Exchanging Lives

Claudine cooking in the kitchen

Here is a photo that was posted on Facebook yesterday - it shows Claudine making excellent use of our kitchen.  Yann, her son is standing nearby to assist.  What a good son!

Here are some shots of us with Claudine's brother & sister-in-law on a ferry on the Loire in Nantes...we are truly exchanging lives!

Laney & Christine

Philippe and Dave

 Our adventure has been so enriched by the people we have met.  The neighbors next door and across the street have been welcoming, heck, even the postman shook our hands and greeted us!  Our first week in Nantes has been warm in temperature, also.

  On Sunday, Philippe and Christine picked us up in the afternoon and took us for an 8 hour experience of Nantes.  We first drove downtown along the Erdre, the lovely river near our house.  They were careful to point out the landmarks, such as the Lu Tower, a tall building which you can ascend to view the entire city.  The wonderful Cathedral of St Peter and St Paul which we walked by after dinner.  The Jules Verne Museum (he was born here in Nantes).  We took a ferry ride to Trentemoule, a lovely ancient village that has incredible architectural detail ( I took a ton of photos) had a beer at a waterfront cafe.

Another stop on the Ile de Nantes -

'Once used for cattle grazing, then an industrial heartland of soap factories, shipyards and sea-trade, it has today a new lease on life. A veritable reawakening of housing, services, shops, places to hang out, industrial heritage, sea-faring or port, a working past and contemporary architecture: a real cultural melting pot.' 

Very cool fantastical things such as this gigantic moveable elephant, carousels and former hangars used as bars! Wow. We enjoyed a stop to meet their daughters Heloise and Alexia at a bar and enjoyed a Guinness.

Ginormous Elephant!

Cool Hangar

La Machine...

        We moved on, driving to the center of town to find dinner!  Their usual creperie was closed already (housed in a boat on the river) so we walked into the heart of the cafe scene downtown. We were overwhelmed by the choices and the crowds on a Sunday evening but did find another creperie, enjoyed an entree 'galette', a savory filled buckwheat crepe, with hard apple cider. Then, dessert of a delicious crepe, more cidre, oh my!
   We walked some more, viewed the Chateau du Ducs de Bretagne, and the Cathedral up close.

What a wonderful day and night!
We are so thankful for them taking the time to introduce us to the entertaining city of Nantes.