Spending a day in Nantes

Why don’t you make the most of your stay in La Baule so as to go on an outing to Nantes? The Cité des Ducs is only an hour away by car or by train, and it is full of treasures to discover with your loved one but also with your family.

The castle of the Dukes of Brittany is one of the great pride of the city. Located in its heart, it is surrounded by an imposing fortress, whose moat offers pleasant lawns to picnickers. The castle in which lived the famous Anne of Brittany is a building with a flamboyant Gothic style, of the fifteenth century, with additions of the XVIe and XVIIIe centuries. It shelters the Museum of Urban History, where you can discover the evolution of Nantes since the 17th century. 

Another unmissable places for those who are passionate about heritage: Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul cathedral, built in the Gothic style, which took nearly half a millennium (1434-1891). If you prefer the more recent architecture, you can do window-shopping in the elegant shops installed under the glass roof of the passage Pommeraye, architectural marvel of the mid-19th century.

As in all large cities, it is still best to lose oneself at random in the streets. Nantes is an enchantment for pedestrians, many ways are dedicated: discover Place Royale, rue Crébillon, rue Scribe, place Graslin, the district of Bouffay and its maze of small cobbled streets ...

While Nantes is rich in historical heritage, it has also reinvented itself in the 21st century by relying on a dynamic and particularly creative cultural policy. Many art centers / cafes / restaurants / galleries have in this way invested old industrial wasteland, like the One Place, installed in the old biscuit factory. Also make a detour by the old shipyards, which today shelter the phantasmagoric creatures of "Machines of the Island", improbable crossings between the "invented worlds" of Jules Verne and the drawings of Vinci.