Sunday, November 4, 2018

Marais Poitevin - September 12th 2018


Today we finally went to the Marais Poitevin, a trip we had considered many times in the past. We chose Coulon, another one of the prettiest villages in France, as we knew we could take a guided boat trip through the marshes. The Marais Poitevin is the 2nd largest wetland in France. The largest is the Camargue which we have visited twice and which we love. We visited the museum where our guide explained that the Marais Poitevin is 110,000 hectares of intertwined canals and countryside and is divided into 3 zones - the coastal zone, the dry marsh and the wet marsh also known as "Green Venice" (this area floods in winter). Coulon is the capital of Venice Vert.








In the museum there is an area depicting the typical living quarters of people who live in the area.






Local craft beers - Brian missed this!


There were many boots along the water where you could book a guided boat trip so we chose one and booked a trip for 1.30 pm with a guide who spoke English. Despite my having some French the whole thing got mixed up and when we returned - after a quick galette for lunch - the woman said our booking was for an hour and a half at 3.30pm. Fortunately our guide was about and was happy to bring us then. He helped me into the flat-bottomed boat (Barque).









The guide propelled the boat through the tranquil canals and we passed small cattle pastures and secluded picnic areas. It was beautiful, peaceful and relaxing though at times difficult to understand the guide's English.










This bull was even huger than he looks here!



















It was time to go back to Treize Vents to pack for our departure the next day. In order to avoid creating a mess we decided to go to the Auberge de Poupet, where we had been the previous Friday, for our evening meal. We had a nice walk by the river and then went to the restaurant which was very busy causing the service to be slow. We had a very enjoyable final day in the Vendee.













Nantes - Tuesday September 11th 2018


Today Brian was leaving from Nantes airport so we went to Nantes to have a look around.

Our first visit was Le Chateau des Ducs de Bretagne which is really impressive. This is Nantes' most important historic building.




















This is the remaining tower from the Lu biscuit factory. It is now called Le Lieu Unique and is a centre for contemporary arts and music. The top of it is supposed to resemble a tin of biscuits.


















































This is the Basilica of St. Donatian and St. Rogatian











































We actually went back to check that Marguerite de Foix was there!









The ubiquitous Irish pub!

We lunched in a cafe in Nantes but obviously chose badly as it was a rather unappetising looking dog's dinner. To compensate we went to another cafe where Brian and I had a cafe gourmand - a coffee with a selection of little cakes including a little gateau nantais - deliciously naughty!









This is Basilique Saint Nicolas.














Back in Treize Vents, having dropped Brian at the airport, we walked around the village and had a look at the Calvary which was put in place by the authorities in Puy du Fou. This area of Ftrance is particularly Catholic!





In Trois Collines for an aperitif we had a great chat with the proprietor and learned the origin of both the village name and the pub's name. Treize Vents is a corruption of the old word tres which means three so it is 3 winds not 13. There are three hills above Treize Vents from which the 3 winds originate and from which the pub got its name.