A little bit of salt...

There are times when I realize how close places are and yet how diverse Europe is. I had the chance to go to the Loire Atlantique. I managed to reach the sea and watched the Northern French Atlantic lip gently over rocks. A suburban car park surrounded by holiday homes led to a path between houses and slipped into the cliffs, exposing the ocean.

Pointe de Castelli

Finally I got to see where the salt comes from. Guérande has huge salt marshes that are drained and the salt is left to dry in the sun before being harvested. What looked like white herons were flying from field to field. It is both industrial and feels rural. Fields of pooled salt water look like sea and are suspended between tiny roads. It felt as if we were on the threads of a fragile earth net floating on becalmed ocean.

salt flats

salt flats

looking towards Le Croisic across salt flats

I have been missing sky, these clear horizons gave me eye space. We drove over the bridge to the airport of Nantes. When engineering imposes on the landscape, it can bring something extra and this brought a "hill" and distant vistas over the edge of the Vendée

The bridge over the Loire to Nantes