Guerande

To the northwest of St Nazaire is a marshy area called La Grande Briere, which is a national park area.  We drove through this on the way to Guerande, stopping at a small village where we saw thatched cottages and some horses being made ready for the day, and we took some nice pictures.  We also stopped at Kerhinet, a small village that had become depopulated as people moved to the towns, so that there were just 2 houses still occupied when the park authority bought the whole village to turn it into a museum.  Sadly the exhibits only opened as we left, but it was a very pleasant interlude on our way to Guerande.

Guerande town centre is very compact, with all the medieval walls in place, and also a long stretch of moat. There is a central square, with a market beside the church, and streets with a variety of shops and galleries.  This was a half day excursion, but we extended our time here by returning by bus later in the afternoon.

The church felt a little like the one at Vannes, with paintings in the chapels, but less large dark and heavy. One picture of Jesus at the house of Simon the leper particularly impressed me. Between the shops and the market stalls there was quite a lot to see, and then we enjoyed a crepe sitting in the main square.

We looked round an art gallery, with sculptures and paintings, and Ann bought a poster.  We walked round the walls and bought some lunch at a pattiserie, which we ate by the walls.  After lunch there was very little to do as the market had finished most of the shops had closed for a long lunch hour, so we sat at a very colourful bar and enjoyed a beer.

Come half past two the museum in the gatehouse opened, and I looked round at the variety of artefacts from the town's history, and enjoyed a walk on the small portion of the walls that was open.  After that the town took on a new lease of life as the shops reopened after lunch.  Some others from our party had taken the little train that took them right out into the salt marshes round about.

Getting home by bus was no problem, although finding the right bus stop from St. Nazaire town centre back to the hotel was a little uncertain.  Once back at the hotel I had a nice swim in the hotel pool.

Pornic

On the way back from Noirmoutier we stopped at the harbour town of Pornic.  We got out by the station, where it had something of the feel of Llangollen.  The railway ran alongside a swiftly flowing river, and the land rises on both sides of the river valley.  The road crossed the river over a bridge, and suddenly the river had changed into a pretty harbour, overlooked at the far end by a castle defending the entrance from the ocean.
We walked along the harbour, but got no further than an ice cream shop; delicious. Then we went into a clothes shop and Ann bought a Breton stripy blue and white tee shirt.
There is a pottery at Pornic, but we did not try to find it as Ann was not up for climbing up the hillside.  I went on my own to the church, past the town hall, and along by the castle where I saw some nice mosaics on one of the houses. The church felt much lighter than the cathedral at Vannes, with posters by children at the back.
We visited a shop that sold chocolate and some Breton cakes, which, when we asked, were made of butter and sugar, and not much else.  The shop keeper was very passionate about them, but when we got them home we were a little disappointed.  We went to another shop called La Trinitaine which is reputed to make the best Breton biscuits.
On the way back to the coach we saw some of the pottery on display at the Tourist information.