ORBIS city intelligence

Walking Nantes: Bookshop, Roaster, Atelier

Three doors and three streets, taken in the order that suits what each one needs from you. Start unhurried, buy the coffee in the middle, and finish where an appointment may be required.

Librairie Ancienne Richard: 6 rue de l'Hôtel de Ville, first S1

A bookshop rewards an unhurried start, and this one buys as well as sells. Allow extra time if you are bringing something in for valuation.

Ask what has come in recently rather than browsing blind. The stock in an antiquarian shop turns over in ways a new bookshop's does not.

Cime: 20 rue des Hauts-Pavés, second S2

This sits between the other two and makes the natural middle of the walk. Micro-lots from Ecuador and Peru are roasted here.

Buy whole beans and ask for the roast date. Ground coffee bought on a trip is usually flat before you get round to drinking it.

Atelier Lajosse: 19 rue Francis-Leray, last S3

La Poudrerie is a former powder works a short way out from the two central stops, which is why it closes the walk rather than opening it.

Confirm before setting out, because this is the stop most likely to need an appointment. Ask about lead times if you are commissioning rather than buying.