Day 2 we started off with a French class, which was a lot of fun. We played a Jeopardy style game with questions about grammar, vocab, French culture, Nantes history and more. Then the instructor had setup a scavenger hunt that took us all over different parts of the city and our prize at the end was a coffee at the nicest cafe in Nantes. Then we had a break before our afternoon architecture tour (which ended up getting cancelled due to storms). I took the break to grab a sandwich and eat it while I wandered around Nantes.
Place Graslin and the opera-this is just about a block from the IES Center, so I passed this every dayPassage Pommeraye-a covered passage built way back when so that people wouldn’t get their shoes/dresses dirty while walking down to the lower part of the cityNow the passage is filled with unique shops and interesting architecture!Place Royale with Basilique Saint-Nicolas in the backgroundChateau des Ducs de Bretagne-this was built at the end of the 15th century by Francois the 2nd who was the last Duke of Brittany (Bretagne in French).LU tower-if you’ve seen the LU cookies in the US-the company originated in Nantes and this was originally the factory-now it’s a space with art exhibits and cafes
Around this time a storm came through with lightning and dumping rain, so I made it back to the hotel to wait it out. Once the storm passed the sun came out and the rest of the day was beautiful. Since our tour was cancelled, I used the rest of the day to go see Ile de Nantes, which was abandoned shipyards when I was studying here, but has now been converted into an exhibition area with restaurants, parks, etc.
Crossing the Loire to get to the islandLes machines de l’ile is a museum that has now become a major attraction in Nantes-mainly for it’s giant mechanic elephantThe museum has an array of mechanical animals that are demonstrated throughout the dayI tried to post a video, but it was too large of a file to post, but the elephant is what people come to see and he/she(?) walks the whole length of the museum, moving it’s trunk and shooting water out of its trunk
After the museum, I had a meeting with our visiting French instructor who happens to be from Nantes and then I was off to find some dinner. I had seen this creperie the night before, but they weren’t open, so luckily today they were!
There was a creperie we used to go pretty often as students-I don’t think this was it, but I’m honestly not sureLe complet (ham, egg and cheese)-this is the standard go toI can’t remember what this one was called on the menu, but it was homemade salted caramel, local made vanilla ice cream and homemade whipped cream, topped with almonds
After dinner I needed to walk off all the crepes, so I decided to head back to some of the things the bus used to go past on my way to school
The cathedral of Nantes (officially Cathedrale Saint-Pierre et Saint-Paul), which was unfortunately the victim of an arson attack in 2020. They have been working on repairs and it is scheduled to reopen in September.Porte Saint-Pierre: this would have been one of the doors in the original wall surrounding the city in the 15th centuryColonne Louis XVIAnne, Duchesse de Bretagne (and eventual queen of France) statue with LU in the backgroundOne cool thing about Nantes is the street signs are all in French and Breton. Breton is the regional language of Bretagne and is a Celtic based language.
I wish I would have had more time to explore this part of town-I did get back the next day (you’ll see tomorrow), but I wish I had even more time!
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