Years of airport goodbyes allowed me to master the art of holding back tears. I never let anyone, especially not my family, take me to the airport.
Our summer 2014 trip to France.
Years of airport goodbyes allowed me to master the art of holding back tears. I never let anyone, especially not my family, take me to the airport.
It's been hot and stormy in Nantes, and staying indoors is not an option. One of my favourite walks in Nantes is along the Loire River.
Much has been written about French food, from the classic “French women don’t get fat” mystery to haute cuisine drool-worthy cookbooks.
“Fingers in the nose!” I laughed. “Les doigts dans le nez—it’s a French idiom, it’s used to describe something that’s super easy.
The first thing he did in Saint-Michel was to run down the dirt stairs. He ran too fast, tripped and fell down.
Since my parents no longer have a car, going to the family house in Saint Michel, a quiet beach town on the Atlantic Coast, is more difficult than before.
Most French people take holidays between July 14 (Bastille Day) and August 15. This is what Nantes looks like in the summer.
At the top of Mark’s if-you-don’t-take-me-there-once-a-day-I’ll-whine list is the Jardin des plantes.
Factories started to close down almost overnight. Entire assembly and production lines were moved to countries where labour laws were more flexible—or better, non-existent.
Nothing works properly on Sunday. And if it rains, as it often does in Nantes, the empty streets can be downright depressing.
Nantes' most common nickname is the Venice of the West, a name owing to its position on the river delta of the Loire, the Erdre, and the Sèvre.
Huang Yong Ping, a Chinese Avant-garde artist, currently has works on display at the HAB Gallery on the Isle of Nantes.
Museums are free on the first Sunday of the month in Nantes, and my dad used to take us to the Natural History Museum regularly when I was a kid.
We took Mark for the grand tour—the rampart walk. We followed the sentry walk linking the seven towers, with great views of the inner courtyard and the city.
France won a few games and people really caught on soccer fever. French flags flew proudly and I heard mentions of the 1998 World Cup.