Crown Jules
reminder of the darker side of Nantes’ history, one that saw its port claim responsibility for nearly half the country’s transatlantic slave trade in the 18th century. The port here was once the largest in France, and its maritime heritage is still woven into the city’s fabric.
It’s here that its industrial past meets its artistic present. In fact, you can’t miss it.
Sitting on the former shipyard is a giant carousel bursting with mechanical sea creatures, inspired by Verne’s classic novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Seas.
My city pass gets me a ride on a mythical sea dragon and, before the fun is over, a new character emerges. Like something straight from the pages of Around The World In Eighty Days, a colossal mechanical elephant strides towards us, carrying delighted passengers on its back and spraying water at unsuspecting spectators below.
It goes to show that, like any good story, you can never predict what will happen next.
My next excursion takes me to one of France’s best kept secrets, Clisson. Barely 20 minutes into the countryside on the train from Nantes, I step from the station into a charming Tuscan inspired dreamworld. As I head for a riverside lunch at La Villa Saintantoine, every turn on my stroll reveals a more picturesque scene, and it’s by design. Having been devastated by war and fire during the French Revolution in the late 18th century, Clisson was redesigned by Lyon-born Frederic Lemot after his exile from Italy during the revolutionary wars.
He did so with the landscapes of Tuscany and the paintings of Baroque artists in mind, the result being a village worthy of being held in the Musee d’arts, which fittingly has its origins here. I follow tour guide Thierry up steep steps and medieval streets, passing under the 14th century covered market, one of the oldest in France.
Its breathtaking wooden roof miraculously survived the battles on account of it being an important resting post for republican troops.
Next I saunter up to the castle, which was left in ruin by Lemot after the civil wars so it could form an element of the scenery. From here I look across the babbling river to the 32 acre English gardens that surround Lemot’s perfectly preserved La Garenne Lemot, an Italianate villa built to be his home.
Back in Nantes, I stroll through the stunning Passage Pommeraye, a three-storey Art Deco-style shopping arcade, before heading back to my hotel just around the corner. The hotel bar at the four-star Oceania, an 18th-century former private mansion house, has a glamorous buzz about it, with velvet chairs, ornate gold lamps and zebra print wallpaper.
Its central location is ideal for
those travelling here for the Wales and Ireland Rugby World Cup matches at the impressive Stade de la Beaujoire this autumn following the hotly-anticipated Summertime Voyage à Nantes, this year from July 1 to September 3.
This gem of a city won’t stay off the tourist radar for long, especially when that influx of rugby fans discovers it, and perhaps that’s for the best. After all, good things can’t stay hidden for ever. The same can be said for any great story – it’s wasted if nobody opens its pages.