Nantes, and a decision made

 We followed the canal because it was a nice drive, then headed to Nantes, the capital of Brittany. It's on the Loire and we parked on a quayside before walking into town. 

A shipping crossroad...crosscanal? The side canal helps regulate the water levels in the main canal.

Ferry across the Loire. A Tomtom surprise, but not a problem. And free!

Tied up next door to this anti-submarine warfare vessel, Maillé-Brézé.

The quay was lined with trees and these dudes guarded a bar.

A replica of a Russian frigate from Csar Peter the Great's fleet

One of the artworks was this bendy football field. It looks straight in the mirror.

The chateau and public vege garden

One way of exiting...

Carvings and graffiti of prisoners over 18th and 19th C

A map showing the courses of the old river streams. The top-most stream was filled over the late 19th and early 20th C and is now a wide boulevard.

All that's left of the Lefevre Utile (LU) biscuiterie, a brand famous all over France

There was a special exhibition on the company in the museum. They had some beautiful artwork on their tins and adverts, and displayed a larger version of this at the Paris World Expo in 1900.

The museum showed the growth of the castle and of the town over time so was quite interesting.

Urban jungle

Belfry and clocktower, a sign of wealth

Slightly different rides on this merry-go-round

Look carefully - there's always a lump of a German concrete somewhere! And the mural is colourful.

The massive elephant. I took video but it's too big to upload.

NZ wasn't forgotten.

Another artwork, but a hands-on one. Basket tree I think it was called. Dad was playing on the hoop at left

It was late when we finished exploring and we hadn't found a park-up. We headed up-river trying one spot after another until we ended up parking illegally in a river-side picnic spot. (It used to be legit but the sign has been taken down.) We were joined by another Hymer and in the end neither of us was bothered by the authorities. 

We decided that with campsites closing up for the end of the season, the weather turning autumnal, and our power shortages starting to annoy we would turn and head for home.