Nantes

30 October - 5 November 2015

This is going to be a long post. A week in Nantes gave me plenty of time to take lots of photos!

And we found a public toilet for dogs! Finn still swears there are more of these than there are public toilets for humans in France.

Nacho!

Les Machines de l'ile... the elephant!

The elephant holds up to 50 people

It moves up to 3kph

I had fun trying to capture it squirting water!

It would be even better on a hot summer's day!

Finn the pirate

We walked along the Loire...

The rings. With a bright blue sky, the Loire looks way cleaner in a photo than it looks or smells irl

A really colourful boat

We spent Halloween watching the RWC final.

Our bartender

I love walking around cities at night, although I obviously have a significant advantage travelling with my partner - I'd probably feel less safe doing this by myself.

The name of this shop is more or less "love of potatoes" 

Coffee art takes on a slightly different meaning in Nantes

The fountains and buildings light up beautifully in the evenings. In the background you can see one of Nantes' many churches, all rivalling the biggest cathedrals in Aotearoa for size and impressive beauty

The imposing cathedral

An interesting sculptural structure outside the château

Château des Ducs de Bretagne

The dramatic figure of Duchesse Anne stares at passersby

We returned to see the château by day

The entrance :-)

I'm fascinated by the juxtaposition of old and new

The combination was even more explicit in the wall at the back

And here, old and older ;-)

 

As it turned out, this was designed by an American artist, and the interlocking branches represent continual change.

It was a bit like a little maze inside, and the view of the château was cool!

And our daytime walk from Airbnb to Couchsurfing

Another tiny little sculpted garden

Charles de Gaulle - there are monuments to heaps of people, everywhere

This tree sheltered us while we rested in the middle of our hour walk 

Slavery abolition memorial - Nantes was France's principal slave port in the 18th and early 19th centuries. This moving memorial only just touches on the scale of the trade, but includes many personal accounts by slaves and former slaves around the world.

Rangatiratanga

English description

French description