What town to stay in near Nantes, France
 

We are a family of six (four kids 9-16) travelling to France in March. We are spending 6 days in Paris, three days in Amboise and are wanting to stay in or around Nantes for a few days. We will have a car and are hoping to explore a bit of that area from that home base. We will be carrying on to Lorient for a soccer match as a next stop, then onto Normandy to see the D-day beaches. We are hesitant to stay in the city of Nantes given it's size and wondering if there is a smaller town nearby you could recommend that we should stay.

You're staying in Paris for 6 days, but worried about the size of Nantes? Not sure I understand that (is it the car issue?), but Vannes would be a lovely base.

Yes, mostly a car issue. Will check out Vannes. Thanks.

Terri--We are going to Nantes area in May and I was wondering if you can share your experience in the area.
Did you stop in Nantes?
Or did you find some other interesting towns nearby. We will have 3-4 days to explore some areas around Nantes.
Hoping you will share some ideas.
Thanks in advance.

You might want to check out: Ancenis, a small town of -4,000
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teau_d%27Ancenis
or
Pornic, a little fishing village with thalasso therapy/spa Watch the little video on this site to get ideas: http://en.ot-pornic.fr/www-sommaire-787-UK-ACCUEIL.html

If you are in Nantes itself, this floral exposition only takes place every 5 years and this year is the year: http://www.mesvacancesenloireatlantique.com/en/node/146

If you are coming from the east, passing along the Loire valley, you might want to check out this beautiful abbey & its grounds (we've stayed at its hotel too--wonderful) http://www.abbayedefontevraud.com/en...rrounding-area

Sorry, Ancenis' population should be >4,000, not 4,000 to the negative!!!

Klondike--Sincere thanks for superb ideas. Will do more research and try to figure out the best use of my days.

In your experience--do you think we can go by train and use public transportation everywhere. We don't want to rent a car,

Any tips will be helpful. I will also be research bit more.

Have a great day.

Ileen, you might want to start your own thread specific to your interests and needs as I see the original op will have a car and you aren't planning on having one. My other questions would be why did you select Nantes and what are your interests?

Nantes is quite lovely and not overly busy or large. We have family in Bouguenais right next to Nantes.

Klondike--thanks again.
Going to Nantes for work. But have a couple days afterwards for exploring the area.
I will start a new thread as you have suggested also.
Enjoy history, museums, art, churches and of course French cuisine.
Have a great day.

KK--How to travel to Bouguenais without car, how far is it and any special attractions. Thanks for your time and effort to help me.