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

Châteaubriant

I love Châteaubriant. It's filled with history at every corner.

We visited La Roche aux Fées (the rock of the fairies) on the way there. The rocks make a small building which aligns with sunrise during winter solstice. It was built approximately 3000-2500 BC. Legend says it was built by fairies :-)

The château of Châteaubriant:

The medieval part is being renovated

The more recent parts

And the view from the château!

Churches are very central to the towns and hamlets in France.

The colourful posters were made by local schoolchildren

They still have the old confessionals! Apparently they're no longer used though, hence the lack of curtains

Joan of Arc

 The Carrière des Fusillés (quarry of the people who were shot) is very moving. 27 people were shot in retaliation for the death of a Nazi commander. Guy Moquet, a teenager, wrote a letter home to his family which is remembered to this day.

Every October there's a big ceremony and lots of people and organisations bring wreaths to the site.

The names of the 27 who were shot

Underneath the sculpture, earth was collected from many locations important to the Resistance

The plaque at the foot of the monument reads "Memorial of the shot and massacred of the Resistance"

 Discussing it afterwards, we decided the Nazis hadn't realised the propoganda value a letter home from a teenager on the eve of his death would have for the Resistance. Intended to subdue, these deaths instead spurred people on around the country.

Pouancé

26 - 30 October 2015

Pouancé is a beautiful rural village.
We went for an early morning walk and saw the sun rise over the ponds, just stunning!

The view from my aunt and uncle's place

The autumn colours are beautiful

Bridges, everywhere!

There's lots of wildlife to watch, a nice change from the pigeons of London

The glow of sunrise

Lighting up the lake

Also lots of fishermen

The castle which is slowly being restored by locals. You can't actually go in - I lifted Finn's phone over the fence to take photos :-)

Lots of photos in Paris

21 - 26 October 2015

Four days in Paris went by so fast! We've now recovered from jet lag.

Finn doesn't like queuing, so we did the touristy thing from the outside, especially walking up and down the Seine.

There were lots of boats!

Beautiful views of the Seine winding its way among interesting buildings

Flood marks!

The public art was also amazing.
The bridges...

One of many bridges (I think it's Pont Neuf)

The sculptures, buildings and fountains...

Pretty sure she's holding a cricket bat

The murals...

The signs...

And Finn really needed to go!

And the graffiti!

This reads "Black Spray paint on stone"

I must've looked like I fit in, because I was asked for directions in French! 

When I asked this guy if I could take his photo, he had a cigarette hanging out his mouth. He said oui, but threw away the cig :-(

Although we didn't wait in queues for all the touristy things, we saw them from the outside!

Le Louvre

La mairie

Notre Dame is impressive at night!

Et encore Notre Dame

I was fascinated by the teeny tiny parks in between all the apartment blocks.

Finn and his baguette

The thing about not being able to find public toilets is absolutely true. We walked 15mins to try to find a pay toilet, for it to be closed. We recommend pubs for toilets, they often even have seats!

When Finn saw this dog grooming place, he said there are more public toilets for dogs than for humans in Paris ;-) 

 Our Kiwi night was more "New Zealand" than we ever had while actually in NZ. Watching the rugby:

From left: Finn, his cousin Alex, his girlfriend Cami, me

The game

All in all, it was wonderful, we made some lovely friends, and we're planning to go back! But I'm enjoying a slower pace of life and more greenery in Pouancé right now :-D

First day in France!

The flights were really long but we finally arrived. Contrary to the stereotypes, Parisians are super friendly! Finn's French is progressing quickly as he talks to everyone he sees, and I'm understanding way more than I expected to. We've had many bilingual conversations, but we've spoken more French than English, which is a good start for day one!

There is amazing food on every corner. We've had amazing bread and jambon,  and our host made a delicious tuna salad for dinner.

I've had a headache all day - jet lag is awful. I gave up and went to sleep at 5pm, which Finn is telling me off about, because we're now wide awake at 2am. I think sleep deprivation from 30 hours in transit is affecting me more than the time zone change. Here's hoping I get some more sleep tonight!