Tuesday 14th May Carolles -Nantes

 Walked along  the 8 km tarmac promenade as far as St Pains de Mer , watched a trotting horse out for a long beach run with its owner and walked back to our quiet Aire.

Drove to Nantes in the Loire Atlantique commune , 330.000 population, greenest city in France. Parked up in a quiet leafy Aire next to a campsite , no hard standing or electric, but quiet at night, a swimming pool,  Le Petit Port ,  over the road and a tram into the centre 5 mins walk away.

We caught 2 trams in to the Centre and out to the  Isle de Loire (an island between the confluence of the Erdre and the Loire)

Nantes is Jules Vernes' birthplace and there is a giant carousel , a  huge mechanical elephant one can ride on and a workshop where the mechanical figures are constructed and demonstrated to the public . I was   feeling well enough to ride on a giant fish , where I could wiggle the tail and make canon noises using a drum at the back and look through  a periscope out of the eyes. Andy and I went on a sail boat too.  We were smiling - us ! 

Once a month,  every Thursday you can ride on the mechanical elephant in the evening ( up to 50 people) I was happier to watch it