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A new Nantes
UNTIL 1941, Nantes, the sixth-largest city in France, was part of Brittany.
Now, though, it's capital of Pays de Loire. It has a refurbished chateau, newly pedestrianised plazas and a giant mechanised elephant.
I flew to the city from Bournemouth Airport with low-budget carrier Ryanair.
Nantes is being flagged up as an ideal weekend destination for culture vultures, gastronomes and (whisper it) stag and hen parties.
As with any city on the cusp of a renaissance, it's best to strike while the iron's still hot... and there's no better conversation-starter than sharing travel stories about riding an 11-metre-tall wooden elephant along the banks of the Loire.
This mammoth feat of engineering (complete with batting eyelashes) is a thrills-laden Disney-like experience, and the centrepiece of the city's Les Machines project - a set of prehistoric animals housed in a warehouse, with visitors encouraged to ride on them, pulling levers and twiddling dials and generally making the creatures misbehave.
But if you're looking for slightly more traditional charms from a city, Nantes has a lot to offer.
There's the Gothic-style Cathedral of St Peter and St Paul, and its recently restored stained glass windows which bathe an elaborate interior with coloured sunshine - the stuff of cinematographers' dreams.
Then there's the Chateau des Ducs de Bretagne, refurbished to include the Nantes History Museum.
So much money was pumped into this project, it was in danger of becoming a second elephant - this time a white one. Luckily, though, the locals seem to have embraced it.
Bursting at the seams with schoolchildren when we visited, the castle houses five floors of hi-tech displays detailing the history of Nantes.
Another reason for the city's resurgence is that it has been able to swallow its pride and admit previous mistakes by bringing back an axed tram system.
The public transport is now something to be proud of - efficient tramways and a frequent ferry crossing the River Loire to Trentemoult, popular with the locals for long lazy lunches and strolls around arty craft shops.
There's nothing like indulging in the continental habit of taking a two-hour lunch break surrounded by office workers who look like they've never had a care in the world - or a boss, for that matter.
Perhaps the last place you'd think of for a trendy bar and restaurant is a former biscuit factory, but the Lieu Unique, located in what used to be the LU factory, is the kind of place that's so achingly hip the waiters shun penguin gear for grungy casual attire.
But for those who want beautiful food in suitable surroundings, the most elegant restaurant in town is Brasserie La Cigale.
If you can keep your eyes off the artwork masquerading as a ceiling for long enough, then prepare to be dazzled by waiters serving the house speciality - steak tartare - as though they are old masters putting the final dabs of paint to a canvas.
The city centre is compact, perfect for easy strolls among the boutique shops. Look out for the stores that sell authentic Western Loire produce, like pieces of toffee made from the region's famed salt marshes.
An hour-and-a-half from Nantes, the smell of salt lingers in the air as you approach the sea and pass by shallow pits dug throughout the salt marshes.
The seaside resort of La Baule is like a little pocket of southern France shifted north for sunseekers in search of a bit of class. In spite of its sophisticated reputation, families come in their droves to enjoy the 12 kilometres of sandy beach, the longest in Europe.
We enjoyed local Muscadet wine and surveyed the boomerang of golden sand from the terrace of La Veranda restaurant on the seafront.
The restaurant is awaiting its Michelin star and uses local produce that serves as the bedrock of its fanciful reputation, making it the place where the grande dames of the resort dine.
Also within a day-trip distance of Nantes is Guerande, an old walled town where a treaty was signed in 1361 putting an end to the Breton War of Succession.
The town's ramparts are still intact and visitors can still stroll upon them on one of many guided tours on offer throughout the small town's charming cobbled streets.
If you want to have a stab at speaking the language, then this is the place to give it a whirl, especially at one of the many market stalls.
The market is frequented by Guerande's local residents who, as you'd expect if you were penned together by four walls, make up a close-knit community.
But the walled town doesn't quite have everything they need - you have to venture beyond the awesomely impressive gates to find a pub.
Speaking of alcohol, stag and hen parties will find plenty of friendly venues in which to imbibe within the region.
And while Nantes is making up its mind exactly who it's trying to attract, locals somehow managed to muster wry smiles at a group of beret-sporting Brits shaking their beer bellies to the rhythms of a samba band.
fact file
Joanna Davis travelled to Nantes as a guest of Ryanair and the Nantes and Western Loire tourist boards.
For information on flights between Bournemouth and Nantes, visit ryanair.com
More information about Nantes and Western Loire can be found
at nantes-tourisme.com and westernloire.com
For more on La Baule, see labaule.fr and visit
ville-guerande.fr for more information
on Guerande.
3:19pm Saturday 12th July 2008
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