On our last day in Brittany, we decided to tour the eastern portion of Loire-Atlantique to find out how they farm salt from the sea. We drove to Guerande, walked through the old town, its ramparts dating to the 14th and 15th century. The Porte-st-Michel gate was flanked by two towers, as we wandered through the walled town, we checked out shopping opportunities. Driving south from Guerande, we meandered through the salt marshes and saw mounds of salt covered by tarps. We even saw a man working his salt ponds or as they say “salt-panning.â€
Next stop was Le Croisic, a cute resort town situated on a peninsula jutting out into the Atlantic. We stopped for lunch here and strolled the beachfront. We continued on to La Baule, with its 5-miles of white sand beach. It is an old resort town that allowed its historic properties to be replaced with highrise apartment buildings lining the shore. We were not impressed, even though a few historic homes dotted the town. Continuing down the beach, we passed through Pornichet on our way to St-Nazaire. St Nazarine is a ship building port – actually cruise liners like the Normandie (launched in 1932) and the France (launched in 1960). By the docks, we found a group of men playing boules and farther out along the quai, we watched the start of a sailboat race.
Since it was getting late, we hurried on to Vannes to check out the gardens just outside the rampart walls, beautifully landscaped and maintained. We parked just outside the Place Gambetta, along the quai with pleasure boats docked. We walked around the old town, window shopping and people-watching. The Cathedral of St Peter is also dedicated to St Vincent Ferrier whose tomb is housed there. It was built in the 16th century and is currently undergoing renovations, especially of its Renaissance Tower.  Some of its windows and art were covered or removed to preserve them during the project. One of its chapels is dedicated to St Ann, Mary’s mother and the patron saint of Brittany.  We found the fish market, closed of course by this time of day, and wandered back to the Gambetta gate to leave the walled city. We stopped at La Gambetta, a café overlooking the harbor and had a glass of wine.
We drove on toward Carnac, stopping at La Trinite-sur-Mer for a fine dinner of Gratin de la Mer for Mike, Kimberly and me, and grilled St Pierre for Glenn. Back at our cottage, we began preparations for our train ride to Paris tomorrow morning.
