Tuesday, 25 October 2005
A Weekend in Nantes
This weekend, my bride-to-be surprised me with a trip. (Actually, my being too clever by half - often too much for my own good - I had sort of figured out the destination a while back. But I pushed it to the back of my mind, and so it remained a surprise.)
Heather took me to Nantes, the French town where I was a student so long ago. We'd been talking for a long time about my showing her the place, especially since it essentially marks the start of my French Experience. So it was a thrill to play tour guide for her - and for myself, since Nantes has changed in some subtle and not-so-subtle ways since my student days.
You can see photos of our trip in my new gallery. At the time I write this, though, things are still in flux. I still have to add titles and descriptions (and more). But sooner is better than never, right?
We got there Saturday afternoon, which meant we missed out on "normal" lunch hour - and with it, my being able to eat at my once-favorite crêperie, La Crêperie Jaune. So instead we had our galettes at another of the many crêperies in the old town area. We did have time during our wanderings to have a great cup of hot chocolate at La Maison des Ancêtres (a new addition since my student days).
Otherwise, Heather got to see the key sights of my old haunt: the château, the cathédrale, my host family's place (in between the latter two landmarks), several familiar streets, and more. I didn't think to take snapshots with my new phone camera until Sunday (when we quickly revisited some of the places), which sort of sucks. But we'll probably go back one day, and the whole point of my getting this phone was to see if I could adjust to the shoot-everything-you-like method of digital photography.
We had dinner at La Cigale. The last time I'd been here was when my parents and brother visited me, along with my French girlfriend. Wow, I hadn't been back once since. The place always held a certain mystique for me - maybe because I was a student, unaccustomed to nice places (as Heather pointed out); or maybe because of the circumstances of introducing my serious girlfriend to my family (as I think).
Anyway, La Cigale was fun. Having five years of restaurant experiences - in Paris, no less - as reference, I definitely felt more at ease. Besides, as I pointed out to Heather, every server there save one was younger than me. Our waiter was warm and personable, the food was decent (though not top-notch) and the décor was a colorful reminder of typical brasseries of a century ago.
Like I said, no photos of the place because I didn't think of it (and forgot on Sunday), but the linked page has a couple. And I also missed copying down the name of the dessert I ordered. It would've been worth noting, since I couldn't pronounce it right no matter how hard I tried. It made our waiter giggle.
We got a late start on Sunday too, this time due to brunch. This year marks the 100th anniversary of Jules Verne's death. The Nantes native authored Around the World in Eighty Days, 10,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and more than a few other well-known titles. So, we trekked up to the Jules Verne museum which had recently reopened three days before. Close an essential part of the celebration for repairs in such a landmark year? Don't ask me, try a French person for that kind of logic.
One of the highlights of our trip came after the museum (which was itself pretty dry): While looking toward Nantes from the hill, an older man passed us and asked if we liked what we saw. We got into chatting with him and he gave us some great details of the view stretching out before us, as well as fun historical tidbits. Actually, the chat was a lot more far-ranging than that, but it's hard to capture.
Funny enough, we ran into him again at the foot of the hill. Heather and I had paused at the tramway station to decide whether to wait for the next one or walk back, and along came the same French gentleman. Well, we all hiked back to town center (truth be told, it wasn't more than a fifteen minute walk) while he gave us more history and tales.
Once at our destination, he managed to smooth-talk our way into the private courtyard of the largest of the old mansions in town. Nantes was a part of the Golden Triangle of slave trade, and here was a mansion built with some of its spoils. This was a place that I'd passed many times before, and never had given a second thought.
I regret never getting the man's name, even more that I didn't take his picture. We'll always remember him and this unexpected tour of Nantes, the town I thought I knew so well.
Sunday was wrapped up by going to see the converted interior of the LU biscuit factory (it's now a trendy art-crowd bar and exhibition space) and stopping by the university campus. Well, at least we saw the building where I had my two on-campus classes (the rest were in a building in town center, under repair when we stopped by on Saturday). Throw in a couple of butter-and-sugar crêpes, and we were set.
[Updated Tuesday, 1 November 2005: Check out Malaysian Broadcasting Corporation's "Re:Looking", a fictional web site created as a part of an exhibit at the converted LU biscuit factory. The "art piece" consisted of a full living room, with "Lust & Empire" showing on the TV and a computer showing this site. The immersive experience was an interesting use of alternate history to examine our own.]
That's the rundown. I don't know why I went into so much detail, but it was a weekend to remember. Not because it was exciting, but because it was fun to share this part of my past with Heather.
The main thing that stick in my mind is how, well, odd the experience was for me. A city is a living thing, and Nantes is no exception. Our visit brought home with full force a realization: It's been fifteen years since I first set foot in that town, ready to start my study year abroad.
Fifteen years, from student to resident. From beginning my adult life to beginning a new chapter with my fiancée. It'll be interesting to see what the next fifteen years bring, and how I'll look back on Paris (and Nantes!) in that time.