Nantes, France

We’re now in France! Yesterday, we woke up at around 5:00 AM, took showers, ate a small breakfast of a banana, lugged our bags to the Tube, got off at the train station, took two high speed trains, and arrived in Nantes at around 5:30 PM. We checked into our hotel, took naps (I slept for about 2 hours), walked to a Carrefour and bought some bread and cheese for dinner. When we were finished with everything, it was about 11:00 PM; the time is deceiving because it stays light so late that it feels much earlier than the real time.


This morning we ate breakfast in our room and left at around 10:00 AM to explore the city of Nantes; this was a little later than normal, but we decided to take it a little easier today since it was Sunday. As we were walking along the river, we noticed some police cars and ambulances driving up to a spot near a bridge. When we got a little closer, we discovered that the authorities were investigating a body and I glimpsed the dead man’s face. Needless to say, it was one of my first experiences with seeing dead people (I might have seen a couple of people in China, though) and it was rather sad. It definitely put a damper on the rest of the day.

After seeing the deceased man, we continued walking and soon heard a kitten mewing. Confused by the sound because we were on a busy street, we decided to investigate and found a little kitten who was stranded in some bushes. It took a few minutes of our best cat impersonations, and some crawling around in the bushes, but Jean-Jacques was finally able to grab the kitty. We had to ask a few people if they knew about an animal shelter that was close before we found a family (mother, father, and toddler) who wanted to take the cat (either to adopt it or to run it to the shelter). They were thrilled and so were we, so all ended up well in the kitty rescue!


At this point, I discovered that I had left my purse in the hotel room. I’m not sure how Jean-Jacques manages to put up with my forgetfulness sometimes, because this isn’t the first time this has happened to me. Once I realized my mistake, we rapidly retraced our route back to the hotel (which, strangely enough, caused blisters on our feet) to recover the wallet. Fortunately, nothing had been taken, so the mishap had a happy ending.


We headed out into the heat again, though by this time Jean-Jacques and I were rather warm. We walked around Nantes for about an hour before we found the restaurant where we ate lunch, which was voted the best in the region. Deciding to splurge to celebrate Jean-Jacques’ job offer, we went with the menu special of a three course meal and were thrilled by our choice. I had a leg of lamb, Jean-Jacques chose the fish, and we both agreed that it was one of the best meals we’ve ever eaten. The restaurant’s décor was breathtaking and the food outstanding. 


Once we finished lunch (at around 3PM), we decided that it was time to return to the hotel because our blisters were hurting too much and we were rather overheated. There’s a reason that people in France relax during the middle of the day in the summer! It’s too darn hot to do much more than sit around enjoying coffee and conversation. 


This evening we ate dinner in the room because we had some left over food and were too full from lunch to eat a large meal. In total, I think we walked about six miles, so I’m sure we’ll sleep well tonight!


Tomorrow we’re picking up our car here in Nantes and driving to Vannes, which is about two hours away. Along the way, I think we’re going to stop at some stone formations that are similar to Stone Henge. À demain!