There is a lot to say about France...and, no - I won't be bothering you with some of mine "fantastic stories" of this country. Here is to say chapeau bas! to one of France's beautiful city - Nantes.
If you are, as we were, planning to visit this vivid city, here are some insights for you with a very best wishes from M&M (Marta Karaś and Mariusz Andreasik) with a small request - please, send our greetings to Nantes ;)
As Mariusz (Mario) is always surprsing me with a sudden trip to a place we have never been before, this time wasn't odd. How easy is that? - just buy tickets online, reserve a hotel with a small help of Lonely Planet website and off you go!
For us it was a wonderful, romantic trip full of walking and sight-seeing. This city is definiately worth it, because of its historic buildings, small narrow streets full of bars, creperies, to mention but a few.
If ou are an amateur of admiring the city while using your own feet instead of public transport, there is a tip for you - find a hostel in the city centre...and here is a nice surprise - it's not so expensive. Drop me an email if you need more details ;)
Here is how we spent that intense, but very enjoyable weekend:
Day 1 (Saturday)
A nice little show of a (student) band playing wind-instruments in the Place Royal has definiately a power to turn you from being a tourist to feel familiarly in Nantes...
Nantes has welcomed us with some its most beautiful monuments. Passage Pommeraye packed with fantastic local shops, as well a the Theatre Grasil, on the other hand, help you to discover the rich history of this eautiful city.
But there was no chnage we could only stick to the uildings and monuments. As France is famous for its fantastic uniques cuisine, we simply needed to try some of those specialities. Local chocolateries are there for you to choose from tousands of types of French finest chocolate and galletas (biscuits and cookies).
Bulangeries and patiseries, on the other hand, offer great, warm and fresh bread and famous croissants. Mmmmm, if I could choose where I want to spend my day, I have tousands of ideas but would definiately start it in France, where the best baguettes and breads are!
Day 2 (Sunday)
Mario and I went for a lovely walk along the streets of Nantes and had a chance to get to know its long history.
The best place to do it is to visit the famous Castle of the Dukes of Brittany, which is just in the city centre and then to discover a monumental St. Pierre's Cathedral of Nantes, that has been built for 'only' 400 years!
Our exploration of Nantes has lead us to the old factory of LU biscuits, that has now being redesigned as a luxury bars, restaurants and SPA destination.
The next stop was a house-museum o Jules Verne,a famous writer of many scince-ficton books. A long walk to get to the museum has payed off - the place gives you a bit of Verne's story of life and an overview of his creative activity in a light, easy-to-consume way.
Day 3 (Monday)
Since the famous Museum of Machines was closed - 'surprise, surprise' - on Monday ;) we only had a quick view on the massive Elephant, that 'lives' on the Island of Nantes. It's really enourmous and what's better - you can have a nice ride on it... just don't do the same mistake we did and do check the opening hours and dates :)
Since my beloved football fan, Mario wanted to discover the stadium of FC Nantes, we also went there (just 14 stops by tram) ;) Then, the visit to the local Jardin du Plantes, became a 'cherry on this cake' we were having that day.
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Overall, that way fantastic idea to leave Manchester for a weekend and explore this friendly city with fantastic monumnets, building and restaurants! Higly recommended for a weekend break awy the city.
Fantastic photos, I bet you had a really great time in France by the looks of things. My husband booked with with romantic escapes Devon for this years valentine's day, wasn't exactly France but at least he did something I guess!
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