Loire Atlantique
Discussion
A "cheap" and cheerful week's trip at half term with our 5 year old staying in a lovely town where I had to be careful with google searches at work on this destination as it was called Pornic lol, we was just outside in St Marie Sur Mer that was a 5 min walk to the lovely beach.
Day 1 - Ferry from Poole to Cherbourg
Nice seamless check in, no issues onboard for the 4.5 hours of sailing. Weather good but windy, was surprised how smooth it was for this time of year.
It's a good breaky on there considering the frogs do it, not overly expensive but sets up the day nicely.
We did get a bit lucky with car position, it must had been about 15 mins from getting off the ferry and out of passport control.
It was 4.5 hours of drive down to pornic with a dinner stop on a Sunday, I posted about recommendations and decided to stop just outside Rennes in Fougeres. Nice castle although under maintenance, I found the scaffold was beyond rediculous, after a stretch of the legs to see food options around the castle nothing was open so a Burger King for a quick stop and back onto the E3.
Oh how I missed French roads even after the last visit In April.
Arrival to Pornic, Rented a small two bed bungalow in Pornic, about 100 quid a night and served all of our needs.
Day 2
Walk to the little village for a walk about and to see the beach, wonderful, very South Devon type terrain.
Then onto a day out in Saint Nazaire for the Uboat Pens, Cruise ship museum, Espadon Submarine. On route the SN bridge was something special, loire estuary was huge, the bridge must had been about 25% longer than the QE2 (free). Into the city they build MSC cruise ships there, and Airbus sections, definitely shows how useless we are now with manufacturing with the size of it all.
U Boat Pens in Saint Nazaire have been renovated and turned into museums, the Germans certainly weren't mucking about with this construction, it's a bit weird they keep maintaining them. Best part was the Espadon, rather busy though.
![](https://forums-images.pistonheads.com/327645/202511047313496?resize=720[/img]</a> <a href="https://forums-images.pistonheads.com/327645/202511047314671" Target="_blank" >[img]https://forums-images.pistonheads.com/327645/202511047314671?resize=720)
Day 3
Tuesday was spent at Planet Sauvage safari park, not a bad little zoo/park, it has a walk around section and Safari drive. They had full dolphins on display, no left wing activists thankfully! No doubt this bit will eventually close like marine land in antibes has.
Got blasted by a speed camera on the way back, 93 in 80, so praying that doesn't arrive, I got done in Caen at Easter before the bridge there and it's not arrived yet since April. Different camera this time being a white one on the ground.
Day 4
Puy Du Fou....my word what a place, the drive wasn't too bad with minor traffic around Nantes.
Wasn't sure what to expect here, the Translation app option went down the drain forgetting headphones, but tbh the shows were just ok to understand and follow. Queues were rather orderly, I really cannot see how the concept will work in the UK though, I can't see it attracting the numbers.
We didn't get to see everything as we knew would be the case, everything was a bit chaotic working out what to do so plan ahead if you ever do go. King Arthur was great, Vikings had some brilliant trained animals, then it began to bucket down mid way through the bird show, and that dug in all afternoon, after a few hours of it and 30 min queues to do the inside WW1 and Explorers ship then Panache that was really amazing with the spinning stage we'd had enough so got off about 4ish. The whole experience was one to remember and we'll do the rest another day, my son loved it overall and did not get too impatient waiting about for the shows.
Day 5
Quiet day exploring Pornic with a walk into town of about 30 mins along the coastline. Lovely.
Market was on in the day and absolutely rammed, produce in this region seemed much more bigger and wider than south of the country. Seafood especially was.
Day 6
A day in Nantes that was about 50 odd mins away. We parked near the Les Machines did the day in the city, a bit of lunch, a trip round the Bretagne Chateau and then back to Les machines. Les machines was surreal, it sat about for 20 minutes with some mechanical problems but my word, only the French could build something like this.
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Day 7
A quite last full day with a drive out to Le Croisic and morning trip around the Aquarium. Saturday was All Saints day (wiki brought explanation on why chrysanthemums were being sold all week).
Again, great food, parking so easy, a walk into town for so many eating options and walking about just stress free compared to the UK.
Day 8
Early departure and noticed Sunday market pop up in our village that was an absolute ghost town all week it amazes me again how they do , full set of Bakers, Fish, meat, cheese stalls, Rottiserie stall. They had a boularangie in the village as well open!!
On the way home up the D roads where I drove at about 80 quite happily on single lane roads, D177 was fantastic if you've not driven it, beautiful with the autumnal shades. This was on route somewhere at a PH special level, L'manor Automobile. What a place, I think I'll run a separate thread for this as some of these guys were something else on display. For the price/time it was a brilliant option, not sure we have similar level here in the UK.
Over the whole week, I was surprised how good the weather was, region wise it was a few degrees warmer, less bitey wind and rain cleared with the Atlantic winds.
Only negatives were Pornic wasn't as plentiful on mid range food before 7pm as we don't like eating too late with the long days with kidling and then a desire to hit the booze with the French dodgy films on, I get the impression it's more of a middle class sailing type town used by boaters in summer. Ended up doing a bit more self catering than desired but easy enough with choice of shops there. And then the second courtesy of the UK gov with a long ferry trip and arrival to Poole with absolutely diabolical shambolic passport car queue (4 lanes turning into three passport desks, I mean FFS). We were on the outside lane half way through and managed to end up at the back of queue stagnant, absolutely spitting feathers.
I'd go down again thats for sure to these regions of Brittany and Loire.
Day 1 - Ferry from Poole to Cherbourg
Nice seamless check in, no issues onboard for the 4.5 hours of sailing. Weather good but windy, was surprised how smooth it was for this time of year.
It's a good breaky on there considering the frogs do it, not overly expensive but sets up the day nicely.
We did get a bit lucky with car position, it must had been about 15 mins from getting off the ferry and out of passport control.
It was 4.5 hours of drive down to pornic with a dinner stop on a Sunday, I posted about recommendations and decided to stop just outside Rennes in Fougeres. Nice castle although under maintenance, I found the scaffold was beyond rediculous, after a stretch of the legs to see food options around the castle nothing was open so a Burger King for a quick stop and back onto the E3.
Oh how I missed French roads even after the last visit In April.
Arrival to Pornic, Rented a small two bed bungalow in Pornic, about 100 quid a night and served all of our needs.
Day 2
Walk to the little village for a walk about and to see the beach, wonderful, very South Devon type terrain.
Then onto a day out in Saint Nazaire for the Uboat Pens, Cruise ship museum, Espadon Submarine. On route the SN bridge was something special, loire estuary was huge, the bridge must had been about 25% longer than the QE2 (free). Into the city they build MSC cruise ships there, and Airbus sections, definitely shows how useless we are now with manufacturing with the size of it all.
U Boat Pens in Saint Nazaire have been renovated and turned into museums, the Germans certainly weren't mucking about with this construction, it's a bit weird they keep maintaining them. Best part was the Espadon, rather busy though.
Day 3
Tuesday was spent at Planet Sauvage safari park, not a bad little zoo/park, it has a walk around section and Safari drive. They had full dolphins on display, no left wing activists thankfully! No doubt this bit will eventually close like marine land in antibes has.
Got blasted by a speed camera on the way back, 93 in 80, so praying that doesn't arrive, I got done in Caen at Easter before the bridge there and it's not arrived yet since April. Different camera this time being a white one on the ground.
Day 4
Puy Du Fou....my word what a place, the drive wasn't too bad with minor traffic around Nantes.
Wasn't sure what to expect here, the Translation app option went down the drain forgetting headphones, but tbh the shows were just ok to understand and follow. Queues were rather orderly, I really cannot see how the concept will work in the UK though, I can't see it attracting the numbers.
We didn't get to see everything as we knew would be the case, everything was a bit chaotic working out what to do so plan ahead if you ever do go. King Arthur was great, Vikings had some brilliant trained animals, then it began to bucket down mid way through the bird show, and that dug in all afternoon, after a few hours of it and 30 min queues to do the inside WW1 and Explorers ship then Panache that was really amazing with the spinning stage we'd had enough so got off about 4ish. The whole experience was one to remember and we'll do the rest another day, my son loved it overall and did not get too impatient waiting about for the shows.
Day 5
Quiet day exploring Pornic with a walk into town of about 30 mins along the coastline. Lovely.
Market was on in the day and absolutely rammed, produce in this region seemed much more bigger and wider than south of the country. Seafood especially was.
Day 6
A day in Nantes that was about 50 odd mins away. We parked near the Les Machines did the day in the city, a bit of lunch, a trip round the Bretagne Chateau and then back to Les machines. Les machines was surreal, it sat about for 20 minutes with some mechanical problems but my word, only the French could build something like this.
Day 7
A quite last full day with a drive out to Le Croisic and morning trip around the Aquarium. Saturday was All Saints day (wiki brought explanation on why chrysanthemums were being sold all week).
Again, great food, parking so easy, a walk into town for so many eating options and walking about just stress free compared to the UK.
Day 8
Early departure and noticed Sunday market pop up in our village that was an absolute ghost town all week it amazes me again how they do , full set of Bakers, Fish, meat, cheese stalls, Rottiserie stall. They had a boularangie in the village as well open!!
On the way home up the D roads where I drove at about 80 quite happily on single lane roads, D177 was fantastic if you've not driven it, beautiful with the autumnal shades. This was on route somewhere at a PH special level, L'manor Automobile. What a place, I think I'll run a separate thread for this as some of these guys were something else on display. For the price/time it was a brilliant option, not sure we have similar level here in the UK.
Over the whole week, I was surprised how good the weather was, region wise it was a few degrees warmer, less bitey wind and rain cleared with the Atlantic winds.
Only negatives were Pornic wasn't as plentiful on mid range food before 7pm as we don't like eating too late with the long days with kidling and then a desire to hit the booze with the French dodgy films on, I get the impression it's more of a middle class sailing type town used by boaters in summer. Ended up doing a bit more self catering than desired but easy enough with choice of shops there. And then the second courtesy of the UK gov with a long ferry trip and arrival to Poole with absolutely diabolical shambolic passport car queue (4 lanes turning into three passport desks, I mean FFS). We were on the outside lane half way through and managed to end up at the back of queue stagnant, absolutely spitting feathers.
I'd go down again thats for sure to these regions of Brittany and Loire.
cliffords said:
I look at that and think you just can't get that quality, originality and authentic experience in the UK anymore.
Hence we spend more and more time in France as time goes on .
Nantes was a wonderful city, there was so much to see, shops aplenty to go into (Not highstreet chains here), you could easily do 2 days or a long weekend. I put it in the category of a little Paris sitting on the Loire. Hence we spend more and more time in France as time goes on .
Don't get me wrong, the city had it's usual French negatives such as big council blocks and roadworks and redevelopment going on in the south side but that without question will happen far quicker than it will here.
What I did notice in this region everywhere was no rubbish, chewing gum, butt ends etc anywhere, go into any UK city and it's filthy.
fourstardan said:
cliffords said:
I look at that and think you just can't get that quality, originality and authentic experience in the UK anymore.
Hence we spend more and more time in France as time goes on .
Nantes was a wonderful city, there was so much to see, shops aplenty to go into (Not highstreet chains here), you could easily do 2 days or a long weekend. I put it in the category of a little Paris sitting on the Loire. Hence we spend more and more time in France as time goes on .
Don't get me wrong, the city had it's usual French negatives such as big council blocks and roadworks and redevelopment going on in the south side but that without question will happen far quicker than it will here.
What I did notice in this region everywhere was no rubbish, chewing gum, butt ends etc anywhere, go into any UK city and it's filthy.
As you say zero rubbish which puts our country to shame.
Have you noticed the roundabouts? Some of them are works of art and they really take a pride in where they live.
Our last visit in September we spent in Epernay, Provence, French Catalan then Burgundy (so a pretty extensive tour) and we struggled a bit with some of the food choices. There’s definitely a drop in standards in some areas (eg frozen fish & seafood in Collioure when it’s on the Mediterranean is inexcusable) and not many “Formule” on offer in the areas we were.
However France just puts everything the UK has to shame - step in any boulangerie/patisserie and what have we got? Greggs - I mean, not being funny but…..
Boxster5 said:
Great write-up - we love France and have been virtually every year for the last 25-30 years or so.
As you say zero rubbish which puts our country to shame.
Have you noticed the roundabouts? Some of them are works of art and they really take a pride in where they live.
Our last visit in September we spent in Epernay, Provence, French Catalan then Burgundy (so a pretty extensive tour) and we struggled a bit with some of the food choices. There s definitely a drop in standards in some areas (eg frozen fish & seafood in Collioure when it s on the Mediterranean is inexcusable) and not many Formule on offer in the areas we were.
However France just puts everything the UK has to shame - step in any boulangerie/patisserie and what have we got? Greggs - I mean, not being funny but ..
The rubbish bit is down to daily clean.As you say zero rubbish which puts our country to shame.
Have you noticed the roundabouts? Some of them are works of art and they really take a pride in where they live.
Our last visit in September we spent in Epernay, Provence, French Catalan then Burgundy (so a pretty extensive tour) and we struggled a bit with some of the food choices. There s definitely a drop in standards in some areas (eg frozen fish & seafood in Collioure when it s on the Mediterranean is inexcusable) and not many Formule on offer in the areas we were.
However France just puts everything the UK has to shame - step in any boulangerie/patisserie and what have we got? Greggs - I mean, not being funny but ..
Food standards have never been an issue, I do wonder if Med based locations suffer with fish/shellfish levels over recent years. Seemed to be everywhere last week. We even had a Chinese buffet one night and prawns were on offer and fresh as anything.
I just cannot stand coming back here your right, zero skills and zero work ethic in businesses. We have a place called Mark Bennett patisserie in the Poole/Bournemouth area....have a laugh at the menu prices https://patisseriemarkbennett.com/pdffile/download...
We love France and have visited 3 or 4 times every year since the '90s. One of my biggest regrets is not going ahead with with emigrating to start a business in France in the early 2000s - we backed out at the last minute.
We should have been going in the next couple of days for my birthday (as we usually do) but we are time-constrained this year and the weather doesn't look good enough to make it worthwhile. Bugger
We should have been going in the next couple of days for my birthday (as we usually do) but we are time-constrained this year and the weather doesn't look good enough to make it worthwhile. Bugger
fourstardan said:
I will be keeping an eye on Loire region weather over the winter. It felt like you'd get a month less in winter either side of crap weather.
I can imagine they get some massive storms through though.
House owner in the Loire here. Late December- early March can have very cold nights (-10 quite regularly inland, we are near Tours). The Atlantic storms tend to hit Brittany and Normandy more. I can imagine they get some massive storms through though.
Snow is becoming less common, and indeed even the colder nights are far less than when we bought in the late 00s. It is generally much drier than the UK in winter (although last winter/spring was catastrophically wet).
Puggit said:
House owner in the Loire here. Late December- early March can have very cold nights (-10 quite regularly inland, we are near Tours). The Atlantic storms tend to hit Brittany and Normandy more.
Snow is becoming less common, and indeed even the colder nights are far less than when we bought in the late 00s. It is generally much drier than the UK in winter (although last winter/spring was catastrophically wet).
Thanks, down in the Valley must get a bit less colder I assume?Snow is becoming less common, and indeed even the colder nights are far less than when we bought in the late 00s. It is generally much drier than the UK in winter (although last winter/spring was catastrophically wet).
When it raised at PDF the rain was noticeable heavier and never moved until we hit Nantes on the way home.
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