Trams and the Sillon.

I recently seem to have developed a rather unhealthy interest in the Nantes Trams. I've never really been a huge fan of public transport as a rule - too expensive, too unreliable, too many strange people.

Then, I moved to France, and ecountered the TAN network. Sad as it may seem, I think it may be one of the things I miss most when I leave at the end of my year abroad. The Number 98 in Horsham just doesn't quite cut the mustard, i'm afraid...

There are three tramlines in Nantes, cleverly named Line One, Two and Three. There's also Line Four, which is not actually a tram, but a 'Busway'. Basically, a bus which wasn't cool enough to be a tram, but the other trams let him play anyway.

This is the basic map of the three lines:




I live on line three, by 'Longchamp', which i've marked in red on the map (blue line, top left). One of my schools is right by the other labelled stop, 'Sillon de Bretgane'. The word 'sillon' means 'furrow' in English, and so the stop translates roughly to something romantic about ancient ploughs and sweeping farmland. In reality though, this next photo is the 'Sillon de Bretagne' - a towering montrosity of 1960s council flats, and apparently one of the least desirable places to live in Nantes.


The Sillon de Bretagne - my school's tennis courts are the red blobs on the far left of the picture.

Needless to say, I didn't take this photo. Some of my younger pupils asked if i'm taller than the Sillon, but i'm not. Honestly.