Pays de la Loire

Le Mans is a town in France best known for its annual 24 hour automobile race.

Nantes is the capital of the north-western French region of Pays de la Loire. It has strong historical connections with the adjoining region of Brittany, and is the historical capital of the region (though not its official capital since the days of Napoleon).

 Pays-de-la-Loire'’s territory stretches over 12,390 square miles––the size of Maryland––at the base of the Brittany peninsula and is France’s second leading agricultural region. A third of its 3.2 million people is under 25, making it a young region. The major cities either straddle the rivers that feed into the Loire or lie along a stretch of Atlantic Coast.

After displacing the powerful Cenomanni and Carnute tribes during the Iron Age, the Romans occupied what is now Pays de la Loire in 52 BC. They created the towns of Angers and Le Mans as well as many agricultural estates. Christianity gained the ascendancy in 313 and the following centuries witnessed a series of invasions, notably the Vikings in the 9th century.

The essence of the region’s gastronomy is found in its waters. The Loire and its tributaries provide salmon, trout, carp, shad and pike, served grilled in a salt crust, or with a beurre nantais (butter, shallots and wine sauce). The Atlantic coast spoils visitors with its superb shellfish: oysters, mussels, prawns, lobsters and clams can be savored at any time of day––and with any sauce––in the restaurants fronting local fishing ports. Around Guérande, the ocean offers its fleur de sel, an all-natural unprocessed salt that gives a new meaning to seasoning.

Pays-de-la-Loire’s territory stretches over 12,390 square miles––the size of Maryland––at the base of the Brittany peninsula and is France’s second leading agricultural region. A third of its 3.2 million people is under 25, making it a young region.