France 2026 / Day 4 - Nantes

Steps today: 19606

We continued our explorations of Nantes today, and found the first in the series of fountains where the women are planting the trees that will eventually take their places.  I should have taken close-up pictures.

Next was a visit to the Église Sainte-Croix

A cool artwork we spotted around town

Then the Passage Pommeraye which is made more interesting by it's multi-level construction

Time for some refreshments in Place Graslin

And finally the last fountain. Run ladies, Run!! (I really regret not taking closer shots!)

On our way to our final destination we glanced through the Memorial to the Abolition of Slavery

Finally our journey's end: The Machines of Nantes which kind of disappointed us. I saw something on TV about it years ago, and all the guides say this is a top thing to see in Nantes, but it's just not our thing.  The Elephant was cool but we missed seeing it walk. You can ride it, but we passed.

Lunch was savoury crepes again, so delicious!

It was really hot and the trek out to see the machines and back killed us. After lunch we were dragging our asses!

We ended up at La Cigale which was on my list of "places to eat with gorgeous interiors", even the drinks menu is beautiful. Sadly for "just drinks" at 2PM we were relegated to the terrasse.  I had a Vodka Lemon Fizz. AMAZING! It's the kind of drink that goes down so clean and fresh and easy that you could easily have many - but that makes it dangerous so I stopped at one.

I vowed to come back for supper to sit inside.

We wandered aimlessly around town some more after this

Took walk in the dehydrated Botanical Gardens - dried up ponds and wilted blooms due to a ban on non-essential watering.

Sequoias!!

For supper we went to the Bouillon de la Paix. They open at 7PM so we were first, ready to eat. We are not late-eaters so this felt VERY late for us. The terrasse was bustling when we left.

Can't beat the prices at a Bouillon!

Time for bed after this; need to rest up for more adventures tomorrow!

France 2026 - Day 3 / Nantes

Steps today: 14 903 (feels too low - I miss my Fitbit!)

Happy Anniversary to us today - 23 years 💕

We headed out from Paris to Nantes a little before 8AM and arrived in Nantes just before 10AM. We left the bags at the hotel since the room was not ready and headed out to explore the city.

First up: The Castle. Château des Ducs de Bretagne where we walked around the ramparts a bit, but it got too hot for us in no time.

One of the fun and more unusual things to see in Nantes is a modern take on the Wallace Fountain. You might be familiar with these fountains seen all over Paris with statues of 4 women holding up the roof. 

Here's a picture of one I grabbed off the internet

In this reimagined version in Nantes there are 4 fountains that tell the evolving the story of the women. It's like a scavenger hunt to find them all - I had fun!

1. they start planting trees to hold up the roof so they don't have to carry the burden
2. two of the women start to climb out of the fountain onto the roof while the other two can finally sit down for a minute and take a load off
3. the trees are growing strong and all 4 women have made it to the roof
4. the final escape as they leave the fountain behind

I didn't find them in order, this is #2

One thing I really wanted to do here in Nantes ever since I started planning this trip over a year ago was to have a meal at L'entrecôte. We love this chain! The meal did not disappoint, and how nice that it was on our anniversary too!

Next, a zip through the Basilique Saint-Nicolas

And a drink in the Place Royal Square

We found the third fountain in the series, where all the women have clambered onto the roof - kinda hard to make out.... really meant to be admired in person.

By about 3PM, we went back to the hotel to check in and unpack, and take a power nap believe it or not! Great room.

Once we regained our energy, we headed out again and visited the Cathédrale Saint-Pierre et Saint-Paul.

Sadly the outside leaves much to be desired...

But the inside was very nice, this statue on particular was remarkable

After this, it was Aperol Spritz O'clock!

 And then supper.

 

We were back in the room a little after 8PM. Another excellent day!