Year after year, the green line Nantes It is growing at the same rate as the city is transforming. Well marked on the ground for 23 kilometers, it allows you to enjoy the stage without limits, showing the person who walks through it how culture has taken over one of the most beautiful cities in France.
Most of the elements that run along the road are integrated into the city. Therefore, while walking through it, you can admire the local architecture, outdoor artworkkey elements of Nantes heritage and little-known treasures, among which are hidden squares, small squares, gardens, historic alleys and small boulangeries as attractive as they are tasty.
art is in the street
In Nantes, Nature has as much prominence as architecture. The centuries-old trees that populate its neighborhoods are integrated into annual exhibitions incorporating modern elements to the already beautiful aesthetics of the environment. Following the green line, the traveler will be able to enjoy what she has stopped looking at lately and, stopping at its beauty, she will discover urban art combined with natural creatures.
Located in Miror d’eau, next to the Castle of the Dukes of Brittany, an 80-year-old famous pine tree has been a source of inspiration for Séverine Hubard. Without damaging the environment or its trunkthe artist has been inspired by the twisted bell tower of the Maison des Compagnons to imitate its shape with an inverted structure seven meters high.
The work ‘Luffy and the Tree’, by Max Coulon. Social networks
Four lanterns point to the ground and reinforce the architectural vision of the work, titled Chef-d’oeuvre torse. The wooden elements that have been used for this purpose play a fundamental role, highlighting the personality of the artist and playing with the perspective, planes and images that occupy the space.
The sculptures of Max Coulon They are brutal and, at the same time, they also aim to be playful. In this case, a fallen tree that defies gravity by growing horizontally has been the object of his inspiration and to it he has added a gigantic hand carved into a sequoia trunk that supports it, or perhaps squeezes it? Are you helping him or strangling him?
The definition of the work aims to be so detailed that it succeeds and, if the traveler observes it carefully, she will reach several conclusions, all of them different. The title of the work is Luffy and the tree and is located in Duchesse Anne-Château.
The island machines
Nantes got the port activity carried out for five centuries, it was the main local support and the best letter of introduction of its city. However, at the end of the eighties, the naval industry moved to neighboring Saint-Nazaire, dismantling the docks and ruining the shipyards. With its indifference, decadence tried to join the daily routine, but it did not succeed.
When the search for a new identity began, the city reinvented itself with one of the France’s most famous projects, Les Machines de l’île. Located on the island with the same name, the construction of a theme park was inspired by three fundamental aspects that represent and articulate the city: the fantastic worlds of Jules Verne, the mechanical universe of Leonardo da Vinci and the industrial explosion that Nantes experienced in the 19th century.
If the traveler continues walking along the green line and leaves the central neighborhoods, she will cross the Memorial to the abolition of slavery across the Anne of Brittany Bridge and you will immerse yourself in an exciting magical and interactive world where your imagination will take you back to childhood, literature and entertainment. She will return to being the girl she was and, also, the one she continues to be because, only when we are reminded of the beauty of life, we realize that the best and the first thing always happened to us in these original years of life.
Other green areas
The Loire River is another fundamental element of Nantes. The water flows through its channels and takes care of the characteristic greenery that fills its streets. In front of the Island of Machines, and just a few meters from the Jules Verne House Museum, The Extraordinary garden provides the visitor a parenthesis of freshness after the intense activity carried out in the park. The 35-meter waterfall, a staircase that descends next to a spectacular break and the seven breathtaking viewpoints are its main attractions along with the giant aquatic plants, banana trees and tree ferns.
Although, parenthetically, the Versailles Island which, located in the north of the old town, offers calm as intense as it is oriental. Artificially created in 1831 and initially occupied by tanners and shipyards, it was transformed in 1983 into a beautiful Japanese garden.
The composition of the place means that the unevenness is articulated around three buildings inspired by the traditional Japanese habitat, among which the Erdre House stands out, the main venue for exhibitions dedicated to the river and its aquatic environment.
Back to the center
On foot, by bicycle or bus. After the relaxing walk, the traveler can go to the Château des ducs de Bretagne, or Castle of the Dukes of Brittany, to discover the Museum of the History of Nantes or simply stroll through its facilities, a completely free activity and within the reach of all audiences. The castle, with more than eight centuries of history, is a magnificent fortification that boasts an exterior wall and interior refinement.
The Castle of the Dukes of Brittany. iStock
Built at the end of the 15th century by Francis II, the last Duke of Brittany, it became the residence of his daughter, Anne of Brittanytwice crowned queen of France for her different marriages and whose statue pays tribute to her outside the enclosure, in front of the drawbridge.
The exhibitions that take place inside are of great interest, in the same way that walking through the parade ground or the moat gardens are a practically obligatory visit to learn about the history of this little piece of French land.
Its ecclesiastical monuments
You cannot complete this visit to the city of Nantes without visiting its ecclesiastical monuments. The most representative is the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul which currently remains closed because in 2020 a person set it on fire, causing irreparable damage to the organ, the seating and the glass ceiling dating from the 15th century.
A stanza engraved on the top of the doors reminds us that the first stone was laid in the year 1434, giving rise to a tremendously extensive construction project that culminated in 1893. This building, one of the most emblematic of Nantes, is famous for have the vaults higher than those of the famous Notre Dame of Paris and, although it remains temporarily closed, it is expected to reopen in December 2024.
The Graslin neighborhood
Finally, with the Nantes green line you can discover the beauty of the Graslin neighborhood and its main attractions. Elegant, commercial and culturalthis neighborhood continues to be an example of urban planning from the 18th and 19th centuries. The Opera Square and the Le Cigale restaurant are as emblematic as the Passage Pommeraye. Few cities in Europe can boast a shopping gallery like this.
The Passage Pommeraye shopping center. iStock
The passage is an architectural work from the 19th century and annexes two neighborhoods through their different entrances, the Graslin cultural neighborhood with the popular Commerce neighborhood. After a long period closed for restoration works, it can currently be enjoyed with the same original elements that lived their opening.
The art of Nantes is found in the streets as well as among its bars and restaurants which, between a glass of champagne and another of Muscadet, offer culinary delights such as foie wrapped in figs or lobster with fries. Being seduced by the city is easy, leaving its spell without passionately remembering it, not so much.