L'Ile de Nantes: travelling to the future
L'Ile de Nantes is definitely an off the beaten place to go. It is a small island south of Nantes. Well, dont think tropical island or anything like this. Right now, it is an industrial island. It used to be a main industrial center for the city and hosted Nantes' harbour.
Since a few years, the city decided to rehabilitae this place and make it a new center for the city. Thus the new court of justice has been implemented there (and was designed by famous architect Jean Nouvel). The architecture school is to be built there too. And there are many other projects to be done there.
Interesting thing to see right now is the evolution of this place. Currently it is a kind of no man's land, with buildings in construction, old industrial places and weird modern buildings. For those who know Rotterdam, it reminds of Kop van Zuid.
Going there give you a good feeling of what is Nantes' potential. And if you come back to Nantes in a few years, you will not recognize the place...
If interested, check on www.iledenantes.com



Jardin des Plantes, Nantes, France 2010
Note corner figures and rows on side.
Inside the castle
When I was young.