The Loire
Broad, tidal and industrial, running fifty kilometres to the Atlantic. It is why Nantes exists, why it grew rich, and — along the Quai de la Fosse — where the slaving ships fitted out.
Several arms of the Loire through the city were filled in during the 1930s. Streets that feel oddly wide are former river.
The Erdre, and the buried part
The Erdre joins the Loire in the middle of town, and its lower reach was covered over — the water still runs beneath the Cours des 50-Otages.
Upstream it opens into a broad green river lined with châteaux and boathouses. The towpath walk out of the city is the best free hour in Nantes.
The Île de Versailles sits in it, laid out as a Japanese garden.
Crossing
The Navibus to Trentemoult runs on the ordinary transport ticket. Going over at dusk and back after dark is the view most visitors never get.
The Erdre
Quai de la Fosse
Île de Versailles
Trentemoult