Paris1972-Versailles2003

The town of Saint-Sébastien-sur-Loire is located in the department 44 of Loire-Atlantique, in the Pays de la Loire region of my belle France. It is simply 4 km from Nantes. The neighboring towns are of course,  Nantes, then, Basse-Goulaine and Vertou. The village of Aigne took the name of the patron of the parish and became Saint-Sébastien-d’Aigne in the 15C. The town of Saint-Sébastien-d’Aigne changed its name in 1919 and became Saint-Sébastien-sur-Loire. Let me tell you about this is Saint Sébastien sur Loire !! Hope you enjoy the post as I

The reason we came to know Saint Sébastien sur Loire was the upon visiting a collegue nearby in Orvault and taking the ring road the long way around the N844 we passed the town and saw an Auchan shopping mall with the big hypermarket we like from our previous life in the Yvelines dept78 so we went in and did our shopping ! The mall is made up of almost 90 stores of all kinds, rather nice and a big surprise to find us an Auchan !! This is at Porte de Saint Sébastien no 46, We have been back a couple times !

We remember the shopping experience here and once coming back to the area this time for wine purchases on site, on our way back we did our groceries here at Auchan too. Another memorable moment this time without my dear late wife Martine. Sad but with many souvenirs as well. One of those simple  places that stays with you no matter what. The Auchan hypermarket of Saint Sebastian sur Loire was on our way on the N844 so we stopped and did our groceries!!!  The Auchan Saint-Sébastien’s shopping mall is made up of almost 90 stores of all kinds. The shopping center is located in the immediate vicinity of exit/sortie 46 (Porte de Saint-Sébastien) of the Périphérique Sud of Nantes N844. 

The official Centre Commercial Auchan in Saint Sébastien sur Loire: https://saint-sebastien.aushopping.com/fr

The official Auchan supermarket in Saint Sebastien sur Loire: https://www.auchan.fr/magasins/hypermarche/nantes-st-sebastien/s-53

The town of Saint Sébastien sur Loire was on our way on the road beltway of Nantes N844 with two direct accesses on ring road: exits no. 45 Porte de Goulaine and no. 46 Porte de Saint-Sébastien (exit we take always); and three access points on the Urban Boulevard Nantes-Bordeaux: La Grèneraie, Bonne Garde and Route de Clisson. The Nantes-Atlantique airport (designated my airport) is located 15 minutes from the center of town . The town is crossed by the Nantes-Saintes railway line. It has set up a TER line in the agglomeration, and this link has been replaced by the tram-train which connects Nantes to Clisson, The town is served by a Chronobus line (C9) and 5 bus lines (27, 28, 30 and 42) of the TAN network of greater Nantes,

Some of the many nice things to see here and we need to be back for more are shown here as reference for me too, as cannot be everywhere in my belle France ::)

The Saint-Sébastien Church built from 1868 to 1876 ; when the reconstruction was decided under the Second Empire (Napoléon III). This church, in neo-Gothic style with three naves, replaced an old church which itself had replaced a primitive sanctuary and which had been damaged by the bombings of WWII. It is a Gothic style with three naves under a single roof, with a spacious transept ending in graceful rose windows. The columns of the large nave form a harmonious perspective which leads to an ample and beautiful choir. The bell tower, of simple and correct boldness, has a sonorous chime that animates it and carries far away the echo of the joys and sadness of the Christian life.

The Château Folie de la Gibraye, built in 1763, perhaps by Ceineray, for Jean-Baptiste Mérot. Currently a private residence;The castle measures 44 meters long by 8 meters wide; it is located within a park with an area of 1.3 hectares. During the Great War or WWI , it served as accommodation for American soldiers. During , WWII, it was requisitioned by the Nazis army, which notably stored powder and ammunition in the chapel, which then also served as a shooting range, The Savarière manor with the Savarière Chapel in its park at rue du Général de Gaulle, was built in 1757, The domain is old, but the current manor dates from 1839; it is an Italianate villa in the Palladian style. Private residence today ;the chapel of 10 meters by 5 meters, made up of a single nave, has a painted wood paneled ceiling, almost unique in Loire-Atlantique, representing the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, The Grand Portal at rue de l’Ouche Colin, from the 18C; the Petit Portail at rue de l’Ouche Colin, built in 1795; at the beginning of the 20C, property of the Bredenbek family, notably Alphonse de Châteaubriant, the Grande Jaunaie manor house at rue de la Jaunaie was built from 1774 for Charles Monti de la Jaunaie. The site in February 1795, of the meeting between  Canclaux and Charette who signed the Treaty of Jaunaie. Ending for a while the war against the French revolution in the west of France, Currently Departmental Children’s Home ; the Petite Jaunaie manor at Avenue Charette de la Contrie; barely visible from the street, dates from 1656, built for Jacques de Bourgues, mayor of Nantes in 1648. Currently a private residence, The Calvary 18C located at No. 2 rue des Coucous ,and the obelisk 17C, located rue de La Lourveau and rue des Orchèves.

The manor of La Tullaye built about in the 18C, located on Boulevard des Pas-Enchantés. Pierre Jacques Etienne Cambronne, native of Saint-Sébastien-sur-Loire, lived in this house. Wounded at Waterloo and taken to London, Pierre-Jacques is treated and saved by Madame Sword, née Marie Osburn. Returning to France, Cambronne returned to service and king Louis XVIII sent him as a field marshal to Lille, then awarded him the cross of Saint-Louis. Note that the Cambronne family came from the North of France, and settled in Nantes around 1750, trading in fabrics. See neighborhood and street on hime all over including Paris !The Château de la Baugerie, where Pierre Cambronne  (hero general) resided at the end of his life. Currently part of the Baugerie vocational high school,

A bit of history I like tell us that in 851, by the Treaty of Angers confirming the Breton victory over the Frankish kingdom of Charles the Bald, the entire Marches of Brittany, as well as the territories surrounding Nantes, south of the Loire, were incorporated into the Breton kingdom. The expulsion of the Normans by Alain Barbe-Torte, grandson of the last Breton king, and the transformation of Brittany into a duchy, confirm the fixing of the eastern limit of Brittany. The integration of the western Mauges into the County of Nantes was definitively sealed in the 10C, likewise, the central political role of the city of Nantes within the Duchy was already well established as Nantes and its surroundings being one of the rare territories under direct supervision of the Duke of Brittany,

The parish, first called Aigne, was created at the end of the 12C or 13C ; it is dedicated to Saint Sébastien and from the 14C became an important place of pilgrimage locally and regionally. The parish of Aigne must already have been dedicated to Saint Sébastien, but this only appeared in the 15C, when it became a major place of pilgrimage and took the name of Saint-Sébastien d’Aigne. The notoriety of this pilgrimage is great enough for Rabelais to mention it in Gargantua (chapter 38 of the Juste edition of 1542) ! During the French revolution, despite the proximity of Nantes, the town massively took sides against the Republic and joined the Vendée insurrection of March 1793 (see post). Two years later, it was here that the peace treaty was signed between General Hoche and the leader of the Vendée insurgents, Charette: the Treaty of Jaunaye (February 1795), From 1914 , the town welcomed a fairly large number of refugees from Belgium and northern France. From October 1918 to July 1919, 2,300 American soldiers awaiting departure were housed in Saint Sébastien. The city was liberated in WWII on August 1944.

The town of Saint Sébastien sur Loire on its heritage : https://www.saintsebastien.fr/la-ville/decouvrir-la-ville/

There you go folks, a wonderful memorable visit that end up on a shopping spree and to know a new town in my world map, Again, hope you enjoy this post on this is Saint Sébastien sur Loire !! as I.

And remember , happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!