Escal'Atlantic Travel on Great Liners

Towards the end of the tour, the bar at Escal’Atlantic takes the whole family on a delicious journey of the senses in a remarkable setting, as if aboard France: the chandelier with pure lines as well as the tapestries « Orpheus’ Sun » graced the first class smoking room of the famous liner, which had a total of 7 bars on board. Everything will make you want that refreshing break to last a little longer… what about enjoying one of the signature cocktails created by our bartender?

The Escal’Atlantic shop, through which you will exit, is accessible from the outside. Here you will find an extended range of goods.

A wide selection of books about ocean liners, shipbuilding, Airbus, and the history of Saint-Nazaire, are available for purchase.

As for foodies, the shop offers a large array of local and regional products, most of them containing Guérande salt. A special mention goes to the salted butter caramels, loved by young and old alike.

You will also find DVDs, model building kits, sea-inspired decorative items, postcards, posters and various souvenirs, most of them at very reasonable prices. The most unusual object: silver plated tableware such as an ice cream cup, a soup tureen or cutlery from the liner Normandie (1935). These genuine artefacts are on sale thanks to a partnership with the association ‘French Lines’.

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The great ocean liners made their mark on the history of the past two centuries. From the second half of the nineteenth century, we began to connect the continents on regular schedules, thanks to steam power which bypasses weather-related hazards. A structured intercontinental transport network is being put in place for the first time. Saint-Nazaire becomes a transatlantic port, a base for cruises to Central America.

Rich businessmen but also millions of emigrants seeking a better life were writing the first pages of an opening up to the world, which has from then on intensified steadily. Until the middle of the twentieth century, only the seaway allows the transport of passengers, goods and mail from one continent to another.

Escal’Atlantic offers several travel experiences, from the luxury of the first classes to the emigrants’ tween deck. A rich and authentic experience rooted in historical reality.

The artefacts stemming from liners built in Saint-Nazaire have been brought together by the City over the past twenty years and are now the most important public collection in Europe. At Escal’Atlantic, you will discover some 200 pieces from this collection.

These works were specially designed for the comfort of passengers, adding to the refined atmosphere on board. The glittering silverware that you can admire in the dining room of Escal’Atlantic was used in the first-class rooms of Normandie; the cabin furniture from Normandie or France has made a dozen North Atlantic round-trips; the music room of Liberté hosted musical evenings or dreamlike afternoons…

A real staging of the history of ocean liners, based on authentic objects.