Nantes

Nantes is a city in western France, near the Atlantic coast, with 711,120 inhabitants in the metropolitan area at the 1999 census. Nantes is the capital of the Pays de la Loire région, as well as the préfecture of the Loire-Atlantique département. It is also the most important city of historic Brittany, though now a part of the modern Pays de la Loire region. Formerly the capital of Brittany, Nantes was separated from the region by the Vichy government in June 1941. Although the city has been part of the Pays de la Loire région since 1971, the feeling that Nantes belongs to Brittany is still solid nowadays. For cultural and political reasons, many people still identify with Brittany. The local football team is FC Nantes Atlantique. The Celtic band Tri Yann was originally known as Tri Yann an Naoned (the three Johns from Nantes). Nantes's primary sister cities are the ports of Jacksonville, Florida; Seattle, Washington and Cardiff, Wales. On December 31, 2006, some 600 people gathered in Nantes to protest the arrival of the New Year. They marched and held up banners that read "No to 2007" and "Now is better!" The protestors asked several governments and even the UN to declare a moratorium on the future. When the clock ticked past midnight, indicating the arrival of 2007, the protestors happily began to cheer "No to 2008!" The organisers claimed that they would stage the same event at the end of 2007, but this time on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris.[ Area Code: + 40