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Exploring Industrial Wasteland on a Rainy Day

Some days are sunny, some days are cloudy and some days are—gasp!—rainy. I grew up in Nantes, I can take the rain. In Canada, people don’t even go out when rain is forecast. In Nantes, it’s business as usual, most of us don’t even bother with umbrellas or raincoats. Getting soaked is part of the deal when you live close to the Atlantic Ocean.

My brother, my mother, Mark and I decided to follow the Loire River, an interesting scenery when the sky is grey. We crossed the bridge to the Isle of Nantes, got soaked, but we kept walking past the usual touristic attractions. We ended up at the former Marché d’intérêt national, a wholesale market for fruit, vegetables and agricultural produce. Industrial wasteland, old train tracks, empty buildings. We goofed around—we were the only ones around—sunny, cloudy, rain. The entire afternoon was like this, unpredictable and laughably so.

At one point, I stopped at the bakery to buy Mark a brioche au sucre (sweet bread with sugar). My mom, my brother and Mark waited outside. When I stepped out, one minute later—just the time to say “bonjour, une brioche, merci,” it was pouring and I had to run across the street to the bus stop where they had taken shelter.

It could have been a miserable afternoon but we had a lot of fun. We came home five hours later, soaked, dirty and happy.

Life is cool when you embrace it.

A few pictures are a bit blurry because wiping the water off the lens when you’re soaked just doesn’t work…

Seagulls by the Loire River
Seagulls by the Loire River
Isle of Nantes and the Titan Crane
Isle of Nantes and the Titan Crane
Along the Loire on the Isle of Nantes
Along the Loire on the Isle of Nantes
At the Tip of the Isle of Nantes
At the Tip of the Isle of Nantes
Industrial Wasteland
Industrial Wasteland
By the Loire River
By the Loire River
Industrial Wasteland
Industrial Wasteland
Industrial Wasteland
Industrial Wasteland
Grey Clouds
Grey Clouds
Industrial Wasteland
Industrial Wasteland
Industrial Wasteland
Industrial Wasteland
Industrial Wasteland
Industrial Wasteland
Following the Old Tracks
Following the Old Tracks
Industrial Wasteland
Industrial Wasteland
Goofing Around on Industrial Wasteland
Goofing Around on Industrial Wasteland
My Brother and Mark
My Brother and Mark
My Mum and Mark
My Mum and Mark
Portrait by my Mum
Portrait by my Mum
My Brother
My Brother
Rain
Rain
Rain
Rain
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Zhu

French woman in English Canada.

Exploring the world with my camera since 1999, translating sentences for a living, writing stories that may or may not get attention.

Firm believer that nobody is normal... and it’s better this way.

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