Lunch in Mindin

Last Monday we drove to Carnac. As it's a longish sort of drive (certainly longer than the 3½ hours Google maps suggested) I planned a picnic lunch, with shelter if necessary. The spot I chose was in Mindin, across the water from St Nazaire. There were a couple of reasons for this, none of which I shared with Susan.

Approaching the Pont de Saint-Nazaire

This was the first reason. I love big bridges, and this qualifies. Unfortunately the weather was not great, but it was still a bit of an experience.

Where the Loire meets the sea.

I figure that line of rocks pointing to the far shore marks the end of the Loire river and the start of the sea. The Loire is important to us, so this is quite symbolic.

The Bridge again.

In the background is The Ville De Bordeaux, an airbus Roll On / Roll Off ship. It is now en route to the port of Mobile, USA and is expected to arrive there on July 1. Those three white towers on the ship are eSAIL, which uses wind energy to generate thrust, which means substantial fuel consumption and CO2 emissions savings. The system also generates lift, reducing the load on the ship’s main engines. 

Last year the ship was fitted with a 500m² 'Seawing' - an automated foil kite developed by AirSeas (an Airbus subsidiary) to provide wind assistance to propulsion. You can read more about it here. I'm not sure if both systems run at the same time.

Utopia of the Seas 

According to Wikipedia, "Utopia of the Seas is a cruise ship under construction for Royal Caribbean International. She will be the sixth ship in the Oasis Class and is scheduled to enter service on 19 July 2024 out of Port Canaveral." With any luck that means the last time France will see this monstrosity is in less than a month's time.

The Serpent d'Océan

The third reason I chose Mindin is the Serpent d'Océan, a 130 metre long sculpture made of aluminum. It represents the skeleton of an immense imaginary sea serpent, whose vertebrae undulate to end in an open mouth.

As somewhere to stop for an hour Mindin is full of interest. There is also a picnic shelter (only one), but the public toilets weren't open. Luckily there's a café restaurant opposite, that does good after lunch coffee.