Sunday, September 25
Sunday is a very quiet day in France, with most shops and restaurants not open. As we left our hotel around 11am it seemed like we were the only people out and about, but as we walked a bit further there were more people around. There were a few local markets nearby so we checked them out before moving on to the main market in Nantes, which unusually is open 7 days a week! The weather forecast was for some rain early on but it was a beautiful morning and the market was packed.
We were "off the green line" in this part of town so we just strolled along the lovely streets and discovered things that weren't on the tourist map. One of them was a monument to the Resistance fighters of WW2, in a beautiful location on the Erdre River. This river used to flow into the Loire but the land was reclaimed as the river silted up and the growing city needed more space. From there we checked out the Hotel de Ville (City Hall), a lovely building from the 16-17th centuries. However we did see some examples of dodgy building practices in different parts of town!
We continued our walk both on and off the green line, and after lunch decided to follow the walk that highlighted Nantes' involvement in the slave trade. This began in the late 17th century when France was colonizing and trading with countries in Africa and the Caribbean, and in the 18th century Nantes was responsible for 42% of French trade expeditions involving the transport of slaves from Africa to the plantations in the Caribbean and Americas! The walk was very well marked and the posters at the various stops explained how the slave trade worked and the wealth impact it had on the traders in Nantes. The walk concluded at the Memorial to the Abolition of Slavery, which was only inaugurated in 2012 - it was a very moving memorial and gave us lots of food for thought.
We returned to our hotel to prepare for tomorrow's trip into Paris, with only one more week of this amazing trip to go!
Sunday is a very quiet day in France, with most shops and restaurants not open. As we left our hotel around 11am it seemed like we were the only people out and about, but as we walked a bit further there were more people around. There were a few local markets nearby so we checked them out before moving on to the main market in Nantes, which unusually is open 7 days a week! The weather forecast was for some rain early on but it was a beautiful morning and the market was packed.
We were "off the green line" in this part of town so we just strolled along the lovely streets and discovered things that weren't on the tourist map. One of them was a monument to the Resistance fighters of WW2, in a beautiful location on the Erdre River. This river used to flow into the Loire but the land was reclaimed as the river silted up and the growing city needed more space. From there we checked out the Hotel de Ville (City Hall), a lovely building from the 16-17th centuries. However we did see some examples of dodgy building practices in different parts of town!
We continued our walk both on and off the green line, and after lunch decided to follow the walk that highlighted Nantes' involvement in the slave trade. This began in the late 17th century when France was colonizing and trading with countries in Africa and the Caribbean, and in the 18th century Nantes was responsible for 42% of French trade expeditions involving the transport of slaves from Africa to the plantations in the Caribbean and Americas! The walk was very well marked and the posters at the various stops explained how the slave trade worked and the wealth impact it had on the traders in Nantes. The walk concluded at the Memorial to the Abolition of Slavery, which was only inaugurated in 2012 - it was a very moving memorial and gave us lots of food for thought.
We returned to our hotel to prepare for tomorrow's trip into Paris, with only one more week of this amazing trip to go!
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