Things to see and do Pays De La Loire

It has the advantage of being located 5 minutes walk from the city centre. Opened in 1979, the deepwater port has 1,150 rings, 150 of which are open to visitors in all weathers and 24 hours a day. It also has a fuel pontoon. The port extends over 16,000 m². It is a very lively place in summer with its bars, restaurants... The stranding port (boulevard des Océanides ✆ 02 40 61 61 61 06) is intended for small boats (427 anchorages). Completely refurbished for the 2019 season, the bridge connecting the port to Pornichet, today almost a footbridge with grazing lighting at night, gives pride of place to soft traffic, pedestrians and bicycles and still offers a superb view of the Pointe du Bec, with its beautiful isolated villas and rocks, as well as the harmonious curve of Baie de La Baule. The port is also the starting point for sailing races such as the Match-Racing French Open.

They are classified by Historical Monuments and are a beautiful testimony to the architecture of the 1930 s. The 1927 passenger building is the work of the architects Adrien Grave and Roger Pons. The Ministry of Culture certified the «Heritage of the twentieth Century» building.

Take for half an hour walking in the streets of the old Croisic on a 1,5 km journey through the streets of the city. The th and th centuries are periods of full prosperity for the port of Croisic. Taking advantage of the trade in salt, cod fishing and shipbuilding, shipowners and traders are getting richer. You must stroll through the narrow streets of this shipowners'town to discover the traces. The streets of the Church, Saint-Christophe and Saint-Yves houses wooden houses of the th and th centuries. The house Guillaume André is one of the finest specimens of this architecture of the th century. The beautiful waterfront residences, the former city hotel occupied by the Duke of Brittany, the th century governor of Brittany, make Croisic a very attractive destination. The sites remind us that she was loved by the poets: Musset, José Maria de Hérédia (Corner rue Haute-des-Bains and Rue Porte and 15, Port-Ciguet quay). At the foot of the Boom, the superb bronze statue of Hervé Ministerial, works by sculptor René Paris. You can also remove a «circuits» guide from the Tourist Office free of charge on four proposed thematic circuits at Croisic.

Once with a wooden arrow, the church now has a beautiful tower. This granite tower has three floors surmounted by a terrace and a octagonal turret topped with a dome. The lantern consists of eight pillars, a spherical cap and a black ball finished with a cross and a vane. The terrasse terrace encircling the tower is accessible to visitors by an inside staircase with 184 steps. Take your breath and look around you, the panorama will cut your breath a second time. From the 70 m height of this building built in the th century, you can observe the islands of Noirmoutier, Hoëdic, Houat and Belle-Ile on sunny days. But the country side is not bad either. You see the porticos of the Atlantic shipyards and the bridge of Saint-Nazaire, on the coast of Guérande and the marshes which are at your feet, they appear as a helicopter sight.

Vertou can be the starting point for a bucolic walk. The path towards Nantes is becoming increasingly urbanized as walking, so perhaps you prefer to leave in the direction of Monnières. Along the Sèvre, you will fall on a few hamlets and navigation docks that recall the commercial past of the stream. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, in particular, the Sèvre was widely used to transport the wines and spirits of Loire to Nantes. From there, drums were exported to Orléans, Holland and Northern Europe. In the opposite direction, wood, cereals or lime went up to the nantes vineyard. The arrival of the railway in the middle of the nineteenth century gradually signaled the end of the commercial vocation of the Sèvre.

Some th century buildings have recently been restored and some of the facades pushed back in accordance with an alignment plan dating back to the th century. Rue du Tricot. Very beautiful mansion (late th, early xviii) with its classic façade with perfect symmetry. Place du Pilloried and Carrefour de la. Corbel, the surface surface was less important and less taxes were paid! We arrive at Saint-Aubin College.

Feel free to walk through the piriacaises streets to admire the old granite houses, flowered by hydrangeas and hollyhocks. The narrow and winding streets stretch out their arms, some of them will offer you the sea as a backdrop. Venture in the footsteps of the famous writers who came to stay in Piriac. Several houses in the port belong to the family of the writer Alphonse de Châteaubriant and date back to the 17th century. The large house, reminiscent of the Flemish style, received the writer regularly until the last war. Castel Rado (2, rue Neuve) was built in 1626 and has a beautiful stone staircase, dormers and an original roof. At the entrance to the alleyway of the Sourd, one of the oldest houses in Piriac, dating from 1640, can be seen on the left

This former Benedictine convent was bought in the Italian style by Jacques-Charles Valentin in the early th century. Access is made by the park which borders the Monk. A place for walks, with the Garenne Lemot, is the other bucolic park of Clisson to discover. It was Lemot who helped her friend on this site. All Garenne Valentin is attached to the Church of the Trinity. It is made from the remains of the old convent cloister, Belvedere and three bodies of hosts. The landscaped park has a monumental factory called the «rock pavilion» built on a granite rock dominating the Monk, on the foundations of the old convent latrines. It was built in 1819 and restored in 2003.

In the heart of the city, you will find the Walk of Fame of the Le Mans winners, known here as the "Drivers' Footprints". At the end of each race, the winners place their prints in plaster. A bronze plaque is then cast into the ground in the streets of the neighborhood and the following year the inauguration of this new plaque takes place the day before the race. Since 1991, among the legends: Jacky Ickx, Henry Pescarolo and, of course, the comic book hero Michel Vaillant. In total, more than 45 plaques have been cast around the Place de la République and in the streets of the hypercentre. A flash-code offers information on the race and its winners. Today only 3 plaques are visible due to renovation works. They should be back in 2023.

In 2016, Angers obtained the label, «Fleur d 'or», which a municipality can only obtain once every 6 years, and which rewards the city's efforts in landscaping. With over 100,000 trees, 800 hectares of green spaces, 43 parks and gardens, 300,000 plants produced in municipal greenhouses, Angers is certainly a green city. In the nineteenth century, greenhouses, nurseries and fruit gardens forged a horticultural identity that lasted since Angers created in 2005 Vegetates, a pole of competitiveness of the plant, bringing together companies, training and research centers, which makes it an international reference in the field of plant innovation. An ideal city to stroll through the greenery: in the city center, the Jardin des Plantes, with its romantic atmosphere made possible thanks to its English layout in 1901, has 70 remarkable trees while the Jeanne-d 'Arc lanes have disappeared for young shoots. In spring and summer, the Mail garden bloom offers beautiful colors in the eyes of walkers. They can also enjoy the 110 ha of Saint-Nicolas Park, which will also delight athletes, children (playgrounds and animals) and nature lovers of all kinds. Its history is ancient since it is Foulque Nerra who dug the pond to create quarries and mills. Much more recently, Balzac Park extends its roads and woods along Maine and is regularly flooded. Its creation is the result of numerous consultations which ensure the sustainable and ecological management of these ancient landfills and alluvial meadows rich in biodiversity. The Arboretum is a pleasant place to relax with flowers, greenhouses and water bodies. There is a small semi-enclosed area in which all the biotopes in the region have been recreated with information signs. Terra Botanica, the first playful and pedagogical green park, offers nearly 110,000 m ² of gardens and aquatic areas with a quarantine of attractions.

Perhaps you have passed by this building many times without ever noticing it? And yet... At the initiative of the diocese of Nantes, the Passage Sainte-Croix opened its doors at the end of 2010. It is the link between the Place Sainte-Croix and the Rue de la Bâclerie, in the heart of the Bouffay district. It is now through a very nice medieval garden that one can access this cultural center open to all, which aims to be a place of dialogue, education, reflection and culture. It offers many activities for the general public: heritage and contemporary art exhibitions, live performances, meetings and debates (Midis de Sainte-Croix, Samedis du Passage, conferences, round tables, film debates). But also guided tours and workshops for adults, activities for young people and an educational offer for schools. In just a few years, the Passage Sainte-Croix has become a full-fledged player in the cultural life of Nantes, partner of the Voyage à Nantes, the Folle Journée, the Photographic Fortnight... Note that the rooms of the Passage Sainte-Croix can be privatized: the patio (116^m2), the priory (70^m2), the workshop (67^m2).

This wood could be seen as an introduction to the Nature Ark. If you do not have the direction of orientation and are afraid to lose, this wood is a good compromise. It is located at the corner of Rue Henri-Champion and Plane Avenue. The best thing is to enjoy this space for picnic on one of the four tables made available. If you want to stretch your legs, go a little further, to the Nature Ark.

The Pont des Vendéens, also named Pont de Pontlieue, was completed in Le Mans during the xie century. It was a stone bridge crossing the Huisne. In particular, he is famous for being undermined by the mantle troops during the Vendean insurgency. The bridge was destroyed before the vendeans arrived in the city, just before the battle of the Battle du Mans.

The remains of the bridge were preserved and are still visible and accessible as public park, near Newton promenade. Subsequently a new bridge was built at a hundred meters from the old bridge, this is the new Pont de Pontlieue.