Nantes

Nantes is an interesting city to visit, France’s 6th largest city and not on the American tourist map at all! I didn’t run in to a single other American during my 3 day visit. With 3 days, I’m not really any kind of authority on Nantes, but I can give you a starting point. Nantes is at the junction of the Loire and Erdre rivers and near the ocean. It was a big port city and very involved in the slave trade. It’s also famous for resistance during WWII and there is still much reverenced for the 50 Otages, 48 people who were killed in retaliation for the killing of a Nazi officer. Another interesting thing about Nantes is just how well the transit is facilitated. Turns out there were many little streams through the city, and these streams were filled in and turned into tramways etc. thus not requiring the purchase of expensive right of ways. A typical Nantes Main Street will have trams at grade on one side, a lane of traffic, a central 2 way bike path in the center and another lane of traffic on the outside. This all works surprisingly well and the overall prevalence of electric bicycles and other bikes is rather amazing, only in Amsterdam have I seen more.

Arrival: If you arrive by train, the Gare de Nantes has two ends with an overpass connecting them. If you exit the North side, you will be a short distance from a tram line that will take you one stop to the visitor center, which is next to the Chateau des Ducs de Bretagne. Buy a ticket for 1.70euro and it’s good for an hour. Trams come every few minutes. If you stop in the visitor center, they will give you a good map of the town, a book called “The Tables of Nantes” and some other stuff. There is a green line on the pavement all through Nantes which gives you a way to move around town and see the sights.

Places to stay: I rented an AirBnb near Place Royale an that ended up being a good situation for me. Here’s a link, this was up 3 flights of stairs, so not for anyone with issues around that: Nantes AirBnb. I’d recommend staying somewhere central but transit in Nantes is fantastic, and google maps with the transit button will show you how to get anywhere. There were many IBIS type hotels around as well. Here’s one I would consider IBIS Pl. Royale

Things to see: I did not begin to exhaust the possibilities here, but if you are up for it, I recommend renting an electric bike for the day and doing your own little tour. I found BikeNTour which rented me a bike, helmet and saddle bag for 35euro/day. In the lobby of an Ibis hotel. One of the places you definitely want to see is the on the island of Nantes, the Machine en L’isle is where the mechanical elephant is to be found and a big carousel, as well as a gallery where these things are constructed. I also found that the botanical gardens were very well done, with modern art integrated among the plants in a very humorous way. From there, it’s easy to go to the Chateau des Ducs de Bretagne. This is near the visitor center and classic castle on a manageable scale. Easy to walk in, no admission to walk the ramparts. I also took the Tram up to the Isle de Versailles, which is a park converted to a Japanese garden. You can rent very slow electric boats and putt up the river, I did an hour rental and thoroughly enjoyed it, about 29euros. I’d also recommend a visit to Talensac market, Nantes biggest covered market. Later in the week or on the weekend will be better for this, go first thing in the morning as things taper off after lunch. One thing that worked well for me was I tried Nantes Greeters as was pleasantly surprised to have a very nice young man who’ knew a lot of the history take me around. Highly recommend giving it a try. The Passage Pommeraye is an interesting covered passage way with many shops, worth a visit, see photos below.

Places to eat: The visitor center will hand you a book called “The Tables of Nantes” with an enormous number of restaurant listings. My first meal, while awaiting my AirBnb was La Bouillion du Commerce and was a menu du Jour of Mushroom soup and Chicken with mustard sauce and sweet potato fries, with glass of wine under 20euros and delicious. For dinner I went to Maria, which as upscale, but unfortunately the duck didn’t particularly sit well with me, and I lost a day of eating as a result. Recommended to me for fancy was La Cigale which apparently has beautiful beaux artes dining room. A local suggested a great wine bar called Le Jeroboam on r. Leon Blum, which I would recommend for it’s wine and excellent modestly priced charcuterie plates. For crepes I can recommend Barapom, just off Place Royal. There is a really wide variety of restaurants in Nantes, and they are wall to wall in many areas, so not much need to worry about finding something you’ll like. Lots of Vietnamese, Thai and Japanese, as well as Italian Pizza places. Sorry not to have more specifics, but I lost a whole day of eating to upset stomach. Also recommended to me as a wine bar was Chez BB on the island of Nantes, but when I went, it was closed.