s now-familiar yellow and blue flag.

Yes, this is a shopping mall. The spectacular Passage Pomeraye. We had a nice conversation with one of the few English-speaking people we’ve encountered so far - a father with his daughter in a chocolate shop.

We envisioned ourselves living in an apartment along the Erdre River, which meets the Loire in Nantes

More public art - this is in the Jardin du Plantes.

Abolition memorial. No photos could do this place justice. Much of the display is below ground level, along the water’s edge, to evoke the darkness of a slave ship’s cargo hold.