And here I continue with my updates and revision of old posts in my blog; this one goes back to 2016 on Saint Herblain ! We are at about 1h30 by car easy on the N165 to Nantes and it is my main airport to get out of Brittany. and of course during the Christmas season for us. Anyway, let me tell you a bit on shopping in Saint Herblain !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I
The town of Saint Herblain is mainly served to the east by five gates of the ring road (A844) , which I have taken many times for business and pleasure trips, These gates are from south to north, gates of the Estuary (no. 30), of Saint-Herblain (no. 31), of Atlantis (no. 32), d’Ar-Mor (no 33 going home for me), de la Chézine (no 34), de Sautron (no 35)), in the center run by the D17 road, We headed to Nantes , and decided to try the shopping center I always pass by but never got to visited. This is at Saint-Herblain a town near Nantes. This is the shopping center Atlantis, right off the N444 road on your way to the Nantes Atlantique airport. The mall or shopping center is huge atypical for the French ,this one is of international quality. Words cannot describe it. We came off the N165 to the exit to the direction N444 Nantes Atlantique airport, exit 1 is the easiest just before crossing the bridge of St Nazaire over the harbor. follow signs for Atlantis and its easy. Parking you should have patient because even if a huge place and huge parking , it is very very popular place. From the peripherique road N844 you can get off at exits 32,33,and 34. Many hôtels are nearby as well as the events hall Zenith
The main thing I come by this town of Saint-Herblain is the shopping center Atlantis, right off the N444 road best by porte d’Atlantis no 33 beltway road on your way to the Nantes Atlantique airport. The mall or shopping center is huge atypical for the French, this one is of international quality. Words cannot describe it. I have another post on coming at Christmas time here sublime, Shopping is fine with our favorites Adidas, Armand Thiery, L’Atelier du chocolat de Bayonne,Boulanger, Brico Depot ,Chaussea, Burton of London,Darty, Decathlon, E Leclerc and its cultural space, H&M ,L’Occitane en Provence, Lacoste, Lego, Micromania, Nocibé, Norauto,Orange, and Yves Rocher, Big cinemas with the 12 rooms of UGC Atlantis and 14 rooms of Pathé Atlantis, The restos Brioche Dorée, Burger King, Häagen Dazs, Hippopotamus,L’Hacienda, New Yorker,Starbucks, Subway, and Vapiano.
The parking is a laberinth of lanes and all electronically managed for parking spaces, so once on the main road lane, you see the lights red xxx no space or in green they flash the number of places available: great!!! We finally parked by the entrance to the IKEA store, one of the anchors with Leclerc hypermarché, Decathlon, etc. You find your Entrée either side of Ikea or side of E Leclerc and go in by escalator stairs two up and two down to the main floor or 1FL (call here street level or rez-de-chaussée) ,then the 2FL is mostly restaurants. There are borne with maps and plenty of benches with restaurants all over. We like to browse the IKEA store here for ideas and some good deals on kitchen utensils or dining room décorations. webpage: https://www.atlantis-nantes.com/boutiques/ikea
We of course, saw to our great surprise the new Burger King here. Ok so been from Florida, my boys grew up with BK who are base in Florida USA. It is well signage to get up here and the resto is quite large for fast food, there is borne machines to pre order and regular line. We always take the pre order route and here there is another section to come , you wait and a host will call you to come for your order pickup; then another host will help you find a table !! As said ,226 seating places , a children playground and a terrace! webpage: https://www.atlantis-nantes.com/restaurants/burger-king
Then , to top off it all we have our great ice cream from Haagen Dazs, another old home favorite.As the site confirm the creams are all made in France near Arras Nord and so doing for the 20 years here. Great history and great product anywhere .we had many over time from the specialities combination for 10,30€ to the two scoops for 5,90 to the Three scoops for 7,50€ all good and of course nice coffees. webpage: https://www.atlantis-nantes.com/restaurants/haagen-dazs
You have kids care, and playgrounds, banks, and 151 stores with 31 restaurants! the ones at the very top are very nice indeed , good for a second try, such as Jo le Boucher, and Le Comptoir. You have micromania video games store a must in my family, and great stores like H&M , Jules, Foot Locker, etc, a huge hypermarket in Leclerc, and bowling center and cinema, and many more. The did move around the common stores, like my boys went to the Micromedia video store. We did our shopping in Nocibé the perfum store; we took a look at Desigual, Jules, and Quarter Back, as well as Armand Thiery, San Marina shoes, and Yves Rocher. I ,also, look at my Coyote, a road security service that works like a gps and anti speed radar thingy here now call Road Security. It is on my phone!
And while here nostalgia even if my boys are older now we remember when we took them to these and as said memories forever, From the earth to the moon, the extraordinary carrousel or merry-go-round at the Atlantis shopping mall takes children on a fantastic journey in the middle of a dream. This took me to write this post more on the town.
The Shopping Center Atlantis is open Mondays to Saturdays from 8h30 to 21h ;the stores open at 9h30, restaurants open for lunch and dinner and those in the Cupola opens until 22h30;Ikea opens at 10h. In all you have 157 stores, 28 restaurants and two cinémas, and two banks ATM Inside. The Atlantis shopping mall of Saint Herblain: https://www.atlantis-nantes.com/
Other things to see here with time are the Saint-Hermeland Church, The church is from the 15C, modified at the end of the 19C, It was built in the shape of a Latin cross. The original church is in the Gothic style, elements were added in the 18C and 19C. The bell tower rests on the columns of the north transept, its spire has eight sides. The polychrome oak barrel vault dates from the 15C; its dragon head decoration makes it look fantastic. The confessional, the high altar, the wooden altar of the Virgin and the statue of Saint Hermeland are from the 19C. The niche where Hermeland’s statue is encased contains relics of the saint. The blue stained glass windows, destroyed during the bombardment of September 16, 1943, are reconstructed on the basis of fragments from 1987. A cross in granite, stone and tufa dating from the 15C is located next near the church. Others are the Protestant church Amour Foi Espérance. The Van Hanh pagoda, dedicated to Buddhist worship, The Château de la Gournerie dates, in its oldest part, from the 17C, Tillay Abbey was built in the 14C. Built in stone, it is located in the middle of a park enclosed by walls three meters high. A carved stone porch is present, its arched lintel bears the insignia of the Cordelières. Right nearby on crossing the N444 you have the Zenith , concerts events expo center. Very popular place around here. Right there is also, part of Atlantis shopping center is the ONYX, done architecturally by Jean Nouvel, with many cultural activities too.
A bit of history I like tell us that around the 7C, a Merovingian necropolis was installed in the foundations of the villa. The parish of Saint-Herblain was founded around 675 by Saint Hermeland, a Frank of aristocratic origin who became a monk of the Abbey of Fontenelle (today Saint-Wandrille), at the call of the Bishop of Nantes, Miracles are attributed to Hermeland, who died around 720 ; having become a local saint, his worship would later be used by the orders of the Franciscans and the Dominicans, and Hermeland would be the patron of six parishes: Indre, Indret, Bouaye, Guenrouët, Saint-Herblain and Saint Herblon. The monastery was demolished after the sack of Nantes by the Vikings in 843, In 1678, Charles Maillard, Sieur du Plessis, squire and court lawyer, owner in Saint-Philbert de Grand-lieu, chose to acquire land closer to Nantes. He buys La Béhière de Saint-Herblain and La Sionnière, In 1743, his son increases the family patrimony by buying the Château de la Gournerie, Becoming the biggest owners here before the end all French revolution.
The City of Saint Herblain on its history : https://www.saint-herblain.fr/politique-et-institution/decouvrir-la-ville/histoire-de-saint-herblain/
There you go folks, happy shopping, a wonderful day in the Loire-Atlantique 44, and now two departments that many call the same Bretagne! and enjoy the season to all my readers ! Best wishes to all ! Again, hope you enjoy this post on shopping in Saint Herblain !!! as I
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 