Pays-de-la-Loire

This Region includes part of what travelers normally consider part of the Loire Valley and Nantes is just so close to Brittany sometimes it has been thought of as being in that Region, but for those who have traveled France know, drive an hour and you can be in a totally different Region.

Nantes

Our visit to Nantes was originally driven by the fact that the Waterman Pen Company has its factory in Nantes, and I am a pen collector so this alone would be the reason to travel to Nantes. Indeed, we did have a very interesting tour of the factory, but we also found Nantes to be an interesting town to visit. I notice in other references Nantes is referred to as the capital of the Pays de la Loire Région, and the préfecture of the Loire-Atlantique département and also an important city of Brittany. I have been using the Michelin Maps and the Regions as published by the French Government to organize our Journal notes so I am including my comments on the city here, rather than in Brittany.

Nantes was the former capital of Brittany. In 1532 Brittany was annexed to France and for a few years the parliament remained in Nantes before being moved north to the city of Rennes.