It was nice to read about Nantes, which I've always thought of as a very cool, sophisticated place since a language exchange I went on 30 years ago. My Nantais counterpart was better dressed than anyone I knew, his mum had a glass of red wine for lunch everyday and when we went to visit his grandmaman in La Boule lunch took 3 hours and I ate proper shellfish for the first time in my life. It was great.
it's late to write this, way after the moment has passed, but I'm slightly tipsy,
and it meant something to me when I read it - something major actually - a choate paean to these less major cities (or towns might be allowed (I don't know the rules) which just have some current of fire or electricity or some other currency of energy through them, and dance in their way, and yes, we're allowed a certain extra pride and pleasure because we have some visceral connection to them
More of us should identify ourselves at a micro-level rather than national tbh. My heritage spans about eight nations some of which have ceased to be, but I was born in what is now a London Borough, and lived from 4-18 in a port town. Totally get the seaport bit. (Also stayed in Nantes for a bit in 1973….)
It was nice to read about Nantes, which I've always thought of as a very cool, sophisticated place since a language exchange I went on 30 years ago. My Nantais counterpart was better dressed than anyone I knew, his mum had a glass of red wine for lunch everyday and when we went to visit his grandmaman in La Boule lunch took 3 hours and I ate proper shellfish for the first time in my life. It was great.
it's late to write this, way after the moment has passed, but I'm slightly tipsy,
and it meant something to me when I read it - something major actually - a choate paean to these less major cities (or towns might be allowed (I don't know the rules) which just have some current of fire or electricity or some other currency of energy through them, and dance in their way, and yes, we're allowed a certain extra pride and pleasure because we have some visceral connection to them
that is all
This post has single-handedly made me want to visit Nantes!
More of us should identify ourselves at a micro-level rather than national tbh. My heritage spans about eight nations some of which have ceased to be, but I was born in what is now a London Borough, and lived from 4-18 in a port town. Totally get the seaport bit. (Also stayed in Nantes for a bit in 1973….)