Blogs from Nantes, Pays-de-la-Loire, France, Europe - page 2

Dinner at Blain 16thOct Such a pretty place. Such a plain name. We got the good oil suggestion to camp on the waterfront. Camped beside a canal. Rustic footbridge bridge across the canal. On the other side of this little waterway is Le Chateau de la Groulais – A castle built from between the 11th and 14th Centuries. Not so new. Its a pretty enough set of buildings and some poor Frenchman now tries to eke out a living by running a flash noshery from the site, feeding well fed food loving French. Speaking of eating- what did we have for dinner last night as we camped there? Well you get bit tired of steak, fish, pork, and chicken. So it was time to try cheval. Unusual to us but commonly available in butcheries and supermarkets ... read more

Jo and I were up around 0830 but were fairly sure we wouldn't see the Herbys for a while due to their recovery from the delayed flight the previous day. We set the GPS for the centre of Nantes and headed off in search of some breakfast, stopping in a carpark that was being set up as a market. We found a cafe and had a coffee and a hot chocolate before discovering the market. There was a heavy Arabic influence to the market, with olives, spices and several stalls offering hot Arabic fare straight from the pots. Our interest was in the breads and cheeses initially and we picked up some ripe brie, a camembert and a blue cheese for less than EUR8. Further into the market we picked up olives, cherries, nectarines, wine, meat ... read more

Rained again in the night. Stopped by morning. What a brilliant arrangement ! Kismee stayed in the garage today as there is an excellent, very frequent, tram service right into the city centre from just outside the campsite. We managed to buy some tickets in a machine at the tram station and took the no. 2 to Commerce and then no. 1 to the bridge for Les Machines de L’Ile. All very easy. I found a description for Les Machines de L’Ile as “an artistic, cultural and touristic project”. All of that and more. A set of animatronic amazing and fantastically imaginative machines. First we rode the Giant Elephant. We were really lucky in our timing all day. Arrived at 10:45, bought a ticket, took a ride at 11:00. Absolutely brilliant – riding out of the ... read more

Départ pour un peu plus de 5 mois au Chili, dernières minutes en France sous une pluie battante avant de rejoindre Santiago où il fait plus de 30°C en ce moment !!! Je pars pour étudier mais aussi pour profiter de ce pays magnifique qu'est le Chili mais aussi de tout le continent ! Je suis très excité de découvrir ce nouveau monde, moi qui malgré mes nombreux voyages ne suis jamais sorti d'Europe...... read more

On Sunday, I was to meet up with the other BGSU students at the Nantes train station at 4:15. It was a hell of a day to say the least. Contacting them was impossible and a single mishap would make finding them very, very difficult. My checkout at the apartment I was previously staying at was for 11am. There was that awkward five hour gap where I had nowhere to go and all of my bags. I wasn't exactly sure what to do. I took a chance went to the new apartment complex hoping I could check in early. Boy was I wrong. Sundays are like a holiday in France. No one works, many of the smaller transportation routes do not run. Instead of uncovering bad memories I am just going to say that Sunday was ... read more