So Long, Farewell Nantes, It Has Been A Pleasure. Tuesday 30th June 2009.

Our train departs at 1pm today. I will be sad to leave. Our exchange in Nantes has been a great one and we have loved living in Dom and Claire’s home, it has been a haven of tranquillity. I am happy to say we are leaving with all fish fed and fully accounted for, and all plants in the indoor garden are brimming with good health. Julie said I would kill them with kindness but I didn’t.
We all got up early and played our part in cleaning the house, the boys had done the car last night. Alex went into village Zola himself to get the lunch-time supplies of fresh baguette. By the time we were ready to leave, our home in Nantes shone from top to bottom. By now Dom, Claire and family will have left our home and will be on their way to Cairns in a mobile home, what fun.

The train trip was interesting to say the least. Across the aisle was a lady with a very pampered pooch. On their arrival to the train carriage, Madame Pooch trotted out all kinds of accessories, I wouldn’t have been surprised if she pulled an X-Box out of her bag to keep her little darling occupied. First she brought out a comfy bed and placed it on the seat next to her, that had to be moved when a young man came to sit beside Madame. After the bed, came the squeaky toy, the fluffy toy, and of course a biscuit and a bone for pooch to enjoy. Sitting opposite Madame was a very intolerant new mother with her fussed over little baby, each shot daggers at the other, words were exchanged – I don’t think the new Mummy was at all impressed to have a dog as a travelling companion. You know the type, ‘My baby is the most precious thing on Earth Mummy’. Anyway, we all ended up on Madame Pooch’s side as the new Mummy was rude to everyone. The pampered pooch was so well behaved, obviously used to long train journeys. Madame took pooch out for a quick lap of the train stations as we stopped, preventing any nasty toilet incidents inside the carriage.

A quick change of train in our old home town of Lyon, Alex wanted to dash outside the station for a quick run up and down Rue Republique, there was no time for that we assured him. Before long we pulled into Beaune, Timothy and Pauline were there to meet us, Pauline would be staying in our home in a few weeks time. Annie (Timothy’s Mum) was waiting our arrival at Combertault, our new exchange and home for the next five weeks. Our home is in a little enclave of about a dozen houses, we are at the end of a wee village road, pretty and serene.

People That Warm Your Heart. Sunday 28th June 2009.

Sleep evaded us last night. The neighbours behind us had a party. They had knocked on our door and warned us but we had no idea they would have the music pumping until 6.30 am! We dragged ourselves out of bed feeling as though we had been hit by a truck. To soften the blow, the neighbours invited us for drinks on Monday night at 8.

Etienne, who we had met at the fete yesterday, arrived to pick us up at 6pm with a face full of smiles. He drove us via the new home he and his family would move into in 3 months time. We arrived at his apartment, Morgane was there and their three young kids.

The champagne corks popped and before long Vincent and Annie were ringing the door bell. What a great time we had.

Etienne had lived in Australia years before, he fell in love with it and was preparing to move down under permanently when he met Morgane. Now, three kids later, part of his heart still belongs down under. His little girl Julliette Sydney, was named after the city he has such fond memories of.

After our visit I received this email...
“Thank you for your visit to our little home. It is always a pleasure to share moments with people that nothing should meet. (Australia is so far) You allowed my memories back to my brain. This will further motivate us to organize a trip in my second country in the heart. You will always be welcome. Bon voyage and see you soon.”

Meeting families like Vincent, Annie’s, Ettiene and Morgane’s will remain a very special piece of our home-exchange in Nantes.

We look forward to seeing you all in Oz!

Fete de L'Ecole. Saturday 27th June 2009.

Happy Birthday Bugs! I had sent Julie home with a birthday card on her departure from Nantes and last night I had emailed and sent Skype messages so she would wake up to Happy Birthday greetings. I hope Collingwood won for you Bugs!

We met Vincent and Annie at the fete, Annie was on the patisserie stall which I gotta say left the Aussie cake stalls for dead! Vincent introduced us to Morgane and Etienne, Etienne had lived in Australia years before and had so many tales to tell, so before long we had an invitation for drinks on Sunday night, Etienne will pick us up at 6.

We saw the class room of Tristan, the boy of the family we are home-exchanging with. The kids put on a concert, there were games and stalls. Alex hooked up with Vincent and Annie’s eldest girl, Clemonce, and he and her group of friends hung out together.

The French administration bamboozled us again, this time at a school fete. We lined up and ordered 2 cafes, they were made for us but we had not understood that we needed a ticket to purchase coffee. Luckily Annie was nearby and explained we were Aussie tourists and she would look after it. We worked it all out, went and bought our two tickets, and paid our debt.

Alex was invited to Vincent and Annie’s for dinner and to hang out, he was so happy about that. He went over at 7 and Vincent delivered him home at about 11, they had pizza for dinner, and Alex and the girls went to the movies together. JR and I jumped on a tram into the city and had dinner together which was lovely. I am so happy Alex has had another batch of kids to be with. He came home beaming.

Time To Just Be. Thursday 25th June 2009.

We headed to Parc de Proce, about 20 minutes walk from home, cricket bat and ball in hand. We had a few rounds of French cricket (how fitting!) and a few throws of the ball, AJ found some guys to play tackle football with. We all watched Mums chasing gangs of unruly toddlers, the boys with sticks in hand; the ducks, geese and swans their target. The girl of the group was more interested in how the sunlight played on the branch of leaves she had acquired, the differences between girls and boys.

Les Machines de Lile. Tuesday 23rd June 2009.

The sun shone brightly on the garden this morning. I wandered about checking the progress of the raspberries, strawberries, red-currants and zucchinis; they were all coming along just fine. The warmth had sprouted many new berries for us to enjoy over the coming week and the zucchinis had doubled in size from the day before.

We arrived at Nante’s premier tourist attraction at 1pm, in time to visit the Galleries of the machines before our ride on the giant, mechanical elephant at 2.45. We fronted up to the ticket desk to buy our tickets to both the gallery and the ride, this was not possible. We could only buy the ticket to the Gallery, then, at 2pm precisely, we had to come back to the same ticket desk to purchase the ticket to ride the giant elephant at 2.45. Strange we thought and shared a little chuckle. We bought our first ticket and had one hour to visit the gallery, when 2pm came, one of us would duck out, buy the tickets to the elephant ride and come back into the gallery to finish the tour. This was not possible. Once you were in you had to complete the tour. We were perplexed at why we could not buy both tickets at once allowing us until 2.45pm to explore the gallery and then go straight to the elephant. Oh well, it was not possible. We toured the gallery which was a little ho hum, after all, the staff had kicked the joy out of us at first sight. We returned to the ticket desk at two minutes before two and ordered 3 tickets to ride the elephant. No, this was not possible, we were two minutes early. Can you believe the administration of these places, it’s crazy! We all shared another little giggle, waited precisely two minutes and when the magic hour of 2pm arrived the lady behind the counter said, ‘Now, you can buy your tickets to the elephant’. Voila! We are still unable to work out what had changed to allow the ticket seller to process our request but were happy to have the tickets in hand. Now we had 45 minutes to twiddle our thumbs before the ride, after all, it was not possible to re-enter the Gallery.

They had the strangest toilet signs too!

The ride was wonderful and so much fun, you can see by the pictures we were so high up, it was well worth the palaver to get there.

We BBQ’d the French way tonight – without a Barbie Mate or gas. It was fun and JR showed AJ how to light the fire and keep it going and they both did a smashing job of the snags!

Fete de la Musique. Sunday 21st June 2009.

After the storms and rain from the first week we arrived in Nantes, to the blue sky, warmth and sunshine of this week, the grass had gone crazy, so JR set about running the mower over it. He soon decided that electric mowers are a joke after negotiations with the extension cord at every turn.

AJ felt like some alone time so stayed at home while JR and I took the ferry to the traditional fishing village of Trentemoult. It is strange to have such a sleepy little village, one that time forgot, just a few minutes ferry ride across the Loire from the city. It wasn’t so sleepy today though. Today is Fete de la Musique, the day when every street in France comes alive with celebrations and music. We witnessed Fete de la Musique the last time we were in Paris and it was electric. Celebrations in the usually quiet village of Trentemoult included stunt bikes riding down a ramp to land with spectacular style in the Loire, sometimes only just missing the concrete bank!

At about 8pm we took the tram into the city for Fete de la Musique and got into the thick of the action. Every street corner showcased a style of music different to the last, rock, Latin, African, live DJ’s, the list goes on. Nantes was alive with music, dance and good times and everyone was out on the streets soaking it up and taking part.

Sleepy Heads. Thursday 18th June 2009.

The business of touring is certainly a tiring one and this morning it was 11am before any of us woke. Thursday is local market day and by the time we arrived it was almost over, it had lost its shine. I did bag a bargain though, fresh prawns for €1 per 100 grams and they were delicious. We did stop in at Cremerie Coudel to stock up on the weeks supply of Comte, that had been aged beautifully for 24 months.

The afternoon came, and we all ventured to Ille de Versailles to hire a boat to cruise up and down the L’Erdre. Alex drove most of the way and wore a smile plastered across his face the entire way, it was great fun. We had packed a picnic and ate it under the shade of a tree on Ille de Versailles. We fed the ducks before jumping back on the tram to the centre of town.

The boys headed home and I stayed in the thick of things for a while, I wanted to revisit the beautiful Passage Pommeraye. At its entrance I discovered the luscious Maison Larnicol, a gorgeous chocolatier, also specialising in brightly coloured macaroons. The had a Ferrari chocolate in the window for €29 too.

A Day In Nantes. Sunday 14th June 2009.

Julie and I left the boys at home for a while and discovered the delightful hidden beauty in the back streets of Nantes this morning. Jardin de la Psalette is tucked away far from the main streets, it seems a well kept secret, a place where locals come to sit in solitude under the shady trees with a side view of the aging stonework on the Cathedrale Saint Pierre.

Julie’s mission was to enjoy an authentic French eclair before her return to Oz. We found two beauties in La Boulangerie d’ Antan, mine filled with a rich caramel pastry cream and hers filled with chocolat, both were decorated with swirls of piped icing on a smooth bed of the same. We ate them together in the shade of an anonymous little park lined with wooden benches seemingly just made for times like this.

The discovery of Eglise Saint Nicholas was an unexpected surprise. Candles offered their warm glow inside, flooding the cold stone walls with warmth. I like it here, I like the big rust coloured doors left ajar welcoming us inside.

Lunch was a mixed bag today at Les Pieds dans le Plat. Everything was lovely except the decomposing salad leaves that accompanied our entrees, it was disguisting. The lovely waiter agreed and apologised graciously. My smoked duck was lovely as was my pave of boeuf sprinkled with the much loved local sea-salt.

We met JR and AJ on the tram, JR was very careful not to get our meeting arrangements mixed up today after yesterday’s debacle. The tram let us off at Motte-Rouge which was a short amble along L’Erdre to Ile de Versailles. We picked wild cherries and ate them, their blood-red juice staining everything it touched. We had come to hire a boat to putt along the river, but they were booked out as it was a lovely sunny Sunday and all of Nantes had had the same brilliant idea. Never mind, we assured AJ we would do it again another day, after all it was his idea and he was a little disappointed, the down side is that Auntie Julie will not be there to share in the fun. The Ile de Versailles was a great people watching spot, that whiled away some time.

Back on the tram and off again soon after, as we spotted a band playing on the banks of the river. Wierd was an understatement as they experimented with an eclectic range of musical styles to a very mixed crowd... interesting!



Back on another tram to Ile de Nantes where we walked along La Loire for what seemed and eternity to have dinner in the area of Hangar 32 and Hangar a Bananes, taking its name from when the hangar was used to ripen masses of bananas ready for eating. It was about 8ish when we got there, and to our amazement, all of the places were closing for the night or were only bars with snacks. The precinct was great, very arty attracting a young and interesting crowd, but we wanted to eat and there were no options. Back to pounding the pavement and along the way we discovered the coolest playground. We all had turns on the flying-fox which I gotta say was pretty scary! AJ loved it, what fun we all had. We decided not to scour the city for a suitable restaurant tonight and headed home for a hearty plate of tagliatelle carbonara, it was delicious and well worth the wait by the time we ate at 11pm!

AJ disappeared from the dining table after dinner, he returned saying, “Madames, your foot soak awaits you in the bathroom”. He had run an ankle deep bath of cold water with a dash of sweet smelling bath soak. Julie and I sat on the edge of the bath and soaked our aching feet until we felt better again. Alex delivered to us our drink of choice, mine a Bailey’s and Julie’s a vin rouge. Love ya AJ! JR and AJ cleaned up the kitchen and there was not a thing left for us girls to do, thanks guys. X

Out and About. Thursday 11th June 2009.

Our local Thursday market in Zola is out of this world, fantabulous, super dooper!!! It is so much bigger than expected. Bounties pulled from the sea are definitely the go in Nantes with its close proximity to the ocean. Stainless steel trays are alive with crabs, I would hate to be the ones on the bottom of the pile, and langoustines wiggle their tails in flapping motions. We buy cherries of the deepest red, blushing tomatoes, lettuces, spongy brioche bread, aged Comte cheese, and the local specialty, ‘Fromage du Cure Affine au Muscadet’ which Julie loves and John and I are not sure of.










We meet a lovely lady, Francoise, in the supermarket. She helps Julie choose a sparkling wine and does a fine job of it too we find out later. I think Francoise enjoys the exchange as much as we do and everyone in line at the checkout smiles. The people here are so friendly it warms our hearts.




Julie buys us all a patisserie treat to enjoy back at home, which we do after Julie catches up with loved ones on Skype (gotta love skype!) and cuts a vase of red roses from the garden before we head out to explore again.

We begin at the banks of L’Edre that runs into the city centre. We are amazed to see a hippy-type living on the river in a very permanent set up, consisting of two boats hosting various shelters, smoke was puffing into the blue from the kitchen chimney and pots of nasturtiums spilled water ward. We give him a wave as he went about his daily activity, he looked incredibly busy.

Ignoring him, the pace is pretty slow here and we slow to a more relaxed pace too, the day gently meanders along while we discover the daily marché at Talansac. Not a favourite market of mine, give me the charm of our neighbourhood market any day. To be fair, we arrived around midday when most of the action was over and the stalls looked a little depleted, so did their charges, maybe earlier would have been better. I did however make a new discovery, ‘asperge sauvage’ which I have never seen before so that was an unexpected treat.



The city streets took us via a model shop which AJ swooned over and then to the beautiful Cathedrale Saint Pierre. Elegant pillars of ribbed, light stone stretched way up to heaven and back. The cavernous inside filled with fingers of natural light washing the cathedral in a pure beauty. We all wandered quietly on our own, the odd glance between Julie and I the only communication of our pleasure.


The Chateau of the Dukes of Bretagne was lovely to wander around and it was a surprise to see a pack of wolves wandering in the area that once was the mote. We stood on the bridge suspended above them watching as they played together, the dark one looked menacing and was a tad scary I thought.

As was becoming the norm, we had left our lunch run a little late (3 pm) so were stuck for somewhere decent to eat. We ended in a little craperie (sorry crêperie) and all had a very average meal of crepes and salad, there was no happy vibe to be felt at all.

Onto le lieu unique tower which sported an oh so average view of the city. I could get higher standing on tippy-toes! It had a spinning platform operated by a wheel so Alex worked up a sweat for a while.


A relaxed game of Boules was in play at Place de la Duchesse Anne, a few of its competitors ditched the game for a chat with some sticky-beaking Aussies, who were momentarily more interesting than the game.

As we made our way back through the heart of Nantes, I stopped at Yves Thuries for some salted caramels. They were light and chewy. Salted caramels are prevalent here due to the close proximity to sea-salt production.


The streets led us to Place Royale, its centrepiece a fountain and its remainder a typical square of vast space. Young girls chatted around the fountain and an artist used the pavement as his canvas.




Just off the square is Georges Gautier, Confiseur whose window is decorated with towers of coloured macaroons so typical of France. Inside is elegant and feminine, softly lit with chandeliers, Berlingots (Bon-Bons) de Nantes are bundled up in clear cellophane, showing off their fruity colours.

Passage Pommeraye is next to see and last on today’s hit list. Alex is wilting and tells me he is only keeping going for Julie; bless his cotton socks and the tired feet inside them. The historic passage is ornate, between each stair tread are flower inlays made of metal, chinks of light separating the petals. Lights are held by cherub-like statues and the ceiling is angled glass panes separated by high archways intricately carved. Each floor is supported by Romanesque columns of aged, white stone. Passage Pommeraye is easy on the eye and I make a mental note to return when I am not so weary.



We enjoy only a fleeting stop at Theatre Graslin whose pillared entrance is dead opposite Cafe la Cigale which is not to be missed. It reminds me of an old Parisian Cafe inside with walls adorned with glittering mosaic works of art.