I will write more about models later. Suffice to say that I am captivated by them and models made many years ago can be seen at some chateaux. See
The Abbey of Fontevraud transformed into an Ideal City by artists
Models
Roseraie in Spring and Autumn
Grand old gardens seem to assert the outer borders of Nantes in each direction but it is to the North that is located a roseraie for all seasons with ample flowering year round, baroque old roses in the warmer months aside hardy new roses which still flower in the cold months. One could live in Nantes for this garden alone.
Clisson
Today Clisson exists as a flavour of Italy within France’s North West and the building styles and materials attest to this. Red terracotta roof tiles mix with slate and the rectangular tower of l’Eglise Notre-Dame de Clisson sits atop the building as it cascades down the slope to the narrow roadways leading to the river. Bright geraniums and pizza restaurants make for great outdoor the market in Summer. The influence of François-Frédéric Lemot is outstanding as he brought his taste for Italian art and architecture to Clisson.
Rezé
A walk to La Poste is to experience a street that has been under repair for seven years and now one of the final stages is taking place in the form of block work that has a team of tradespeople bending all day as they meticulously cut and place stones. This artful mosaic of granite seems to be a statement of trust in a work that shouldn’t need touching for another 100 years. No wonder the underlying infrastructure needs to be deliberated over for so long but the end result is testimony to the respect given to these historical streets in French towns and cities.
On my way into Nantes I prefer to walk one stop back to the terminus at Rezé, adding time just to experience the grass tramlines. What could be considered mundane zones in France are treated with attention and expense elevating their status for the appreciation by pedestrians and motorists. A dry corner car park has the added value of a cooling grid canopy of pruned greenery and is located opposite contemporary shards, large rusted metal sculptures strewn in the grass at the entry point to the Reze commune. Shabby wild flowers are intentional, carpeting the tramlines once the line turns the corner towards Nantes a couple of km away. Every French town has a boulangerie and the geometry of this bold yellow building sits well within the precinct, adding a sense of exuberance to an area otherwise dominated by plain multi story accommodation.
Nantes Parks – Parc De La Morinière
I won’t ever forget the exhilaration during my first Summer in France as I discovered the manor and its Japanese garden reached via a park which shared an overgrown boundary with the rear of our garden. I came to it unexpectedly under the huge Japanese elm at the end of three kilometers of cow paddocks and shady riverbank paths, somewhere between lazy suburbia and heaven. We sat and ate cake from an old painted cake tin and I knew there and then, I was in France. The soft shadows of the glades give way to remnants of an industrial past.
Nantes
Before my arrival in Nantes in Western France I was surprised by the nod of approval given by French people in Australia. It has a population of 200,000 people making it lively while retaining a beautiful sense of space and though one of my earliest experiences of small French cities, I expect Nantes to remain as my benchmark for assessing the quality of life in all other places.
Nantes Parks – Parc de Procé
Parc de Procé has been appreciated by many people including Andre Breton, quoted on a plaque outside on the terrace café wall. Like most gardens in France they are entered by tall wrought iron gates and a café is housed in the old manor. Time doesn’t matter as we eat gelato and chat on the terrace looking down on the front park and fountain through the gnarled branches of the very old and well pruned crepe myrtle trees. Pruning is an art form in France where ever it occurs and I imagine taken for granted a little by the French, but to me the shapes are a key to recalling and respecting formalities of times past. A large Dahlia collection is secreted far away in the top corner of the gardens and comes as a surprise like many things. The species are all labelled and can be easily perused from markers along the stone mosaic paths. A traditional rotunda, mint green sits playfully among the flowers.
Nantes Parks – Chantrerie
During my first Summer I experienced France at some of the finest moments, the long sweeping shadows of the Chantrerie defining the late afternoon, small sparkling flower heads leaning in as we lunched alone on the rear manor house steps oblivious to any activity the caryatids behind us had witnessed in centuries past. Nantes is visible only as a sole highrise, its only high rise tower, occupying a small spot at the centre of the horizon, the forest in the foreground and the Erdre River in the mid ground.