So, it's probably just the culture shock, but I liked Nantes far better than Bordeaux. It was such a fun place, and I'm so glad I went. I almost actually skipped it, and I'm still not sure how I wound up there. Because my dad hadn't even heard of it before. And to be honest, I don't know how I heard of it. All I know is that it was great fun.
So I had another uneventful train ride through the French countryside, where I tried to write, and didn't get a lot done. I arrived at the train station and walked over to my airbnb, who happened to live right next door to a castle. So that was crazy. Like, I was walking along the road, and the BOOM, a giant chateau. I was not expecting that, but it was really cool.
And then I went up and met my hosts, who were very nice. One of them spoke very good English, and her fiancé spoke some too. She recently moved from Paris and he's a pilot for boats on the river in Nantes. I had a nice little room, and the skylight had a lovely view of the cathedral. It was nice. There was also internet access.
But, as I had learned in Bordeaux, you gotta go out and get into it. So I asked my hosts for some advice and they pointed me in the general direction of where I should go, and then I went off. My hosts suggested a creperie for dinner, but maybe I'm just not French enough, because a crepe is not dinner. Especially not when I had eaten half a sandwich all day long.
Oh, yeah, I have a new eating schedule on this trip, that involves far fewer meals that it did before. Small breakfast, skip lunch, and eat a large dinner. It works.
So instead of crepes, I went to a restaurant that served couscous, which I like a lot. And I got their lamb couscous.
They brought SO MUCH FOOD. It was wonderful. I mean, I could have easily split it with someone, but they had couscous and raisins and garbanzo beans (or... they have another name... what do we call them in Spanish... they're... I dunno. Small tan things) and lamb and some sort of stew to pour over it all with vegetables, and it was wonderful. I waddled out of there.
And over to a tower that my hosts suggested I visit. They gave me a map with the place on it, but they also told me I probably wouldn't need it. This confused me, until I looked up and saw what has to be the only skyscraper in western France. And I went towards it. Once I got to the entrance, I went up and found myself in what is possibly the strangest, most ridiculous place I've ever been.
Because on top of that skyscraper was a bar, and it was way too cool for me. Like, they were playing cool music, and there were people in their 30s sitting around sipping drinks, and it was all dark and cool.
But the views were great.
I think that's the cathedral.
That's definitely me
It was the tail end of sunset, so that was cool.
But, you know I like seeing cities from above, and this was just supercool.
It was like there were rivers of light all through the city.
Now, there's one other thing about this too-cool for me bar.
It was seagull themed.
Yeah, those are eggs. And also chairs.
And that is how I wound up on top of the only skyscraper in Nantes drinking Earl Grey tea sitting in an egg-shaped chair in a seagull themed bar.
I could not stop laughing the whole time I was there.
It was crazy.
But the walk back was nice, once I finished my tea.
You know how I love walking around at night.
That's the chateau behind me.
it's hard to see in the dark, but it was very large and very impressive.
So, I chilled some more that night, relaxed, showered, even watched an episode of a TV show! *gasp* and then went to bed.
The next morning, I woke up and hit the road.
And this is the view out my skylight.
Not too shabby.
So first I went to the chateau to check opening times, then I wandered around Nantes a little bit.
That's the tower with the seagull bar. Isn't it noticeable?
And that's a pretty building.
And a fountain
That is the most painful selfie I have ever seen.
Honestly, I even thought that the street lamps were cool.
The opera house.
Impressive, as opera houses are.
and it had a cool design on the floor.
Then I found a little garden, and read there for a little while.
Then I went back to the chateau, and it was open.
Which made me happy.
It was also free, which made me even happier.
I like the random intricate well.
I didn't mean to take this picture.
Wow, that looks really menacing with the clouds.
My phone was messing up.
But that's the courtyard. It was HUGE.
And there was a flag.
and some very dark looking clouds.
But generally, it was really nice.
And very old
and very impressive.
I took this one on accident too, but look at that profile!
It also had a moat. I want a moat.
And there was a nice view of the rest of the city.
I was having fun.
And really, I just loved being out on the ramparts walking around.
It was a pretty day, and there was lots of cool stuff to see.
And all very French.
Like something out of a fairytale.
That's the cathedral off in the distance.
Selfie with the Cathedral.
There's the skyscraper in the center.
And I just enjoyed that view.
Seriously, you don't see stuff that looks like that in Spain!
Like, it was FRENCH.
But that was OK.
There was a bagpiper down there. Which I found odd, but very nice.
I'm not sure that this is the most appropriate setting for bagpiping.
But I like the bagpipes.
And it was a nice day,
and why not?
The cathedral once again.
I stayed right down that street.
I'm still not over the moat.
The cathedral once again.
Parts of the chateau.
Which was actually built by the last duke of Brittany,
when it was still an independent state.
He died when his daughter and heir was only 10,
and then when she got older the King of France kind of forced her to marry him
so that he could have Brittany.
It worked, obviously, but then the King died
and the Queen came back to Brittany, and like, made sure her father had a nice tomb.
That's a statue of her.
Duchess Anne.
And now, we leave the chateau,
and head to the Cathedral.
It was a very nice cathedral.
It had been restored very recently, so it was very clean.
and just beautiful.
It was also very different in design and feel from the Spanish cathedrals I had been in.
Which was kind of different than what I expected.
This was the tomb that Duchess Anne made for her parents.
It was lovely.
And there are going to be a lot of pictures of stained glass, because the stained glass in this cathedral was gorgeous.
but, yeah, that's the tomb.
And that's one of the stained-glass windows
It was all pastels, and it looked like Easter.
This is Courage strangling a dragon. I thought it was awesome.
I think the stained-glass is relatively new, but I just loved it, it was very abstract, and the colors were lovely
and the cathedral itself was very light, so
the pastel stained-glass really added to that feeling.
It was breathtaking.
It doesn't really have a pattern or images, it was just different colors of glass, but it looked lovely.
My pictures don't really do it justice.
Another tomb, on the other side of the cathedral.
The organ and the back of the cathedral.
The altar.
The pulpit.
An older piece of stained glass. This one has images, including a picture of the cathedral itself. In grey, right below the blue.
yeah, Spanish cathedrals and their chapels were much heavier. More gold, and much busier.
It's impressive, but this had a certain elegance.
My hosts in Nantes are going to get married in this cathedral
and I think that they're very lucky.
It just looks right for a wedding.
And it is very conveniently located.
But yeah, it was a very different experience, but I'm glad I went in.
The outside isn't much, but I like it.
The inside is definitely the best part, though.
Cathedrals look so intimidating when you photograph them from this angle.
Like they're judging you.
It had a pulpit outside, which was cool.
And so I selfied in front of it.
So then I went back to the flat, and got the stuff to send to the US, and went to the post office and took care of that. It was nuts. Between me not understanding French very well, and trying to fit everything into the box they gave me and not knowing the zip code for Nantes. But I got it shipped off, and hopefully it will make it to Athens. And then I went and got a crepe to reward myself. And because I hadn't eaten yet that day.
So then I went back to the apartment, and picked up my stuff and headed back, past the chateau
to the train station, where I got on a train to Rennes.
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