Blogs from Nantes, Pays-de-la-Loire, France, Europe - page 7

Hey everyone, Well I finally had enough time for an update in the midst of all this busyness. It's now Wednesday, the middle of our week of orientation here at IES Nantes. Okay, well I left off with our arrival to Vannes for the weekend. On Friday, our day started with breakfast and loading onto the bus to see a few sights. We first visited a chateau (castle) from the Middle Ages called Suscinio. It was amazing, and we had a great tour. I've been in other old castles before, but none of them hit me like this one did. It was unbelievable, standing in the banquet room of the castle, listening to the guide explain in French what the banquets for the Duke and his court used to be like. She explained how the room ... read more

Well it had to happen after all these years of being blessed with brilliant weather for holidays. After last years two and a half months away and only three days of rain, my fine weather credits with buddha, god and allah have finally gone into the negative. Yesterday was one of those wonderful days sitting in the sunshine basking and enjoying life around Nantes, today all that has come to an end, so much so that I have been scaning the net in the hope of finding somewhere to escape to to build up the tan before jetting back home. But no such luck with a week to go before I'm on the big bird back home, the chances of escaping to a warmer clime are decreasing day by day. So there's been no alternative then ... read more

Having a bit of time to kill last night I thought I might go into the city (Nantes) and see what the night life was like, well early evening life anyway. After taking yet another route into the city from where I'm staying, (something to do with my uncanny ability not to navigate around strange cities) I arrived at my normal parking location. From there it was the usual aimless wonder around the city not paying any attention to the map. After a few misguided turns I ended up finding the Irish pub that I was looking for. The thing you notice over here is that they still smoke in bars, so you hold your breath run in order your drink and then escape back out to the chilly night air to sit outside. The bonus ... read more

There's a few things to see around Nantes while you're enjoying the sun and rain. The drive up to St Nazaire is not all that scenic but when you arrive there's lots of big boys toys to check out. Starting with the freshly made cruise ship the MSC Orchestra, hot of the press so to speak, getting loaded up for it's maiden voyage. Then there's the ship yard where they are building another cruise ship. These things are built in sections and then a crane drops each piece into place. After that it was off to the submarine that they have in one of the u-boat pens. Not bad but I think the one at the National Maritime Museum in Sydney or the Nucleur Sub at Cherbourg are done up better. But the interesting bit is ... read more

Well after a few days hanging around the Brittany coast I've come up with a couple of tips 1. When window shopping it's important that you scan the footpath ahead prior to gazing into the windows as you aimlessly wander along the street. This will save you the hassle of becoming bogged in a mound of dog sh** Remember try not to get distracted and keep scanning ahead. 2. I'm not sure if the French invented the roundabout but they sure have embraced it big time here in Nantes. There's the small roundabout, the square roundabout, the two roundabouts side by side, the ones with a tramline through the middle it's got it all. 2.(a) Driving around roundabouts, once upon a time I thought that the italians were the insane drivers of europe, well this has ... read more