Pays de la Loire in the context of "Tiffauges"

Brittany (/ˈbrɪtəni/ BRIT-ən-ee) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an independent kingdom and then a duchy before being united with the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province governed as a separate nation under the crown. Brittany is the traditional homeland of the Breton people and is one of the six Celtic nations, retaining a distinct cultural identity that reflects its history.

Brittany has also been referred to as Little Britain (as opposed to Great Britain, with which it shares an etymology). It is bordered by the English Channel to the north, Normandy to the northeast, eastern Pays de la Loire to the southeast, the Bay of Biscay to the south, and the Celtic Sea and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Its land area is 34,023 km (13,136 sq mi).

Nantes (/nɒ̃t/, US also /nɑːnt(s)/; French: [nɑ̃t] ; Gallo: Naunnt or Nantt [nɑ̃(ː)t]; Breton: Naoned [ˈnãunət]) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, 50 km (31 mi) from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 320,732 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabitants (2020). With Saint-Nazaire, a seaport on the Loire estuary, Nantes forms one of the main north-western French metropolitan agglomerations.

It is the administrative seat of the Loire-Atlantique department and the Pays de la Loire region, one of 18 regions of France. Nantes belongs historically and culturally to Brittany, a former duchy and province, and its omission from the modern administrative region of Brittany is controversial.

The Loire Valley (French: Vallée de la Loire, pronounced [vale də la lwaʁ]), spanning 280 kilometres (170 mi), is a valley located in the middle stretch of the Loire river in central France, in both the administrative regions Pays de la Loire and Centre-Val de Loire. The area of the Loire Valley comprises about 800 square kilometres (310 sq mi). It is referred to as the Cradle of the French and the Garden of France due to the abundance of vineyards, fruit orchards (such as cherries), and artichoke and asparagus fields, which line the banks of the river. Notable for its historic towns, architecture, and wines, the valley has been inhabited since the Middle Palaeolithic period. In 2000, UNESCO added the central part of the Loire River valley to its list of World Heritage Sites.

Poitevin–Saintongeais (French pronunciation: [pwatvɛ̃ sɛ̃tɔ̃ʒɛ]; endonym: poetevin-séntunjhaes; also called Parlanjhe, Aguiain or Aguiainais in French) is a language spoken in the regions of the Pays de la Loire and Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Poitevin–Saintongeais is officially recognised by the French Ministry of Culture as a language with two dialects: Poitevin and Saintongeais. The language belongs to the langues d'oïl subbranch of the Gallo-Romance languages.

Some descendants of Poitevin–Saintongeais speakers became the Acadian people of Atlantic Canada as well as the Cajun people of Louisiana.

Le Mans (/ləˈmɒ̃/; French: [lə mɑ̃] ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Mans. Le Mans is a part of the Pays de la Loire region.

Its inhabitants are called Manceaux (male) and Mancelles (female). Since 1923, the city has hosted the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the world's oldest active endurance sports car race. The event is among the most attended and prestigious motor sports events in the world.

Poitevin (French pronunciation: [pwat(ə)vɛ̃] ; endonym: poetevin) is a dialect of Poitevin–Saintongeais, one of the regional languages of France, spoken in the historical province of Poitou, now administratively divided between Pays de la Loire (Loire countries) and Nouvelle-Aquitaine (New Aquitaine). It is not as commonly spoken as it once was, as the standard form of French now predominates. Poitevin is now classified as one of the langues d'oïl but is distinguished by certain features adopted from Occitan (langue d'oc).

The language is spoken on what was the border between the two language families of oïl and oc (placenames in the region clearly show historical settlement of oc speakers). The langue d’oïl subsequently spread south, absorbing oc features.

Normandy (/ˈnɔːrməndi/ NOR-mən-dee; French: Normandie [nɔʁmɑ̃di] ; Norman: Normaundie) is the northwesternmost of the eighteen regions of France, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy.

Normandy is divided into five administrative departments: Calvados, Eure, Manche, Orne and Seine-Maritime. It covers 29,906 square kilometres (11,547 sq mi), comprising roughly 5% of the territory of metropolitan France. Its population of 3,322,757 accounts for around 5% of the population of France. The inhabitants of Normandy are known as Normans, and the region is the historic homeland of the Norman language. The neighboring regions are Hauts-de-France and Ile-de-France to the east, Centre-Val de Loire to the southeast, Pays de la Loire to the south, and Brittany to the southwest. Its prefecture and largest city is Rouen, although the regional council sits in Caen, making Normandy one of two regions in France (along with Bourgogne-Franche-Comté) in which the prefect does not sit in the same city as the regional council.

Sarthe (French pronunciation: [saʁt] ) is a department of the French region of Pays de la Loire, and the province of Maine, situated in the Grand-Ouest of the country. It is named after the river Sarthe, which flows from east of Le Mans to just north of Angers. It had a population of 566,412 in 2019.