Melinda and I took a nearly two hour walk this afternoon, wanting some time together outside in what turned out to be a lovely afternoon, relatively no wind and temperatures in the mid-50’s. We started out along a usual route across the tram tracks toward the Hippodrome before veering to the east and exploring a neighborhood we’d not looked at before. It turned out that there was only one way in and out, so we walked the circle, smiling at the small children playing dodgeball and the two girls in a courtyard pushing baby doll strollers.

We soon made our way to a nearby field currently set up for rugby, one surrounded by a lovely running track. An entrance was marked private but it was open so we decided to walk the track, using our pedometers to estimate its distance. We decided it’s 1/4 mile track, just like those you’d find in the US, and made four trips around before continuing on our way. We walked through the University of Nantes campus all the way to the Erdre River. There, we joined dozens of other people, walkers, joggers and bikers, enjoying the trail along the river on the first mild Sunday of the year.

Today’s photo is of the Erdre and representatives of the number of people we saw along the trail. I’m using my cell phone to take the picture and shooting south, what would be in the direction of town. We are standing on a road above the trail, next to a row of lovely houses.