Things to do in Southwestern France
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Brasserie La Cigale
No visit to Nantes is complete without joining the old ladies with perfectly manicured hair for a coffee and cake or an all-out feast at 1890s Brasserie La Cigale. Several salons of original gilded tilework and frescoed ceilings are attended by white-aproned waiters.
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Les Machines de l'Île de Nantes
The quirkiest sight in an altogether fairly quirky city has to be Les Machines de l'Île de Nantes. Inside this fantasy world it's perfectly possible to prance around like a Maharajah on the back of a 45-tonne mechanical elephant with a secret lounge inside its belly or voyage on a boat through rough and dangerous oceans where attacks from oversized squid and giant prawns are common. We can only think that Jules Verne would be smiling in his grave if he could see this lot! Gallery tickets are also good for the workshop, where you can watch these fantastical contraptions being built.
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Jardin des Plantes
Founded in the early 19th century, the Jardin des Plantes is one of the most exquisite botanical gardens in France, filled with flowerbeds, duck ponds, fountains and towering redwoods (sequoias). There are hothouses and a children's playground at the northern end of the gardens, which are opposite the train station.
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Le Sélect
A spiral wooden staircase leads to an upper mezzanine level at this arty café/restaurant/salon de thé, with mellow jazz playing in the background. The huge sandwich board is chalked with daily specials including reliable favourites like salads, steak and fries.
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Musée des Beaux-Arts
One of the finest collections of French paintings outside Paris hangs in sumptuous galleries linked by grand stone staircases at the Musée des Beaux-Arts, with works by Georges de la Tour, Chagall, Monet, Picasso and Kandinsky among others.
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Absolut Lounge
Absolut Lounge is a sophisticated joint serving good food and yummy cocktails along with plenty of room to chill to the electro-jazz wafting out of the sound system. Don't wear turquoise and red or you'll blend in with the decor.
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La Guingette
On weekends especially, drop by La Guingette, when locals congregate for board-game tournaments, French tapas, and a drink at the boat-shaped timber bar. It's across the river in the village-like quarter of Trentemoult.
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Sanctuaires Notre Dame de Lourdes
The development of the Sanctuaries of Our Lady of Lourdes began within a decade of Ste Bernadette's apparitions in 1858. The main site is approached via one of two gateways; the Porte St-Michel and Porte St-Joseph or the Entrée des Lacets.
The most dramatic approach is via the Port St-Joseph, from where a broad boulevard sweeps west towards the Byzantine Basilique du Rosaire (Basilica of the Rosary), and the Basilique Supérieure (Upper Basilica), topped by lavishly gilded turrets and tiled frescos depicting Bernadette's visions. Beneath the basilica is Lourdes' most revered site, the Grotte de Massabielle (sometimes known as the Grotte Miraculeuse or the Grotte des Appar…
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Poitiers Churches
Strolling Poitiers' history-trodden streets is the best way to get a feel for the city's past. Along the pavements, red, yellow and blue lines correspond with three self-guided walking tours detailed on a free city map handed out by the tourist office.
Every evening from 21 June to the third weekend in September, spectacular colours are cinematically projected onto the west facade of the Romanesque Église Notre Dame la Grande. The earliest parts of the church date from the 11th century; three of the five choir chapels were added in the 15th century, with the six chapels along the northern wall of the nave added in the 16th century. The only original frescoes are the faint…
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Defensive Towers
To protect the harbour at night in times of war, an enormous chain was raised between the two 14th-century stone towers at the harbour entrance to La Rochelle, giving rise to the name Tour de la Chaîne (Chain Tower). There are superb views from the top and a whizz-bang new permanent exhibit about the Canadian voyagers.
Across the harbour it's also possible to climb the 36m-high, pentagonal Tour St-Nicolas.
So named because of its role as the harbour's lighthouse (lit by an enormous candle), and one of the oldest of its kind in the world, the conical 15th-century Tour de la Lanterne is also referred to as Tour des Quatre Sergents in memory of four local sergeants, two of wh…
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Aquarium
La Rochelle's number-one tourist attraction is this state-of-the-art family-friendly aquarium. A visit begins by descending in a clunky old 'submarine' to the ocean floor, where you step out into a tunnel of fluoro jellyfish waving their tentacles in time to the classical music that wafts through the aquarium. Other highlights include the huge open ocean aquarium full of UFO-like rays and fearsome sharks, the jungle area with its tree-level walkways and ponds full of teeth-gnashing piranhas, the elegantly dancing seahorses, timid turtles and the bizarre half-newt, total fish mudskippers. The aim is to educate visitors to the wonders of the world's waters and the threats o…
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Parks
Landscaping is artistic as well as informative at the Jardin Public. Established in 1755 and laid out in the English style a century later, the grounds incorporate the meticulously catalogued Jardin Botanique founded in 1629 and at this site since 1855.
At the vast square esplanade des Quinconces, laid out in 1820, you'll see the fountain Girondins monument, a group of moderate, bourgeois National Assembly deputies during the French Revolution, 22 of whom were executed in 1793 after being convicted of counter-revolutionary activities.
The recently completed facelift of the 4km-long riverfront esplanade incorporates playgrounds, bicycle paths and, everyone's favourite, a waf…
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Towers
La Rochelle's three defensive towers can be visited individually, or on a combined ticket.
To protect the harbour at night in times of war, an enormous chain was raised between the two 14th-century stone towers at the harbour entrance, giving rise to the name of Tour de la Chaîne ('chain tower'). There are some informative exhibits on the history of the local Protestant community, and superb views from the top.
Across the harbour it's also possible to climb the 36m-high, pentagonal Tour St-Nicolas.
So named because of its role as the harbour's lighthouse (lit by an enormous candle), and one of the oldest of its kind in the world, the conical 15th-century Tour de la Lante…
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Basilique Saint-Seurin
Austere and imposing, the Basilique Saint-Seurin is an architectural treasure, classed by Unesco as a World Heritage Site. The basilica's style is predominantly Romanesque, but many Gothic elements pertain - the result of successive additions to the structure over the centuries. Its history goes back as far as the beginning of Christendom in the 6th century.
On the western façade of the building, superb columns form two archways allowing access to the nave, whose beautiful Romanesque capitals date from the 12th-century. The southern portal recounts the Last Judgement, while, inside the basilica, the massive pillars in the nave have a striking countenance. To the left of t…
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Island Hopping
Several islands are scattered around La Rochelle, including the nearby Île de Ré, as well as a trio further south.
Accessible only by boat, the tiny crescent-shaped Île d'Aix (pronounced 'eel dex'), 16km due south of La Rochelle, has some blissful beaches. Between the Île d'Aix and the larger Île d'Oléron (linked to the mainland by a free bridge) is the fortress-island Fort Boyard, built during the first half of the 19th century.
Inter-Îles has sailings from Easter to early November to Fort Boyard (adult/child €18.50/11.50), Île d'Aix (€27/17.50) and Île d'Oléron (€27/17.50), plus sailings to Île de Ré (€18.50/11.50) from Easter to September.
La Rochelle'…
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Château Fort
On a rocky pinnacle above town squats this imposing castle. There's been some kind of stronghold on this site since Roman times, but the present building is largely medieval, including the stout walls and the central keep. The castle was fortified again in the 17th and 18th centuries, and served as a state prison following the Revolution.
Since the 1920s, the castle has housed the Musée Pyrénéen, which owns one of the region's largest collections of folk art, rural artefacts, tools and other exhibits.
Take the free lift (elevator) from rue Baron Duprat or walk up the ramp at the northern end of rue du Bourg.
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Cathédrale Saint-André
Lording it over Bordeaux is Cathédrale St-André. A Unesco World Heritage Site, the cathedral's oldest section dates from 1096; most of what you see today was built in the 13th and 14th centuries. Exceptional masonry carvings can be seen in the north portal.
Even more imposing than the cathedral itself is the 50m gargoyled, gothic belfry, Tour Pey-Berland. Erected between 1440 and 1466, its spire was added in the 19th century, and in 1863 it was topped off with the statue of Notre Dame of Aquitaine (Our Lady of Aquitaine). Scaling the tower's 232 steep, narrow steps rewards you with an unfolding panorama of the city.
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Cathédrale St-André
Lording over the city, and a Unesco World Heritage Site prior to the city's classification, the cathedral's oldest section dates from 1096; most of what you see today was built in the 13th and 14th centuries. Exceptional masonry carvings can be seen in the north portal. Even more imposing than the cathedral itself is the gargoyled, 50m-high Gothic belfry, Tour Pey-Berland, erected between 1440 and 1466. Its spire was added in the 19th century, and in 1863 it was topped off with the statue of Notre Dame de l'Aquitaine (Our Lady of Aquitaine). Scaling the tower's 232 narrow steps rewards you with a spectacular panorama of the city.
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Thermes Marins
Thermes Marins offers Thalassotherapy (literally, 'sea healing'). Like the other centres in Biarritz that offer this service, Thermes Marins squirts people with high pressure hoses, pummells them and massages them, and then smeares them in mud and seaweed. More and more swear by thalassotherapy both as an antidote to 21st-century problems such as stress, obesity and insomnia and as a cure for physical ailments.
Then again, the sceptical might say that a couple of swift laps swum around the bay or a nice warm bath at home with a kilo of salt, dash of iodine and a rubber duck might do just as much for you.
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Islands
Several islands are scattered around La Rochelle, including the nearby Île de Ré as well as a trio further offshore. The car-free, crescent-shaped Île d'Aix (pronounced 'eel dex'), 16km due south of La Rochelle, has some blissful beaches. Between the Île d'Aix and Île d'Oléron is the fortress-island Fort Boyard, built during the first half of the 19th century and these days best known (in France at least) as the location for the 'adventure' TV show of the same name, which is filmed here each summer. When the weather's clear, you can see La Rochelle in the distance.
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Toy Museums
A treat for kids (and kids-at-heart) is the Musée des Automates (Automation Museum), a small theme-park-style display showing 300 automated dolls from the last two centuries, including a near-life-size re-creation of bygone Montmartre in Paris, right down to the Moulin Rouge and the funicular railway. Trainspotters will love the equally appealing Musée des Modèles Réduits (Scale Model Museum) next door, with miniature cars, computer-automated naval battles and a tootling model railway. Both museums are wheelchair accessible.
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Esplanade des Quinconces
The most prominent feature of esplanade des Quinconces, a vast square laid out in 1820, is the fountain monument to the Girondins, a group of moderate, bourgeois National Assembly deputies during the French Revolution, 22 of whom were executed in 1793 after being convicted of Counter-Revolutionary activities.
The entire 50m-high ensemble, completed in 1902, was dismantled in 1943 by the Germans so the statues could be melted down for their 52 tonnes of bronze. Restoration took years and was not completed until 1983.
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Pic du Jer
When the crowds of pilgrims get too much, you can take refuge on the rocky 94m-high pinnacle of the Pic du Jer, which offers panoramic views of Lourdes and the central chain of the Pyrenees.
There are two routes to the top: a punishing three-hour slog along a signed trail, or a speedy six-minute ride on the century-old funicular. We'll leave it up to you to decide which is the more rewarding.
Either way, the summit makes a superb spot for a picnic. There's a choice of routes back down: a black-run mountain-bike trail, or a more family-friendly option along the Voie Verte des Gaves, a decommissioned railway that finishes up at the lower funicular station.
Take bus 2 from plac…
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La Tupina
Filled with the aroma of soup simmering inside an old tupina ('kettle' in Basque) over an open fire, this white-tableclothed place is feted far and wide for its seasonal southwestern French specialities such as a minicasserole of foie gras and eggs, milk-fed lamb or goose wings with potatoes and parsley. A €16 lunch menu is available on weekdays. La Tupina is a 10-minute walk upriver from the city centre and on a small side street. Any local can point you in the right direction.
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