Nantes

After Paris, Ryan had to work in a smaller town called Nantes. The town was beautiful - full of old streets and churches, fountains, bakeries, shops, and a castle. We traveled there by train (the TGV) on Sunday, and I spent Monday and Tuesday there while Ryan worked long days at their pavement test track. I loved strolling the streets and exploring by myself, but after two days of it, I was so ready to come home and see the girls! Our hotel room was beautiful and much bigger than the one in Paris, so I spent time there reading by the open sunny window, but I kept forcing myself to venture out since I wasn't going to be in Europe much longer. Very few people in Nantes speak English at all. That was very uncomfortable for me. I felt like the "unfriendly American", and I hated not knowing what everyone was chatting about. This was especially challenging on Wednesday when I boarded a train at 5:30 am and prayed earnestly that it was the one that would take me to the airport. It did, and I made the long journey home by myself with no problems. Here are some of my favorite photos from Nantes:

This one is actually taken from the castle.

Cathedrale Saint Perre Saint Paul -
in my opinion every bit as impressive as Notre Dame:

Chateau des ducs de Bretagne -
built in the 1400's for Anne de Bretagne, Queen of France

beautiful fountains at night

Ahh, the bakeries - I can almost taste it!

French dogs:

Last night in France -
timer shot of smooching in front of the castle