In my road warrior trips even in my region, have done quite a bit of walking! My deal is get there and back with my car and on site do the walking; for me, the best one two combination. You can always parked strategically as close to the things you want to see. This is no different coming to Nantes, and one of its most revered street, the Place Maréchal Foch. Let me tell you a bit about it digging deeply into my vault of older pictures.
The Place Maréchal-Foch is one of Nantes’ best-known squares, an architectural ensemble designed in the 18C. The square in the city center/downtown district, sits on the edge of the Malakoff-Saint-Donatien district that borders it, Between the Cours Saint-Pierre and Cours Saint-André. It is serves by the streets of L’Évêché, Chauvin, Tournefort, Sully, Maréchal-Joffre, Gambetta and Henri-IV. Parking Cathédrale is the closest short minutes on foot from the Place Maréchal Foch, You enter the parking underground by Rue Sully, We have done this and from here wall all over Nantes.
The name of Ferdinand Foch, Marshal of France, has been given to this square since 1929. Called Place d’Armes until the First Empire (Napoléon), it became place Louis-XVI under the Restoration (of monarchy 1814). The people of Nantes, especially those of native origin and especially among people of a certain age, still commonly use this name, much more spontaneously than that of Foch.
It hosts in its center the Louis-XVI column, erected in 1790 as simply a column of Liberty, 28 meters high, it is surmounted since the Restoration by a statue of the monarch. Placed on a pedestal surmounted by the statue with Louis XVI as a Roman emperor holding in one hand the baton of command and in the other his will in the form of a scroll, It is one of the rare statues of Louis XVI still present in France in the public space It was set up in 1823, Most depictions of Louis XVI are absent from public space in France. There are only four other statues of the former monarch: in Loroux-Bottereau, Loire-Atlantique 44, at the tourist office; in Plouasne in the Côtes-d’Armor 22, in the gardens of the Château de Caradeuc; in Soreze, in the Tarn 81; and in Nant, in the Aveyron 12 (note however that this latter statue is decapitated and that it would belong to an individual).
Around the square, you can see the Hôtel Montaudouin, the Hôtel d’Aux, built in 1770, where Napoléon I and Josephine stayed in 1808, it became the headquarters of the 11th army corps under the French Third Republic, then that of the Feldkommandantur during WWII; the Hôtel de Charette (or Hôtel de Bruc), erected in 1824, headquarters of the local services of the SD (National Socialist Party Security Service=nazis), which was identified by Nantes residents as those of the Gestapo from 1942 (date of the arrival of the Gestapo in Nantes) in 1944. Near the cathedral stands the Porte Saint-Pierre, (see post) a remnant of the medieval city walls.
The city of Nantes on its heritage and the column Louix XVI : https://patrimonia.nantes.fr/home/decouvrir/themes-et-quartiers/colonne-louis-xvi-1.html
The Nantes tourist office on how to get around and see my post: https://www.levoyageanantes.fr/en/to-plan/getting-around/
There you go folks, a nice dandy square in pretty historical architecturally stunning Nantes! This is a happening square and worth the detour. Hope you enjoy my bit on the place Maréchal Foch or Louis XVI!
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 
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