A Nantes Sunday (7/9)

Sunday morning run completed - Gaëlle and Allan

First on the agenda today, Gaëlle and Allan had to go for a long promised run. Gaëlle is competing in a half-marathon next weekend in Vannes, and Allan has been providing some internet coaching. They did a complete tour of the island, which is one of Gaëlle's regular running routes. It was fairly easy to negotiate as it was Sunday morning. 

After breakfast we headed off for a walk up along the Erdre, a river which originally flowed freely from the north through the city into the Loire, but in the 1930's it was decided to force it into a tunnel, and create gardens and open spaces on the reclaimed land. The tunnel is 800m long, and large enough for barges to travel through. They come out on the Canal Saint-Felix which flows into the Loire. An island in the Erdre, upstream from the tunnel, has been planted out as a Japanese garden which was very pleasant to walk through, and quite an oasis. Gaëlle works further up the Erdre near where Max went to university and both have run along the river near there. 

Now we know who uses all the bright
colours in the paint shop!

From Japanese garden we wandered 'downstream' until we met the Loire, then took a ferry across the river to Trentemoult, a former fishing village, now a very up-market address for those who have the money. Typically, the village is a maze of narrow streets and alleyways which are never straight. A condition of living in this village is that you have to paint your house a very bright colour (reminiscent of Irish villages). The houses are actually quite small, so you don't get much for your money, but it is quite picturesque. We managed to walk around it in an hour which was convenient as we didn't then need to buy another ticket for our return journey.

Once back on the other side of the Loire we walked back to Gaelle's apartment past a couple of buildings which remind everyone of the fact that Nantes was build on marshy ground. They have a decided lean on them, but the buildings alongside have been built vertical and appear to be supporting them. We think that diverting the Erdre through the tunnel and building the wharf may have allowed for this area to be stabilised. 

No, it's not camera distortion.
Those buildings really do lean.

We then investigated further streets on the island to see how architects had modified other buildings in the area (one of them being the school of architecture) and we passed some of the art installations which were part of the Estuaire Arts Festival. Jill couldn't resist photographing the one that is a gigantic tape measure - it reminded her of her own craft-work. Gaelle took us back to her place where she cooked us a fantastic lunch. 

Jill's tape measure

We then decided that an excursion to Pornic was in order. Pornic, is a seaside resort town on the Atlantic where Gaelle goes to quite often, She knew of a great ice cream shop there which Allan had also heard of via another podcast he utilises from time to time. The ice creams up to reputation and were as good as the ones we bought on the Isle de St Luis in Paris. It was a very warm afternoon, so we ate them sitting in the shade, after which we wandered around the headland to the beach to dabble our toes in the Atlantic for a second time. Eventually we returned to the car and what could have been a very slow trip home if Gaelle hadn't known a back route. She was horrified by the amount of traffic that was heading back to Nantes as we were going in the opposite direction, so she decided to take us away from the freeway. It was after dark by the time we arrived home after another great day.

Indulging in ice creams from La Fraiseraie in Pornic

It sounds like we raced around a lot in Nantes, but we actually took things at quite a gentle pace (except for the run) as all the places we visited were within easy walking distance.