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Nantes-Sense

Started by hummingofevil, February 06, 2020, 12:54:05 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

chveik

Quote from: hummingofevil on February 06, 2020, 01:25:44 AM
Worse than that I am actually hoping to find someone who I can trade my siarad cymraeg with a bit if breton. Outward-looking-nation and all that. ;)

it's unlikely you'll find anyone speaking breton in Nantes.

number of breton speaking folks in the different parts of Britanny (and they're mostly very old people):


hummingofevil

Cheers. That map is really cool. I just read that despite not being in modern Brittany it has a strong Bretton culture. I am sure I will have enough to deal with murdering the French language but I live in hope.

I once hugely offended a women in that ace Nepalese restaurant in Aberdeen with my Napalm Death T-shirt only for us to become best mates after I explained that, rather than a celebration of murderous imperialistic death cult shite it was an ironic statement of anti-facism. Turns out she was a Doric speaker and we spent evening comparing Geordie and Doric words.

That kind of thing is my dream night out.

imitationleather

Quote from: Elderly Sumo Prophecy on February 09, 2020, 02:23:08 AM
Take heed of the sage advice written under my username. Might come in handy.

Same for what's under mine.

hummingofevil

So Nantes was lovely. Not as grand or spectacular or as pretty as Lyon or Toulouse or Montpellier but very nice all the same. Certainly got the feel of a young, student city and a good place just to hang out, walk about, eat, drink and generally just potter about which is exactly what I wanted to do.

First couple of days was a struggle speaking French (lot of young staff in bars and restaurants wanting to switch straight into English - most of the pubs and bars have craft and Belgian ales so even with my best French asking for and IPA or a pale ale or stout betrays my accent - the French say "AYE-PEE-AEY" not "EE-PEE-AH" btw.

By day three I was getting a bit pissed off that I was able to read L'Equipe pretty much without fault but was struggling to order a coffee so just flat out refused to speak English and then got mortal and ended up chatting on with a few groups of locals who didn't speak English. It worked and had loads of fun talking French and once again found the French a very friendly, accommodating and funny lot.

Have a list of pubs and things to do recommendations if anyone really fancies it but there was nothing particularly mindblowing. Just a good place to hang about and relax in.

---

Oh and I did get to speak a few words of Bretton. Got chatting with a student who said he didn't speak Bretton but had a Bretton name (that is actually the same name as my mate's Dad who is Cymro) but he found himself dropping in a few Bretton slang words as we were chatting (in much the same way my English speaking family will use Cariad or Bechod).

Elderly Sumo Prophecy

I'm hoping the words Cariad and Bechod mean Cunt and Bastard respectively.

sevendaughters

had I seen this I would have recommended Lieu Unique

Shoulders?-Stomach!

QuoteHave a list of pubs and things to do recommendations if anyone really fancies it but there was nothing particularly mindblowing. Just a good place to hang about and relax in.

Send a few pub recommendations my way, please.

hummingofevil

Quote from: Shoulders?-Stomach! on February 23, 2020, 08:15:12 AM
Send a few pub recommendations my way, please.

Will do. Might be later in week but of course. :)

hummingofevil

Quote from: Elderly Sumo Prophecy on February 23, 2020, 05:32:02 AM
I'm hoping the words Cariad and Bechod mean Cunt and Bastard respectively.

They do. Use them next time you try to start a fight in The White Lion in Bala. :)

hummingofevil

#39
Pubs.

Atomic's Cafe - Is it named after the awesome docu-movie of the similar name? Maybe. It's a student friendly bar with 10 pressions that are nice but nothing remarkable (I stuck with the Kasteel Rouge). Highlight is the Wonder Woman logo bookshelf in back room that is packed full of comic books and independent Eric Cartmen artwork on the wall that references other cult movies. A board games, geek retreat bar for adults. Not bad.

Delirium Tremens. Is this a chain like it's Brussels namesake? Amazing beer selection including a lot of local craft choices (I liked the Aerofab sour that was billed as a lime sour but was actually just a lager and lime - but was good). Seemed to attact and English speaking crowd (I literally didn't see another Brit/Yank anywhere else in Nantes in 3 days and it was full of them) and staff super friendly.

Les BerThom - I find these places a bit weird. I think there was one in Lyon too. They remind me of the "Tap" chain of craft beer bars. I think they are a chain. Good selection, expensive and nice cocktails but a bit dull and souless. I ended up drinking Rochefort 8 and Blanton's Bourbon; which maybe sums it up. Top quality sup without a top quality vibe. Just a bit meh.

Le Sur Mesure. There are two of these pubs in Nantes and they are both head and shoulders above the other pubs in town. Genuinely great combination of craft, Belgian and local on pression and deep bottle selection. Had a Cantillion as a treat and decor in both places was a load of wooden stumps serving as both stools and tables. Definitely recommend. Also worth mentioning that the massive hard-bastard looking barman in the one near my hotel was incredibly sweet in speaking French with me.

Le Nid. I would definitely recommend this place. The best pub in the world to go for one AND probably the most frustrating pub in the whole world. It's 32 floors up in the only tower in the city and the "nest decor" is egg chairs and a huge goose that serves as the back rest. But the beer is crap, the cocktails overpriced (we went for two bacardi and cokes as they couldn't fuck it up) and we left after one. If I won the lottery I would buy this place and do it out and it would be literally one of the best bars in the world. Go. Just don't stay long.

Irish bars. Nantes seems to have loads of Irish bars and whilst they are are parlez Anglais friendly they are mainly  frequented by locals. We had a good laugh watching PSG getting beat and used my best French to take the piss out of the 50% PSG-supporting fans (whilst the 50% Nantes supporters were more than happy to join in). Nothing to really recommend but my take was most of these pubs had better beer and whisky selections than most "good" pubs in UK.

---

Like I said. go. It's a good place.

Edit: We also went to a few normal glass conservatory fronted bistros and bars for some Ricards and wines but if I had more time there seemed to be a fair few lovely looking Japanese restaurants I would definitely try out. The Nanteaise love their fish so suspect it is a great place of sushi.

idunnosomename

Quote from: Angrew Lloyg Wegger on February 06, 2020, 11:02:25 PM
Just realised that this is the exact same joke as is in the thread title, please ignore and throw cum at me in disgust
poster has made six posts, three are stating the joke in the title and the other three asking to be covered in semen

Jockice

Went there probably around 20 years ago. It was nice. Hope this helps.

Ferris

Quote from: FerriswheelBueller on February 06, 2020, 12:57:14 AM
I remember it being very sunny (in July).

Hope this helps.

Quote from: Jockice on February 25, 2020, 09:11:17 PM
Went there probably around 20 years ago. It was nice. Hope this helps.

We must have been like two ships in the (French) night.