If you shop smart, there are places to spent a 36-hour break that cost less than a night in the city
What do you know about Nantes? The sixth-largest French city may have escaped your attention, but - at just an hour's flight from Manchester Airport - it's a short hop for a visit.
Nantes is well known as a port and industrial centre. The city - sitting on the Loire River in Brittany - is renowned for its cider, crepes and galettes. A stone's throw from the château, heading through the medieval area of Bouffay, we walk along pedestrianised streets of shops and cafes. Passing by French families out for the day, we head to the Cathedral of St Peter and St Paul of Nantes.
The centre of the city does tend more towards tourist-friendly spots. Among the usual Irish bars and, naturally, creperies, there were a couple, of gems, but we had left lunch late. We ended up at a bar with cheeseboards advertised, chowing down on French fromage while a tourist-baiting accordionist belted out some folk hits in the nearby square.
My mate had roasted hake in seaweed butter with lemongrass oil and ginger, and we rounded off with dessert. For me, an apricot cake and for my chum, a selection of cheeses. Full and happy, we headed back to the cathedral in the distance, collapsing into bed as the rain fell on the French cobbles outside.
It's like where engineering and nature collide, offering a bicycle that powers metal butterflies to 'fly', and a bus-sized steampunk beetle or bug of some sort that raises itself - and volunteers - up on its legs and down again.
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