NANTES

The Château of the Ducs of Brittany, Nantes.


Timmy and Helen were flying home to Dublin from Nantes so we decided to drive there with them and spend the night before their flight.
Nantes is about 150 km from Montsoreau. We got an early start after breakfast. Mary and Doug had already left for their big detour to Spain (one day driving, two days there, and one day driving back).
We stopped in Angers for lunch and arrived in Nantes at about 2:30 in the afternoon. We had some difficulty navigating through the one-way streets to get to the area where we wanted to stay. In the past we have stayed at a hotel right across the street from the train station so we would simply walk over tere when we arrived. But coming through Nantes in a car was a different story but we finally made it.
The area in front of the railway station is in transition. It appears to be the redlight district of Nantes with several peep show shops and seedy run down cheap hotels. Our hotel was a step above that.
Even though the neighborhood is iffy we like staying there because it is so convenient to the train and it is an easy 5 minute walk to the château and the old town.
Helen wanted to do some shopping to bring back gifts. We walked with them to the main shopping district around the Place Graslin then went exploring by ourselves.



Place Graslin

We found the Natural History Museum and a museum of archeology that we want to visit in the future. We also visited the church of Saint Nicholas, off the Place Graslin. After a good walkabout we stopped for a glass of wine at a chic bar.





Late in the afternoon we met up with Timmy and Helen for a few drinks at a fun bar called Au Chien Stupid where they had a drink called An Irish Carbomb (we didn’t try it). Then we walked slowly back to the hotel for a nap before dinner.