Been to Nantes?
 

I'm thinking of adding Nantes to my trip, because I can return my leased Pugeut there and take the TGV to CDG airport. But I will do this only if the town/city is interesting. I'd love to hear about other's visit to
Nantes. thanks.

We stayed in Nantes for 10 days in 2003 (our daughter's fiance was living there at the time). It is quite a large city, but there is not all that much to see. It has a large cathedral and castle and the Loire River (or a tributary thereof) flows through the city. We mainly used our time there as a base for exploring Brittany and the castles in the Loire valley.
There are also some lovely coastal towns, such as Pornic and La Baule within a short drive from Nantes that are definitely worth seeing.
If you do decide to go to Nantes, be sure to try the La Cigalle Restaurant. That was a highlight of our stay in Nantes.
(We are going back to France next month. Our daughter has since married her fiance and they are living in Cannes, so we are flying over from Australia to spend some time with them). France is a lovely country.
I am sure you will have a great time.
All the best for your trip.
Lonhro

Nantes is a big city, and a very liveable one. Nearby places to see include the island of Noirmoutier. How long do you plan to be in Nantes? If only for a day, it's worth it. For longer, plan day trips to the surrounding countryside.

We spent 2/3 days there 10 years ago. I remember it well. We locked ourselves out of our Avis rental car in the rain. We were helped by a nice French family who invited us back to their apartment while they telephoned around for us. I will spare you the details, but it took several hours to get the car opened and Avis was no help at all. The city has a nice Beaux Art museum and a nice pedestrian area with a variety of restaurants. I imagine with the help of the Green Michelin Guide there would be a variety of things to do. Michelin gives it three stars, the highest rating "worth a journey." Michelin does not give that rating easily. It also depends of how you like to travel, if you are content browsing around an area seeing some of the lesser known sights, Nantes may work well for you especially if you have already dropped off your car. I think I would have no trouble spending a week there and exploring it further since there is apparently lots to do.

I spent 3 days in Nantes December of 2003. I found it a great city. Several nice museums. Lots of boating activities too.

Here's a link to my trip report.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34461207

During our most recent trip to Angers (summer 2004), we took the TGV over to Nantes for lunch and an afternoon's exploration. We were interested in the city because a recent poll in Le Figaro (or Le Point) rated it the best place to live in France.
We had a pleasant enough time, but couldn't wait to get back to Angers, which we liked a LOT more (it came in 9th on the best places to live in France poll). If you can return your car in Angers, I would recommend that option instead.

Forgot to add, we also had lunch at La Cigale, which is very picturesque. We liked it, but it wasn't a rave experience. Service was rushed and somewhat perfunctory. We stuck to seafood (their specialty) and it was good, but the meal overall was not particularly memorable.

At La Cigale, I stuck to the fruit de mer. The Place is a beautiful example of the Belle Epoque. I still have my menu from years ago that has the tile cigale pictured on the cover.