The Musée des Beaux Arts is well worth a visit, with its three famous De La Tours and a lovely Watteau; The Cathedral of St-Pierre, so grey on the outside, is spectacularly white and clean on the inside, and contains the very fine tomb of François II, Duc de Bretagne and his two wives. Not far away is the Passage Pommeraye, Nante's most elegant shopping arcade. There are two interesting museums you might like to visit - the Musée Jules Verne (Jules was a local lad) and the Manoir de la Touche, with one floor devoted to Nantes in the time of the Revolution, and another to archaeological finds from around the city.

Not far away from Nantes are the Muscadet vineyards which you might also like to explore.

The S637 submarine Espadon was built in 1957 by the Augustin Normand shipyards in Le Havre, launched in 1958 and declared "fit for active service" on the 1st of April 1960. Today, the public is welcomed on board for a tour of the submarine's passageways.

St-Nazaire is also known as The Town of Twenty Beaches. Wide, fine sandy beaches, south-facing, steep-sided coves, like the rocky inlets of the Mediterranean, are sheltered by pine trees and holm oaks, with wilder shores open to the west wind. Each one is unique and offers its own delights.

Less popular nowadays, Le Petit Traict and La Grande Plage were the first really crowded summer resort beaches in the late 19th century, a time when "sea-bathing" became fashionable. A casino was even built overlooking La Grande Plage (then known as the "society beach") in 1895 on the boulevard running along the sea front. The beach at Villès-Martin has always been a favourite with bathers. The merest glimpse of the sun and it is covered with parasols. But Saint-Marc is still the most popular. Immortalised on film in "Mr Hulot's Holiday" by Jacques Tati, this beach is overlooked by a wooden belvedere, on which a statue of the film-maker keeps watch forever, his eyes fixed on the sea…

And then there are the others: the quiet ones like Géorama or Trébézy; the daring ones like Les Jaunais, where there's no need to wear a swimsuit; the sporting ones like La Courance where the surfers play with the waves; the family ones like Porcé, Bonne Anse or Le Rocher du Lion.… In Saint-Nazaire, you choose your beach to suit your mood.

La Baule is a charming, rather kitsch resort with a glorious nine kilometres of golden beach; this is one of the finest resorts in France - a great place for people-watching and for having a bowl of moules-frites while gazing at the Atlantic Ocean. It is much-loved by Parisians, which perhaps accounts for its very cosmopolitan air.

Pornichet, with its Thalassotherapy centre, casino and railway station, is the noisier end of La Baule, whereas Le Pouliguen is more old-fashioned and quiet, with its marina and fishing port, where you can see some old houses and winding fishermen's lanes.

Le Croisic, on the Côte Sauvage, is a little gem - there is a truly Breton feel to this tidy fishing port, which retains some lovely old buildings from the 16th century. It looks across the salt flats towards Guérande. There are also plenty of sea-front restaurants and boutiques, and a fine modern Océarium with a glass-walled tunnel so you can see sharks, rays and groupers swimming around you.

The name Guérande derives from the Breton language and means "White Land" - a reference to the salt trade upon which the town was founded. Salt used to be a most precious commodity, used for preserving food. Roman soldiers were paid a regular wage in salt, which is where our word 'salary' comes from (the French for salt is 'sel'). The salt from around Guérande is still reckoned to be some of the finest - and purest - in the world. The main reason why Brittany historically produced hardly any famous cheeses (apart from St-Paulin) is that with such a ready access to salt, the Bretons could keep their butter from going rancid. In other parts of France, they were forced to turn their butter into cheese - apparently not the favoured option!

The fact is that throughout history, salt--called sodium chloride by chemists--has been such an important element of life that it has been the subject of many stories, fables and folktales and is frequently referenced in fairy tales. It served as money at various times and places, and it has been the cause of bitter warfare. Offering bread and salt to visitors, in many cultures, is traditional etiquette.

There is (of course!) a Museum of Salt - La Maison des Paludiers - at Saillé, near Guérande. A paludier is a salt-farmer. They work bare-foot in the salt-pans where they gather two types of salt, the coarse grey salt, or gros sel, and the fine, sparkling-white fleur ds sel, which collects in crystals on the surface of the salt-pans. This latter, high-quality salt is gathered with a tool called a lousse, and is especially rich in magnesium.

The old medieval town of Guérande is completely walled and moated, and its streets are packed with craft shops, gift shops and restaurants.

The National Park known as La Brière stretches from Herbignac, just below La Roche-Bernard, to the outskirts of St-Nazaire, and is the second largest wetland in France, after the Camargue. There are few main roads through the area, but a network of canals. The whole park covers some 40,000 hectares, with 7,000 hectares of marshland at its heart. The area is a wonderful place for wildlife, and particularly for migrating birds. The area is best explored in a punt with a local Breton guide.

The Brière has the greatest density of thatched houses in France - there are even estates of new houses with thatched roofs and some, rather bizarrely, have thatched garages; luckily most of the thatched cottages are of the Devon variety.

Markets

La Turballe has a good fish market most days, apart from Sunday. Place du Marché.

Guérande - Wednesday and Saturday mornings, plus Sunday at Pradel in July and August.

Herbignac - Wednesday morning. Place d'Agence.

Missillac - Wednesday morning. Place de la Gargouille.

Kerhinet - all day Thursday in the summer. Local produce - very popular with tourists!

Pornichet usually has a daily fish market, but not Sundays, and a general market Wednesday and Saturday mornings. Place du Marché.

La Baule has a superb covered market daily from April to September, plus other markets Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings.

Le Pouliguen has large markets on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Place des Halles.

Batz-sur-Mer - Monday morning, plus Friday morning in summer. Place du Mûrier.

Le Croisic - covered market Thursday morning and Saturday morning, plus Tuesday and Friday (local produce) mornings in July and August. Les Halles and Place Dinan.

St-Nazaire - every day except Monday.

Nantes: Talensac - Tuesday to Sunday.

Nantes: Place Bouffay - Food market, Tuesday to Sunday.

Nantes: Place du Commerce - Daily flower market.

Nantes: Place de la Petite Hollande - Saturday.

Nantes: Place Viarme - Flea market on Saturdays.