VERTOU, Francia

Dear Intervac friends,

We are a couple of retired teachers. We've already made 16 home exchanges either in Europa or North America.
This summer, we could come with some of our children and grand children (2 + 2).

Our home is approximatively 200 m2 on a 1 640 m2 piece of land. We built it 20 years ago and it is situated in a quiet street. The home has 4 bedrooms (4 double king size bed and a little bed for baby), 2 WC, 2 showers, one office, a large living-room and a  kitchen. A table and chairs are disposed outside in front of our pool.
Vertou is a city of 25 000 inhabitants, 10 kms from Nantes. It's not a suburb, it's more exactly a quiet little place near the typical vineyards of Muscadet and Gros-Plant. It takes 15 mn to drive to Nantes downtown or 20 minutes by bus. Our house is 2 mn walking from a bus-stop which takes you directly downtown Nantes -no parking problem- though parking is easier during summer time.
Vertou offers a lot of activities : public swimming pool (500 m), free tennis (500 m), golf, fishing, horse riding, walking or cycling along the Sèvre River on which you can rent electric boats ou take a kayak for few hours.
In the area you can visit Haute-Goulaine Castle, visit the vineyards or the middle-age little town of Clisson, within 25 kms. Children will appreciate the safari-parc of Port Saint Père (30 mn) or the zoo in La Boissière du Doré (30 mn).
The train-station is easy to get by car or bus. Paris is 2 H 05 far by train.
Nantes has a lot of interesting places to visit : The Art Museum, the castle of the Dukes of Brittany, the Museum of Printing, Pastages, and the Museum about Jules Verne (he was born in Nantes), the Museum of the dolls and old toys, the Planetarium, St Pierre Cathedral and an old ship of the French Marine (Maillé-Brézé) transformed in a Museum. From June to August, Le Voyage à Nantes is a cultural urban trail, running from the "Lieu Unique" cultural centre to the western tip of the Ile de Nantes.
Within an hour's drive, you'll join the beautiful beach of La Baule or those of St Jean de Monts., the fishing-ports of Le Croisic, La Turballe or Pornic. You can drive to the Island of Noirmoutier either by bridge or a little track (3kms, only when the tide is low). You could visit Guérande pedestrian town fortifications : they collect salt in the marshs.
If you wish to leave for a day or two, you could go as far as Mont St Michel or to the Loire's Castles (Chambord, Chenonceaux, Blois) or the Poitier's Futuroscope.