South Brittany Cottage

Loire-Atlantique (formerly Loire-Inférieure ) is named after the Loire River and the Atlantic Ocean. Loire-Inférieure was one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was renamed in 1957 to Loire-Atlantique. Technically (since 1943) no longer part of the province of Brittany, the history of Loire-Atlantique is closely tied to everything Breton and contains what many people consider to be Brittany's capital, Nantes. There is a popular campaign to have it reintegrated in Brittany and re-become a part of the Celtic heritage; the majority of Bretons think the département should be part of Brittany.

The city Nantes ( Naoned in Breton) was first a town founded by the Celtic tribe named the Namnetes around 70 BC, it was conquered by Julius Caesar in 56 BC and named Portus Namnetus . Christianised in the 3rd century, Nantes is successively invaded by the Saxons (around 285), the Franks (around 500), the Britons (in the 6th and 7th centuries) and the Normans (in 843). In 937, Alain Barbe-Torte, grandson of the last king of Brittany who was expelled by the Normans, drove them away and founded the duchy of Brittany. When the duchy of Brittany was annexed by the kingdom of France in 1532, Nantes kept the parliament of Brittany for a few years, before it was moved to Rennes.

Saint-Nazaire is an important seaport and a great shipbuilding and industrial center. Being a port for the French navy. Built on the site of an ancient Gallo-Roman town, Saint-Nazaire belonged to the dukes of Brittany in the 14th and 15th centuries. A major German submarine base during World War II, Saint-Nazaire was nearly destroyed by Allied bombing. The impressive submarine pens can still be viewed at the port and are well worth a visit, along with a tour of an old submarine.

Guérande whose name derives from the Breton language and means White Land, a reference to the salt trade upon which the town was founded, is a Splendid walled town, famous for its salt flats. 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. 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, and the fine, sparkling-white fleur de 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.

Pornichet and La Baule are favoured by the Parisians, and they have a very cosmopolitan feel to them. These are the summer resort areas with large sandy beaches offering watersports, large shops, trendy brasseries and casinos.