Kodiak Haakansons: Nantes, France

November 27th- After a long, luxurious petit dejeuner we sadly packed up our car and head north towards our next stop, Nantes (or tried to- the satellites weren’t responding for some reason so we ended up driving around for a while). We decided on Nantes so we wouldn’t have too long of a drive to our true destination, Mont St. Michel, and the drive was lovely- rural and quiet, except for a stop at the Buffalo Grill restaurant to laugh at the teepee and Indian decorations. On our way to Nantes we spotted two monkey puzzles and now we only need 4 more to meet our goal of ten before we head home! We are a little more hopeful now that we can do it…

We got into Nantes in the late afternoon, checked into our house and headed straight into town to see a robotic life-size walking elephant (which we could ride on!). After getting stuck in traffic for at least 30 minutes we finally gave up and decided to just go to the town center. Easier said that done. It ended up being the first night of a Christmas fair and streets were blocked off so we spent another 20 minutes looking for parking. In the brisk Saturday evening chill we stepped out (with sore butts from the long ride) to look around. Nantes is a sprawling, sort of in-between town in the northwestern corner of France. At one point it was the capital of France and it has moments of greatness but does not hold a tourist draw currently. However, it had areas of beauty that surprised us as we did not expect much from this town we’d never heard of. The cathedral loomed out of the center of the urban center, spotlighted and gleaming. The town center was cobblestoned and bustling with holiday shoppers and the Christmas fair surprised us with a carousel and a couple dozen booths selling local specialties (sausages, candies, hats, etc), all clustered around a fountain in a church square. We enjoyed crepes (first savory, then sweet) and headed home to get some sleep for the next day’s journey.