Our time in Nantes is dedicated to my friend Valerie, who got to live in this lovely city. It has history, it has what looks like a very healthy economy, it attracts oodles of tourists, and, yes, it even has a château.
We arrived late morning and were swept into the embrace of the Radisson Blu, which is the most stunning hotel in Nantes. Having negotiated some fairly horrendous hotel parking garages, where I am expected to do impossible things with our car, I almost kissed the feet of the young lady who promised to whisk our car away. This hotel is gorgeous, and we will live – on points and miles – in the lap of this luxury for two days.
Our first stop was lunch at the famous La Cigale, where we had a lovely and leisurely meal. Sigh. We will miss these midday feasts, at a level of quality and a price nowhere to be found in New York.
We strolled around a bit and then took the little tourist train to get oriented. More to explore tomorrow, but today we just walked, explored a few neighborhoods, and saw the inside of the cathedral, where François II and his wives are buried.
Beautiful day, beautiful city.
Glad to Nantes is treating you well! Fun fact is they built a temporary, one-room hotel around that beautiful fountain in Place Royal when I lived there. It was an art exhibit that you could visit during the day and at night they rented it out. The city knows how to put on a show! Just wait for the Elephant! I hope that’s on the agenda for tomorrow.