I was in Malaga in Andalucia and my destination was Quiberon, Bretagne.
I always liked Nantes as a place to change from an intra European flight to the train that would deposit me in Auray.
During the period most travelled, people trying to get to their families for the festive occasions, here I am trying to go from point A to point B with the least amount of encumbrances.
Nantes is a good place to change from a flight to a train.
Normally, the flight from Madrid to Nantes arrives late in the afternoon. But during this holiday season the flight left Madrid at 7:30 am and arrived 9:10 am in Nantes.
I had a full day at Nantes
Nothing was planned.
My initial flight was cancelled from Madrid to Marrakech and I remembered my friends from Nantes who live in Morocco who had to leave on a humanitarian flight to France a few days before.
They were waiting
and eager to show me their lovely town which I enjoyed very much. I am partial to the history and culture of Bretagne and I enjoyed the trip through their very walkable town.
Lounge Velazquez, soon after the Fast track Security clearance.How quickly can the temperature change? I had travelled only a little north to Nantes and on arrival the colour of the skies and the presence of the clouds announced another country and demanded a more protective clothing.My friend showed me a print he had acquired in Pondicherry on his visit there. Imagine his surprise and my joy to be able to decipher the painting! The painting is from Old Cochin, even though in Pondicherry someone had added: How can you resist the charm of an Ambassador?
S.KODER the name above was the leading JEW of COCHIN for many years, the car perhaps belonged to him. I see the name Kashi Art Cafe a very popular care in Burgher street written down on the painting. What a small small world it is !
On the way to the Creperie I could not help noticing the name of this street. Jews had been invited expelled and killed and banished and sent to concentration camps, as chronicled from 13 century. The recent arrival of Maghrebian jews have once again brings Jewish life to this ancient city.Like every other mid size european city, Nantes also has its fair share of Kebab, North Indian, Vietnamese and fake Japanese as well as Thai restaurants..Quimper is a town steeped in Breton culture and we wondered whether the owners had any connection to that town. No, when we changed our name to The Old Quimper, our clientele increased!To be frank, the quality of the crepes, the taste, the additions tasted different from crepes found in small towns in Brittany. It is incredible since Nantes borders culturally to the Bretagne region.
The building which houses the Creperie seems to be an old one and part of the old structures are well preserved.
Queen Anne of Brittany is still well loved in Brittany. She lived in the 15th century and was married to three French Kings and twice became Queen of France!
The cathedral is built nearby so that Queen Anne could walk to the Cathedral.after the visit to the Chateau we continued our visit. It was curious to see a long line at the Boulangerie and the reason was apparent on closer inspection
I took this picture to send to my malaysian friend Ana who has the Guinot franchise at KLCC in Kuala Lumpur.Nantes participated in its own way in the slave trade, over 4000 journeys commenced here at the port. The people who became rich built sumptuous mansions along the river which can still be seen and some occupied by their descendants.
Beautiful fountain depicting River Loire and its tributaries.
the houses of rich merchants of the slave trade era. I put this photo twice to remind all people in UK, USA and the European nations who benefitted from the three way trade.. goods to Africa, humans to the new world, products of the new world to the old world (sugar, tobacco and surprisingly potato)The River
I had to comment that the architecture in Nantes seem much more Parisian than its neighbour Bretagne. Nantes was not isolated over the centuries like Bretagne.Now to prepare for unexpected culinary pleasures
With covid 19 Omicron surging in France, people were celebrating sensibly and most importantly quietly and alone with close friends or family. Neighbours of my friends, one of them a retired chef had prepared the dinner with assistance from my friends with oysters and other delicacies.The French custom of apertif is an attractive one for me and that is where I cultivated the habit of drinking champagne. My french friends said that while they were growing up champagne and foie de gras were for the rich but there has been more equalization of the society. We opened the first bottle of Champagne.
The foie gras, smoked salmon, clams in garlic.. and a nice bottle of champagne. I could not find a rating for that champagne on my US phone app. Champagne is not that often drunk in the USA and always on some sort of special celebration. Bubbly to them is the popular Prosecco or a sparkling one from California.
As we were chatting and eating, a second bottle of champagne was necessary and my friend went down and got from one from his stock.
The language of the conversation was a sticky point but not un unsurmountable one. People spoke in the language they felt comfortable with and if it was something very important then it was translated into the other language.
Since I was the unexpected guest, the conversation began with my interest and i began talking about my interest in Bretagne and its people.
One of the guests produced some photographs, black and white, of life in Brittany. In my experience, Bretons are very family oriented and also region oriented in that they seem to know a lot of people connected by families. Bretagne was an impoverished and isolated part of France for centuries and a great camaraderie had developed over this long period of isolation.
Alan Stivel is still active and in this photo you see his portrait possibly advertising a concert. The Bigoudene which formed the part of coiff of the breton women has completely disappeared. It is a warning to many of the isolated cultures and languages (such as the Native Americans) that a culture, a language can disappear quickly.
a simple decoration. I thought Cuban artisans could make the clip saying Holidaying in Cuba and sell it to tourists.
Oysters but from near Nantes and also a second variety which tasted closer to the ones in QuiberonCaphon or Capon in English , is a large cock which has been castrated to make it big and muscular and friends had prepared it and it was the first time tasting it for me
By this time, I have had sufficient to eat, but I prepared a plate. Had I known there were still more to come, I would have made a smaller plate Cheese plate..
Past midnight along with the luscious desserts, another bottle of champagne arrives and the watch put there by the guest shows the time.. it is time for champagne
The last bottle of champagne was better than the earlier two and I enjoyed it even though i was bursting at the seams.
On top of the three bottles of champagne we also had two bottles of wine with our dinner..When I left Malaga on 30 december 2021, I did not know where I would be spending the New Years Eve on the subsequent day. Unexpected pleasures are the best . I felt no anxiety that I should enjoy this day, the forceful expressions of happiness with loud noises or excessive behaviour of many sorts. I was with friends, some old and some new, and had a delightful time, eating very good friend and drinking some of the France's finest.. I remembered the quiet New Year's eve spent in Miami with my good friends M/G with good food, nice conversation without the forced gaiety. New Years Eve, memorable ones had been spent: Siem Reap Havana Baracoa Cochin in recent years.
Moments like this makes you realize life's certain important questions. It is not what you have that is important but what you truly are. Then others can see that goodness and your days and nights would be calm, as I am feeling now finishing this blog, and peaceful with the world around you.
Light show at Nantes cathedral, this years theme was Amazonie.
It is time to take the train to Bretagne. France has my respect for the services it provides its citizens. Today being a weekend day, all public transportation is free for all citizens. Pregnant women, children under age 6 and older people under certain jurisdictions do not pay at all. In my humble opinion they have the best health care system in the developed world (I also admire the health care system in Israel)
A piano has been placed, well tuned, in the waiting area where one by one many of the passengers belted out french melodies well known to all.
My destination station is Auray in Morbihan and the train meanders through picturesque villages with sonorous names such as Questembert (french pronounciation of breton, Kristeberzh)
The train slowly leaves the station and one takes the last glimpse of Nantes at the tower as it moves northwest towards Morbihan
The Lu Tower, Nantes, Pays de la Loire, France
Since January 1st, 2000, the LU, as in ‘Lefeuvre Utile’, has turned into LU, as in ‘Lieu Unique’ (unique spot). On the banks of the Saint-Felix canal, the old factory of the famous manufacturer of Petit Beurre biscuits was transformed into a place that plays an essential role in the cultural life of Nantes. A space for artistic exploration, it is the site of the National Centre for Contemporary Arts and holds an auditorium where shows, exhibits and performances are held. However, for locals and visitors alike, the LU has become much more than this. Entirely post-modern, with its architecture of an abandoned factory, people of all ages cross paths at its bar and famous terrace of loungers, its restaurant, its Turkish bath, its nursery, its bookshop, etc. The Lieu Unique is a ‘Lieu de Vie’ (Place of Life).
Inaugurated at the end of 1885, the factory was in operation for a century before definitively closing its doors in 1989. In 1998, one of the two 38m towers which marked the entrance to the LU factory (the other was destroyed during the bombings) was entirely renovated and boasts its original shapes and bright colours.
SEE YOU SOON, NANTES. AND MERCI BEAUCOUP TO AMIS NANTAIS
