Nantes Travel Articles & Travelogues

FRANCE TRAVEL ARTICLES

NANTES May 2000

We had tried to stay in Nantes in the previous September, but the town had been full due to a large conference. This time, we booked into Hotel Ibis Nantes Centre without difficulty. It was lunchtime, so I was soon enjoying mussels and chips at the Brasserie Bistrot du Commerce while Norman ate the dish of the day.

Our exploration of the city centre soon took us into a very attractive shopping arcade, where Norman was appalled to see yet another stamp shop. I reassured him that I did not need to visit the shop urgently, although I did call there a few days later.

Nantes was once the capital city of Brittany, in addition to being a busy port on the River Loire. It was quite a large city with lots of attractive buildings. Once again, we had been very lucky with the weather. 23rd May was a beautiful day; the sky was blue and the sun was shining.

Our hotel was not far from the cathedral, built at the highest point of the city. That evening, we ate in the busy restaurant area at La Table d’Oscar, where we enjoyed a pleasant meal for less than £40 including wine.

The following day, we explored more of the city and visited the old castle. This was set in a small park beside the moat and was a pleasant place to sit in the sun for a time. At lunchtime, we returned to the restaurant area and ate at another restaurant in the Colmant group. This one was La Baie des Cochons, where we had a good lunch for around £10.

Later we had a coffee in an attractive little square in the centre of the old part of town. In the guide books, we had read about La Cigale, Nantes’ famous art nouveau café, so we decided to have a look.

The café was very attractive, but the service was terrible. Eventually we walked out and found somewhere else to have a drink. By this time it was raining. Later, we dined at the last of the Colmant restaurants, Le Pain Perdu. Once again, we had a reasonable meal for about £33 – not bad for two of us!