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6 Loire-Atlantique: Nantes, Clisson,
Muscadet country, and Bay of Bourgneuf
LA BAULE
Golf: Two courses - 18 holes and 9 holes
- at St-André-des-Eaux, north-east of the town.
Musée Aéronautique. Collection of old aircraft, gradually being restored to
flying condition by dedicated volunteers. Enthusiasts give guided tours of
the static machines, and organise a couple of flying days a year (in spring
and summer). Wed-Mon, afternoons (1 July-31 Aug, daily, afternoons). On
the south side of the aerodrome. Free, but donations welcome.
Tropicarium Bonsaï. Spiders, scorpions, turtles and giant frogs, plus exotic
flora, on show in a large glass-covered "amazonian" forest near
Pornichet railway station. Mon, Tues, Thurs-Sat, 9am-noon &
2-6pm; Sun 2-6pm (1 July-30 Sept, daily 9am-noon & 2-6pm). Route de
Brédérac (tel: 02 40 61 20 30). Bonsai displays free; tropicarium 30F,
children 15F.
LA BERNERIE-EN-RETZ
Panorama.
If you take the D97 north of Moutiers-en-Retz towards the somewhat more
strident resort of La Bernerie, you get a wonderful view over the Bay of
Bourgneuf from Crève-Coeur cliff, just beyond the village centre. On the
seafront are some cannons retrieved from the wreck of the Juste, a
French warship sunk by the English off Le Croisic in 1759.
BOUGUENAIS
Brocante: Emmaüs. A larger branch of
this chain of junk shops (profits go to the worthy cause of down-and-outs,
set up by the Abbé Pierre) has just opened (March 2006) to the south of
Nantes. Wed & Fri 2-5.30pm, Sat 9.30am-12.30pm & 2-5.30pm. Rue
Emmaüs/Rue de la Guilloterie, Bouguenais, S of the Nantes ring road near J49
Porte de Rezé (tel: 02 40 75 63 36).
CHÉMERÉ
Village 10km east of Pornic.
Festivals: Christ-Roi, passion play performed by local actors, in the theatre
of Sainte-Pazanne, 8km south-east of Chémeré, Feb-April.
Forêt
de Princé. Abour 2km north-east of the village, if you turn left off
the D66, you find yourself in a wooded area with a sinister past. Many
children from the surrounding area were abducted by the evil Gilles de Rais
in the 15th century; anyone who goes seven times on a moonless night around
the menhir on the left near the junction is supposed to glimpse Hell; a
little farther along the forest road, some 2,000 people massacred in these
woods between 1793 and 1796 are commemorated by a tall monument.
CORCOUÉ-SUR-LOGNE
The Logne river winds alongside the road
on the south side of this quiet village, 28km south of Nantes. The evil
Gilles de Rais owned a castle at nearby La Bénate.
Grissauland. Serious karting
and off-road centre 3km south of the village.
LE LOROUX-BOTTEREAU
A hilltop village 18km east of Nantes,
overlooking miles of Muscadet vineyards (ask at the tourist office for a map
of some 35 producers in the area). Outside the cathedral-sized church, a
monument commemorates 4,500 Lorousains (as the inhabitants are known) who
died during the 18th-century Vendée wars.
Église
de St-Jean-Baptiste. On the north wall of the church, beneath an 18th-century
bas-relief of Moses and the Israelites, are a pair of frescoes rescued from
an earlier church in the village. Dating from around 1200, they are thought
to show episodes from the life of St Giles - a Greek who settled in France in
the area of Nîmes. The top one, a hunting scene, recalls the legend of King
Flavius of the Goths, who tried to shoot a deer that was under the saint's
protection; the lower one is said to depict St Giles receiving from the
Emperor Charlemagne the confession that he had made his own sister pregnant -
on the left of the picture the girl, Gisèle, is being married off to a
nobleman. Look out, too, for a 1926 wall-painting depicting a dying soldier
of World War I, who sees scenes from his village flashing before him. You can
climb to the top of the tower for a superb view over the surrounding
vineyards (key obtainable from the tourist office).
Festivals: Brocante market, Place Rosmadec, second Sunday of the
month.
NANTES
The former Palais de Justice is set to
become a luxury hotel, with an adjacent public art gallery.
Maison Jules Verne The house
that contains memories of the great writer has had an extensive remodelling.
PAIMBOEUF
On the Loire, halfway between St-Nazaire
and Nantes, this faded but once-important port has old quays and alleys left
from its bustling 18th-century heyday as a shipbuilding centre before its
industrial thunder was stolen by the new port of St-Nazaire on the opposite
bank. The town's extraordinary Byzantine-style church, modelled on that of
Santa Sofia in Istanbul, contains 19th-century frescoes and an altar made of
14 different types of marble. On Quai Eole, where one or two handsome old
houses can be seen to the west of the Mairie, is a table d'orientation,
identifying the sights that are spread out before you. The tourist office
organises regular guided tours of town in summer.
Though there is nothing to show for them, the town has a few historical
details: In 1810 a ship called the Méduse was launched from Paimboeuf;
six years later she was shipwrecked off Africa and her survivors took to a
raft - immortalised in a famous painting by Théodore Géricault. During World
War I the town was chosen as the location for an explosives factory. In the
mansion of Pasquiaud at Corsept, 2km south-west, wall-paintings by
Jean-Baptiste Corot, a forerunner of the Impressionists, who stayed there
with Gustave Doré in the early 19th century, were uncovered in 1983.
(Unfortunately the building is not open to the public.)
From November to April, registered eel-fishermen set out at night to scoop up
the precious harvest of elvers (civelles) that make their way from the
Sargasso Sea up the estuaries of western Europe. Those they net will fetch
almost £100 a kilogram.
Market: Tuesday and Friday.
Maison
des Lavandières. In St-Père-en-Retz, a village 11km south of Paimboeuf,
alongside a pretty, restored lavoir, or wash-house, set among gardens
on the river Grésilon, is a museum about the life of washerwomen. 15
June-15 Sept, 3-7pm. St-Père-en-Retz (tel: 02 40 21 71 45).
LE PALLET
Chapelle Ste-Anne. Romanesque chapel on the site of Abélard's castle; nearby
is a fine view over the Sèvre Nantaise river.
Monnières
church. In the village on the opposite
side of the river, the importance of local Muscadet production can be seen in
the depictions of vines and wine in the modern stained-glass windows that
decorate the 15th-century church.
LE PELLERIN
Canal de la Martinière. A couple of kilometres
downstream from this town on the south bank of the Loire, 14km west of Nantes
is an interesting industrial relic, a 15km canal that was opened in 1892 to
allow sailing ships to reach Nantes by bypassing the sandy shallows of the
Loire. The arrival of steam-driven dredgers made its usefulness short-lived
(it closed to navigation in 1914), but today this man-made waterway is a
vital link in controlling the water system for the marshes, a paradise for
walkers, birdwatchers and fishermen and at Buzay, just west of the village of
Martinière, offers 19th-century locks and hydraulic works that are showpieces
of industrial archaeology. Martinière (tel: 02 40 04 68 01).
PORNIC
La Fraiseraie. Strawberry cocktails,
ices, jams and sauces on sale in a shop/café near the foot of the château. Daily
........ Place du Petit Nice (tel: 02 40 82 49 51).
In summer, for a close-up view of production you can visit the fields and
factory - with a tasting afterwards. 1 July-31 Aug, 2-5.30pm (closed 14
July & 15 Aug). Les Terres Jarries (north of the golf course); tel: 02 40
82 08 21. 12F, children free.
Dolmens. Well signposted
among the villas to the west of Pornic, is the Dolmen des Mousseaux, a
impressive stone funeral chamber thought to date from 3500BC. On the
south-east side of town is the Dolmen de la Joselière, where walkers can also
enjoy a fantastic view over the Bay of Bourgneuf.
Ranch
des Bisons. An unexpectedly Wild West flavour permeates this corner
of the Pays de Retz, 4km north-east of Pornic. A bison farm, it offers
displays of riding and roping, archery sessions, and a restaurant, plus
lunchtime or evening entertainment. 1 July-31 Aug daily2-7pm. Route de
Nantes, D751 (tel: 02 40 64 86 67). Daytime 45F, children 30F; extra charge for
lunch and dinner entertainment (reservation essential).
ST-BREVIN-LES-PINS
Forêt de la Pierre Attelée. Unspoilt
area of pine and holm-oak forest just inland from the Plage de la
Roussellière, which gets its name from a large menhir located on the south
side. A farmer is said to have harnessed (attelé) his oxen to the
stone and tried - but failed - to pull it out. The oxen mysteriously died
within 12 months, and their owner a year later. Paths are laid out to prevent
walkers from trampling the fragile dunes, and plans are afoot to convert a
former holiday centre into a Maison de la Nature, to explain the local flora.
ST
ETIENNE-DE-MER-MORTE
Picturesque village perched on the side
of a hill above the Falleron river, 13km north-east of Challans.
Ferme
aux Escargots. The enterprising Jean-Gilles Thomas offers guided tours
of his thriving snail farm (signposted off the D13 between Paulx and
Touvois). The young, produced in February, are fattened until September in
large concrete pens. If you can't quite face preparing them yourself, you can
buy ready-made products in the form of snail pâté and tiny, snail-filled
vol-au-vents either here or in the markets of Challans or St-Gilles. 1
June-mid-Sept, Sat 3-6pm (1 July-31 Aug Mon-Sat, 3-7pm). 7 La Chevalerie
(tel: 02 40 31 10 49). 15F, children free.
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