Tour guide in Nantes Sandrine L.

Hello, I am a licensed tour guide in Nantes and I can't wait to share my unique city with you. I have been a museum and art educator as well as a professional tour guide for more than 13 years. I've been delivering tours in cities (Nantes), historic monuments (Castle of the Dukes of Brittany, St Denis cathedral near Paris. . . ) and art museums (Nantes Art Museum, Art Gallery of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, Giverny Museum of Impres­sionisms. . . ), as well as art programs for adults, school groups, businesses or families. Having lived in Nantes for 14 years, I'd love to share all the secrets and good tips about the city that I now call home and why its energy still thrills me. I believe in the fact that a smiling knowledgeable guide will never replace an audioguide, and that a guided tour is above all a human encounter. My goal is to connect people through art, heritage and local life by creating a friendly exchange during our private tour. A few words about me: Born in Northern France next to Lille and the Belgian border, I moved to Nantes 14 years ago to work as a tour guide at the newly restored Castle of the Dukes of Brittany, one of Nantes' highlights. I wouldn't move for anything in the world…except maybe to renew the amazing experience I had in 2012 when I left France to work and travel in Canada and the US for a year. I love travelling: I visited Japan, China, but also Italy, Portugal or Romania. One of the perks of being a tour guide is to experience different cultures without leaving your city! I'm a music enthusiast, so I will be able to recommend a favorite place to see a live rock band. But I also enjoy staying home to practise printmaking, yoga or meditation : in that sense, I may invite you to pay attention to details, and feel the city with all your senses! One of the things I love the most about Nantes is that it's a human-scale city compared to Paris, yet with still a million things to do when it comes to the cultural offer: concerts, exhibitions, performing arts… Nantes is also ideally located 2 hours away from Paris with high-speed train, and 1 hour away from the beaches of the Atlantic Ocean: I love being able to see the Ocean on a whim. During my tours, I will tell you more about the locals' habits, and all that makes Nantes such a lively and creative city to live in, where art and culture are part of everybody's life. My Nantes top 5: -Wandering on the Isle of Nantes to explore this ever-changing and innovative district from which artists and makers get inspiration. And hear our one-of-a-kind giant mechanical elephant trumpeting! -Spotting the flowers and trees blooming in Spring : daffodils in the Castle's moat, magnolias in the streets or camellias in the Botanical garden. -Sharing a Muscadet nantais (the local white wine) at a local café or at Stereolux, a concert venue, then having a picnic on the river banks -Hop on the river shuttle to visit Trentemoult, a picturesque former fishermen's village -Cross the Passage Pommeraye, a chic 19th century shopping arcade, early in the morning. • I hold a tour guide license. • I do have a license to give my own tours inside the Nantes Art Museum. • I graduated in Art history and Museum studies from the Ecole du Louvre in Paris, where I majored in 20th century art. . I am not a driver. . If you are traveling on a cruise, make sure where your ship is docking : please contact the cruise line or the tourist information centre in Nantes so that they can help you arrange transportation to meet me in the city centre.