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| A 2 WEEK VISIT IN SEPTEMBER, 2018 | ||||||||||||||||
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| THE PLOUMANAC'H LIGHT HOUSE ON THE PINK GRANITE COAST | ||||||||||||||||
| When we told friends that we were going to Brittany, most asked where that was, and whether it was part of England. I
can understand their questions. Brittany is not a popular French
tourist destination. It's far from Paris, it's off the beaten path, and
the weather can be difficult. Worst of all, they don't make wine in
Brittany! They do make "Calvados", a brandy made from apples and pears grown in the local orchards.
The center of Calvados production is actually Normandy, Brittany's
neighbor to the east, but they make it in Brittany as well, along with
lots of cider. Calvados is strong - usually around 40% alcohol. |
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Brittany is a peninsula on the most northwestern corner of France, and all of its coastline is on the Atlantic Ocean. It is actually part of a larger area called Armorica, which includes the entire northwestern corner of France, from the Seine to the Loire. In the 4th and 5th centuries, this area was invaded by waves of Britons (from western England and Ireland), who were escaping from the Scots and the Anglo-Saxons. They gave the area the name of "Little Britain" which later became the modern name of "Brittany". The newcomers also brought the Breton language, (Brezhoneg), which is a Celtic language related to Welsh and Cornish. It almost died out during the 20th century, but has seen a revival during the last 30-40 years. Today in Brittany, most of the street signs are displayed both in French and Breton. | |||||||||||||||
| It took only a thousand years, but eventually, in the 16th century, the French finally took over the region. It retained some measure of autonomy until the French revolution, when the new revolutionary central government did all it could to discourage regional distinctions, and established a policy of a preference to all things French. | discover brittany video a lovely drone video of brittany a 3 day visit to brittany (video) |
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| So,
why did we decide to visit Brittany? Alisa saw a travel program about
Brittany on French television, and liked what she saw. So, we decided
that it was worth a visit. All the rest, as they say, is history. Below
are 2 maps, the one on the left showing Brittany, with our bases and route marked, and the one on the
right showing where Brittany is in France. |
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| Brittany is not a small area. There is about 250 KM, east to west, between its 2
biggest cities, Rennes and Brest.There is no centrally located town to
use as a base. Thus, we used 5 different bases, and our travel plan is
shown below. |
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| CLICK ON ANY THUMBNAIL TO SEE A FULL SIZED PICTURE | ||||||||||||||||
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| We arrived at Charles De Gaulle Airport (CDG) on a Sunday morning, rented a car and drove to Honfleur. Honfleur is in Normandy and is about half the distance from CDG to Dinan, our first real base in Brittany. Honfleur was a convenient place for a stop and our first overnight. It was also a delightful, if short visit. Since we were there on a Sunday, and the weather was perfect, and...it was the last day of summer vacation for the kids of France, and the town was absolutely inundated by visitors. We spent some time at the old port, just watching the world go by. |  HONFLEUR MARINA |
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 THE ENTRY TO OUR ROOM AT L'ECRIN NOTE THE ELEPHANT STANDING GUARD |
In
Honfleur, we stayed at the Hotel L’Ecrin, which is a lovely, old hotel
located within walking distance of the old port and center of the town.
It’s also
like a museum but has its own parking and is very convenient for
visiting the town. It’s run by Tam, (apparently of Vietamese
origin) who does just about everything. He introduced us to the owner
who was a very old woman, and, as I said, Tam did everything! He
checked us in and out, he served breakfast, he gave us a tour of the
grounds, and he probably cooked in the kitchen as well. There's
also a pool and some sort of spa. Our room was large, and we enjoyed
our 1 night stay here. |
 OUR ROOM AT LECRIN NOTE THE ANCIENT CLOSET WHICH DOESN'T OPEN |
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 HONFLEUR MARINA |
We
ate at one restaurant in Honfleur, called La Fleur de Sel. It's a
lovely restaurant located on a quiet street just away the port area.
The service and presentation of the dishes is of very high quality, but
we were disappointed by several dishes which were very imaginative, but
maybe too imaginative. We both ordered from set menus, albeit different
ones. Alisa had vegetarian ravioli with langoustine and a sea bass dish
plated over roasted vegetables. |
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 NOT TOO SUCCESSFUL BEET RAVIOLI |
The “ravioli” was actually radish and not pasta, and the radish completely overpowered the langoustine whose taste was nonexistent. This is an example of an imaginative but unsuccessful dish. I had marinated bream with grapefruit and radish, which was very original and tasty, and then a dish of duck with octopus. Both main elements of the dish were excellently prepared, but there was absolutely no connection between them, and they really shouldn’t have been on the same plate. The best dish of the evening (by far) was the amuse bouche, which was a soup of langoustine. It was absolutely delicious! Desserts were also very good. |  DELICIOUS SOUP OF LANGOUSTINE |
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| The following morning, we had a light breakfast in "downtown" Honfleur, and then headed to Brittany. On the way we drove through the Vire Gorge, which is a lovely area about 110 KM west of Honfleur. For lunch, we stopped at a restaurant called Les Bruyeres. This restaurant is located near the village of Gouvets, which is a small village in the middle of rural Normandy. If you don’t know that is a quality restaurant, you would never stop here. It’s in a place where you would expect to find a “truck stop”, not a classic, and very good French restaurant. | ||||||||||||||||
 LOVELY DESSERT AT BRUYERES |
I checked
beforehand and knew about it, as we wanted a nice restaurant for lunch
on the way to our Brittany. It’s run by a young couple, called Gregory
and Claire. He runs the front and she is the chef. The restaurant
is lovely, with subtle colors and lovely wall decorations. The menu at
lunch is limited but satisfactory. Alisa and I both took the 32 Euro
menu. The dishes we ordered included a shrimp salad, foie gras, duck,
and a veal dish. The menu included dessert and everything was very very enjoyable. |
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| Our
first base in Brittany was in Dinan, which
turned out to be Alisa's favorite town. It has an unusual layout, as
the modern part of the city lies up above the river valley, and the old
town lies on the hill leading down to the river. The best part of the
old walled town is on this hill, and it's a tough walk up, and an even
tougher
walk down. We did it once. After that, we drove up and around to the
modern part of town and found parking there. Parking is free after 5
PM. |
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 DINAN RIVER PORT |
We stayed in a hotel down on the river port with the long name of "Mercure Dinan Port Le Jerzual Hotel".
The Dinan river port is called "Port le Jerzuel", and is actually
located partly in the neighboring town of Lanvallay. The hotel is a fairly
standard chain hotel but the river port area where it is located is
enchanting. It’s a perfect place to stay if you want to visit Dinan and
the surrounding area. From the port, as I wrote above, it’s a hard long
walk uphill to walk through the old part of Dinan, but there are lots
of interesting shops, artisans, and art galleries, and the walk is
worth it (once, anyway!) |
 OUR HOTEL ON THE RIVER |
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 ALISA TRUDGING UP THE HILL IN OLD DINAN |
The
hotel has its own parking behind the hotel building, but it’s a long walk back to the
room as there is no entry into the hotel from the parking area. On the other hand, there
is more free parking available on the street right next to the hotel,
and we used that more than the hotel parking area. The hotel is modern,
and our room was fairly sized. The staff was
efficient and if we were to visit Dinan again, we would gladly stay
here. The parking out on the street is right in front of an unusual structure which is a renovated farmhouse and which houses a museum called "La Maison de la Rance", which explores the fauna and flora of the Rance Valley. There's a modest admission fee. Alisa stepped in to see what it was all about. I assume it is probably popular with grammar schools for class visits. |
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 STREET IN OLD DINAN |
As
I said, we enjoyed the old town of Dinan very much. It's full of
interesting shops, galleries and restaurants. One of the most
interesting shops we visited was the Maison Blue Lin.
Here we met the owner Claude whose passion is art and linen. Her
selection of high quality towels, and linens, many of which were works
of art, is truly unique. We bought a couple of beautiful items.
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 MAISON BLU LIN LINEN STORE |
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| In Dinan, we ate at several memorable restaurants. |
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| LA LYCORNE |
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 LA LYCORNE RESTAURANT |
La Lycorne (unicorn in French)
was one of the most fun restaurants we ate at in all of Brittany. It
calls itself the “house of mussels”, and mussels are very popular in
Brittany! The mussels come in a giant portion of 800 grams and are
served in a black casserole pot, and just about everybody who comes here orders this
bucket of mussels! They come in a variety of flavors, and they
come with a large order of French Fries and a pail for the shells. It
was great fun and the mussels were great. I ordered the “classic” taste
– the “mariniere” – just the mussels in the simplest way.
The tables here are pretty close together which induces friendly chatter between tables. We chatted with our nearest neighbors who were locals and who eat here regularly. They also had the mussels. Dinner here was great fun! |
 MY BUCKET OF MUSSELS AT LA LYCORNE |
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| LA COURTINE |
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 THE MENU AT LA COURTINE |
This is a simple restaurant
serving classic French cuisine. Gregory runs the place and does just
about everything, except cook. The menu is written on a blackboard,
with 2 courses costing a modest 21.50 Euros. Alisa had salmon mouse,
and monkfish, and I had foie gras, and rabbit. Everything was fine. It was a nice, tasty, classic dinner.
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 RABBIT AT LA COURTINE |
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| LES 3 LUNES |
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 LOVELY RESTAURANT LES 3 LUNES |
We
had a
lovely meal here. It’s a beautiful restaurant, and is clearly one of
the best in Dinan. There are several different menus to order. I
ordered the “Festin Menu”, which included 3 courses + dessert, and
Alisa ordered the more modest “Cordelier Menu”. My menu included foie
gras with apple inside, 2 fish courses (sea bream and then John Dory)
and dessert. Alisa's menu included an incredible dish of cabbage salad
with egg, and then beautifully done duck breast. My dessert was a
wonderful work of art. The service at times was a little spotty, but
the food was sensational. |
 INCREDIBLE DESSERT AT 3 LUNES |
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 UNIQUE DISH AT 3 LUNES |
To the left, Alisa's dish of cabbage salad with egg - a very original and unique dish, and to the right, my very conventional dish of duck breast. |
 DUCK BREAST AT 3 LUNES |
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While staying in Dinan, we visited several places in the area - Mont-Saint-Michel, Cancale, and Saint-Malo. |
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 MONT SAINT-MICHEL INCREDIBLE SIGHT FROM AFAR |
Mont-Saint-Michel is
one of the most popular tourist attractions in France. It's right on
the border between Brittany and Normandy. It is an island located about
one kilometer off the country's northwestern coast, although when the
tide goes out (most of the time), you can easily walk there across the
sand. Due to its popularity, it has become quite an operation – lots of
mainland parking lots (for a fee), and continuously running shuttle
buses to the island. The attraction here is from the outside. It is
really stunning and incredible. Inside, it’s a tourist trap where lots
of stores and restaurants charge high prices for the same stuff you can
buy anywhere else in the area for half the price. There is also an old
Abbey, which is
worth visiting, if you can brave the hordes of visitors. We were turned
off by the crowds and the prices, so we just left. Here is a fantastic
and short Youtube video showing how the island becomes an island at high tide. |
 CROWDS IN SAINT-MICHEL |
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 OUR WELCOME IN CANCALE FULL PARKING LOTS! |
Cancale
is famous for its oysters. There are oyster farms, the oyster market,
and, best of all, lots of oyster restaurants. However, you should come
early. There are lots of people who love oysters, and come to enjoy
them in Cancale. At the market, you can buy oysters at a good price and
eat them on the spot. We arrived at around 12 noon, and all the many
parking lots were completely full. We finally found a spot on an
interior street. At this hour (noon), most of the restaurants were full
and overflowing. After some searching, we found a restaurant called La Mere Champlain, where we had lunch.
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an oyster lover's guide to cancale cancale - the oyster capital |
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| We were able to get into La Mere Champlain only because
of its size. It's huge. It must be one of the biggest restaurants in Cancale. In
any case, despite its size, service was prompt and helpful. I ordered
oysters, and Alisa ordered a combo plate of shrimp and langoustine.
They arranged it all on one giant platter and we were taken aback by
its size when they brought it. Picture to the right. However, we
finished it easily. All the seafood was so fresh and tasty, and the
oysters were the plumpest and juiciest I have ever had. If you like oysters, or any other fresh seafood, Cancale is the place to come! |
 LOTS OF OYSTERS IN CANCALE |
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 ON THE RAMPARTS OF SAINT-MALO |
Saint-Malo
is a delightful walled port city located on the northern Brittany coast
about 35 KM north of Dinan. It may be a port town, but the walled old
town is the main attraction. There's lots of parking lots located
around the walls and we found a spot in one right near the main
entrance - which is called "le Grande Porte".
There's lots to do here, such as a walking the ramparts, visiting the
cathedral, sailing to several nearby islands, or just walking around
the old town. There are even islands you can walk to - just be sure to
check the tide tables. You could get stranded when the tide comes in. |
europe upclose on saint-malo france this way on saint-malo |
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 THE STREET OF CREPES IN SAINT-MALO |
Saint-Malo
is a delightful city to visit. Impressive granite walls surround the
old town, which was once a stronghold for privateers (pirates approved
by the king). The Saint-Malo Cathedral, in the center of the old town,
is built in Romanesque and Gothic styles and features stained-glass
windows depicting city history. Nearby is La Demeure de Corsaire, an
18th-century privateer’s house and museum. One long street, Rue Jacques
Cartier, is literally filled from end to end with restaurants
specializing in crepes, which are very popular in all of Brittany, but
particularly here in Saint-Malo. |
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| We didn't want a crepe for lunch, so we found a simple non-crepe restaurant instead - maybe too simple. We ate at La dent Creuse.
We didn’t expect anything special, and we got what we expected. We had
salad, soup and beer. The food was tasty, but the beer was sour, and
the service was indifferent. Next time we visit Saint-Malo, I think we'll go to Rue Jacques Cartier and have a crepe for lunch. |
 OLD TOWN AND CATHEDRAL STEEPLE IN SAINT MALO |
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| There
are several other major attractions near Saint-Malo, which we might
have visited had we had more time to do so. One is the town of Dinard,
a small town located right across the Rance River Estuary from
Saint-Malo. It is described as a genteel resort which has been favored
by the British since Victorian times. In the 19th century, Dinard was
considered to be France’s no. 1 seaside resort, and was frequented by
the rich and famous. As I said, we didn't visit. |
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| Another interesting place to visit would be the “Rance Tidal Power
Station",
which is the oldest operating tidal power station in the world.
It opened in 1966 as the world's first tidal power station. This is a
topic that interests me as I spent my entire working career in power
plants. There are tours in English (although not when we could have
visited), and a free Visitor's Center. It's located under a causeway
connecting Saint-Malo to Dinard. We drove over the causeway, and that's
the closest we got to visiting this interesting place. |
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| We
left Dinan on Thursday morning and headed to the Pink
Granite Coast, which is considered to be the most beautiful part of the
Brittany coast. We agree. It's really a special place. We drove along
route D786, which
is the most scenic route and which hugs the coast for much of the way. On the
way, we
drove through the towns of Saint-Brieuc, Plouha, Paimpol, and Tréguier.
We stopped in the outskirts of Paimpol at a local inland lake and had a
picnic lunch. The area is also a sports facility, and there was a
bunch of high school kids also having lunch. |
 OUR LUNCH STOP IN PAIMPOL |
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 BEAU CASTEL SITE |
Our final destination this day was Perros-Guirec, where we would stay for 2 nights at a beautiful hotel called "Castel Beau Site".
This is an outstanding and beautiful hotel, with an incredible view, a wonderful restaurant and excellent service. It’s
also located in the tiny town of Ploumanac'h (which I think is part of
Perros-Guirec), and which is the home of one of the main attractions in
the entire area – the Ploumanac’h Lighthouse,
officially known as the “Mean Ruz Lighthouse”. The hotel is about a 5
minute walk to the best view of the lighthouse, and from there it's
another few minute walk to the lighthouse itself. The picture at the top of the page is the Ploumanac'h Lighthouse |
 PINK ROCKS ON THE PINK COAST |
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 PERROS GUIREC BEACH AS SEEN FROM OUR ROOM WINDOW |
I
fully expected this hotel to be the best one where we would stay during
this trip. Unfortunately, there was one big problem, and that was the
room itself. The room was very small for the price,
but the size wasn’t the main problem. The main problem was the design
of the room and the furniture. Apparently, the operator of the hotel
wanted an ultra-modern design without regard for guest comfort. The
room design is so “avant garde” that it’s not practical for the
guest.
Here are our main complaints. |
 INCREDIBLE ROCK FORMATIONS ON THE PINK GRANITE COAST |
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There is no desk. The nightstands (next to the bed) are very low and very inconvenient to use. On the nightstand is a giant lamp which uses up most of the stand’s top surface space, thereby making it even less convenient to use. There is no place to put even 1 suitcase, except on the floor. We requested (and got quite promptly) 2 folding suitcase stands. And worst of all, the shower area is not separated from the main room, except by a sheer flimsy curtain, and the shower itself is clear glass. There is no privacy at all. If the curtain had been opaque, it might have been OK, but its sheerness made it pretty much visible. We thought that this was a quirk of the standard double room which we had, but the answer we got when asking about it was that all the rooms are designed like this. This is really a beautiful hotel, with the best view in the area, but I don't think we would return here. |  STRANGE ROOM AT BEAU CASTEL |
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 PORT ST SAUVEUR ON GRAND ISLE |
While in
Perros-Guirec, we visited several small towns in the area such as
Trègastel, Trèbeurden, Bodou, as well as the largest town in the area,
Lannion. We also visited "Grand Isle", which is an island but can be
accessed by car over a short bridge. Here we found a lovely spot on the coast, called Port
St. Sauveur, where we spent some time sitting and enjoying the view and
had a picnic lunch . The place we visited most was the Ploumanac'h
beach and Lighthouse. I visited twice, and our view of the
Perros-Guirac / Ploumanac'h beach was absolutely the best part of our
stay here. The entire area is called "The Pink Granite Coast", and this
area is the most spectacular part of it. It's a beautiful
area, with huge pink granite stones providing incredible views in every
direction. |
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| While in Perros-Guirec, we ate at 2 notable restaurants. |
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| La Table de mon Pere |
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 TUNA DISH AT BEAU CASTEL |
This is the name of the
restaurant at our hotel, Castel Beau Site. I believe it has 2 Michelin
stars, and in our opinion, they are well deserved. The dinner we had
here was one of the best meals we had during our 2 week visit to
Brittany. The restaurant is beautiful, and sports the best view in the
area. The service was perfect. All the dishes were spot-on and there
were no letdowns. The standout dish in my opinion was the “salmon in
mango cannelloni”, which was both imaginative and delicious. In short, this was
an outstanding dining experience.
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 INCREDIBLE MANGO CANNELLONI!! |
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| Le Ker Louis |
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 TAPAS PLATE AT KER LOUIS |
This
is a pleasant little family run restaurant right near the Saint-Guirec
Beachfront. It was a 2 minute walk from the hotel. They serve
surprisingly good food and delicious fresh seafood. Emilie does
everything in front, which includes waiting on tables, mixing drinks
and cleaning up. Her husband is the chef. This seems like a simple
place, but it’s not. It was quite full when we were there. Emilie told
us that they are full almost every night. A reservation is highly
recommended! |
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 HUELGOAT LAKE |
The Pink
Granite Coast is a beautiful place where you can easily spend some
serious time doing nothing but enjoying the view, but we had other
places to see. Our next stop would be Finistere, the western most part
of Brittany, and our base would be Quimper (pronounced kem-pair), one of the
larger towns in the area. On the way to Quimper, we stopped at the
little town of Huelgoat,
which turned out to be one of the loveliest towns we visited. Huelgoat
is surrounded by a legendary forest reputed to be a base used by King
Arthur himself, many, many years ago.
We didn't venture into this reputedly haunted forest, but we did enjoy
walking around the Huelgoat Lake, and having a picnic lunch on its
shore. |
 HUELGOAT LAKE |
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 HUELGOAT LAKE |
In Quimper, we stayed at a
delightful B&B called Le Logis du Stang.
This B&B is run by
Annie, who goes out of her way to provide whatever you need. Our room
was in the “annex” out behind the main house, and it had plenty of
room. We enjoyed our stay here very much. Our room even had a second
floor (half floor) with room for a table and chairs. The garden is
lovely and one evening we had a “picnic dinner” at the little table
right outside our room. Annie even provided us with 2 glasses of white
wine, and 2 table settings. Breakfast was also very nice.
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 OUR PICNIC TABLE AT LOGIS DU STANG |
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 OUR ROOM AT LOGIS DU STANG |
There
are a couple of disadvantages you should keep in mind if you want
to stay here. You must have a car, as the B&B is about 5 KM from
Quimper. (There’s plenty of parking at the B&B.) Second, if you
come back late at night from an outing, and you are staying in the
annex, bring a flashlight. There is automatic lighting which lights up
as you walk, but there are some blind spots where it is quite dark. And
definitely pay attention to Annie's very specific instructions as how
to drive to the B&B, which she will send you via email after you
reserve a room. If you depend on your GPS, you may wind up driving down
a very unpleasant stretch of rocky road as you approach the B&B. |
 QUIMPER OLD TOWN WITH CATHEDRAL |
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While
in Finistere, I detected a "wild west" atmosphere, among the "natives"
of the rural communities here who expressed a
definite independent streak. It's the part of Brittany farthest from
Paris, and the weather can be difficult here in the winter, with the
most exposure to the Atlantic. In Roman times, Finistere was believed to be the end of the known world. The largest city in all of
Brittany is Brest, an important French naval port city on the Atlantic coast of Finistere. We didn't visit Brest. |
explore the wild west of brittany EXPLORE FINISTERE BY COMPLETE FRANCE |
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 THE CHURCH AT POINT DU VAN |
While in Quimper, we visited Pointe du Van, which is right next to Point du Raz, also known as "Land's End". Both these coastal points of land are located at the far western end of Finistere. Point du Raz is the better known and more touristy, and Point du Van is the quieter spot. In any case, it's a fairly long ride from Quimper, but it was worth the ride, despite the cloudy weather on this particular day. |  BRIDGES AND FLOWERS above THE ODET RIVER IN QUIMPER |
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 VINTAGE CAR SHOW IN LOCRONAN |
After
visiting Point du Van, we drove to Locronan, which turned out to be a
lovely visit. Locronan was one of the loveliest towns we visited in
Finistere. It’s located about 20 KM north of Quimper, and we visited on
a Sunday. We had no idea that there was a vintage car festival going on
this particular Sunday. That made the visit special, but Locronan would
still be a beautiful place to visit even without the vintage cars. You
have to park outside the village and walk (not too far) to get to the
center. If you park in the regulated lot, which is closest to the
center, it will cost 4 Euros. Annie gave us a sticker to put on our windshield which saved us the 4 Euros. |
 SUNDAY MUSIC AND FESTIVITIES IN LOCRONAN |
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 INSIDE ALLIUM |
While in Quimper, we ate at one of the best restaurants of the trip - "Allium",
a beautiful restaurant with a well earned Michelin star. It’s in a lovely setting
right near the river on the outskirts of Quimper. It has a lovely herb
garden and statuary right which you can see out the window while you
are dining. Here, they request that the entire table order the same
menu, so both of us took the simplest menu, but there was nothing
simple about it. |
 ASSORTMENT OF DELICIOUS AMUSE BOUCHE AT ALLIUM |
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 STATUARY AND HERB GARDEN AT ALLIUM |
It started with 5 separate “amuse bouche” which were all delicious. After that the dishes we had were crab meat with tomato pulp, herbs and flowers, and black mullet with gnocchi, artichoke and a few other things which I can't remember. For dessert, we had cheese and figs. Everything was excellent, the dishes were beautiful works of art, and the service was perfect. For dessert on our menu was a fig dish. I don't like figs, and there was no problem swapping my figs for the cheese dessert. We can highly recommend this wonderful restaurant. |  BLACK MULLET AT ALLIUM |
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| We
left Quimper and drove to the Morbihan region of Brittany. The region
takes its name from the enclosed sea called the Bay of Morbihan which
is the
principal feature of the coastline. It is noted for its Carnac
monolithic stones (older than Stonehenge) and lots of water sports and
islands. We stayed in the town of Vannes, which is located a few KM north of the bay. |
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 MAISON DE LA GARENNE |
In Vannes, we stayed at another lovely B&B called Maison de la Garenne This B&B is located just a short walk from the beautiful old town of Vannes. Christine and Antoine are the couple who runs the B&B, although Christine is the primary hostess, and she is a delightful person. Breakfast was great and our room was actually a suite, which included 2 rooms. Also, there is a “hospitality room” just off the breakfast area, with a refrigerator and kitchen utensils for the use of the house guests. This was very convenient, and we could make ourselves coffee or whatever at any time of the day (or night). There’s also a pool (which I used once), as well as a garden area with a table and grill available for guest use. For me, the best part of this B&B is that it has enclosed secure parking, and that it is a 5 minute walk into the old town. It was very convenient for visiting this delightful town. |  THE VIEW FROM THE GARDEN AT MAISON DE LA GARENNE |
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 PONT-AVEN |
On
the way to Vannes, we stopped at 2 places. One was Pont Aven, which
turned out to be a lovely town noted for its artists, art galleries,
and a history of hosting many of the most famous artists of the 19th
and 20th centuries. We visited several galleries, as we were looking
for an original painting which would represent this area. We
found quite a few lovely paintings, and we bought one by an artist
called Eric Le Pape.
He does beautiful work with vibrant colors depicting Brittany
scenes. This painting wasn't cheap, and we even got a
"certificate of authenticity" from the gallery. |
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| Pont-Aven is full of galleries, as well as local working artists and there was even a "Pont-Aven School of Painting",
led by Paul Gauguin and which included other leading painters of the time. At the end of
the 19th century, the town was one of the most important
artistic centers in France. Here's an article about art and artists in Finistere. Today, there is a "School of Contempory Art" in Pont-Aven, and it's open for registration right now! |
 TYPICAL ARTISTIC STOREFRONT IN PONT-AVEN |
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 this is a happy rock not found at carnac! |
After
Pont-Aven, we drove to Carnac, a small town on the western side of
Morbihan Bay. It is noted primarily as the home of the “Carnac Stones”,
and is one of the three main sites with formations of these prehistoric
stone “alignments”. Just south of the town is the main “alignment” site
as well as the “Megalith House” (Maison des Megaliths), which is the visitor’s center for the
entire stone formation area. The visitor’s center is modern and
informative. We found the site interesting, but we certainly weren’t
blown away. How can I put it – if you’ve seen a thousand stones, you’ve seen
them all. Still, if you are in the area, you should definitely have a
look.
|
DECIPHERING THE CARNAC STONES: IS THERE A CONNECTION BETWEEN CARNAC AND STONEHENGE? ancient mysteries |
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 CARNAC TOURIST TRAIN |
We had our
daily picnic lunch here in Carnac, on the shore of the Crac'h River
which runs alongside Carnac. We also drove through Auray, a small town
which didn't have any appeal for us, and we didn't spend any time there. While in
Vannes, we drove all the way around the Morbihan Bay, to visit Port
Navalo, the southernmost port on the bay, and exactly at the connection
of the bay with the Atlantic Ocean. We found a tiny little town on the
water, with a few restaurants and a bar or two. On the right is a
picture of Alisa having a beer with a gentleman friend she picked up in
one of the bars. |
 ALISA AND FRIEND |
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| The highlight of our visit to Navalo was the "razor clams",
so named because of the shape of the shell, which is similar to an old
fashioned straight razor. When the tide goes out after a particularly
high tide, the locals show up in force to dig up these succulent (and
free) clams. We had a chat with one of the diggers, who explained what
was going on and offered us one to taste. She also offered us as many as
we wanted to take if we wanted to. They can be eaten raw, but they are
better cooked. Since we had no place to cook them, we demurred from her
generous offer. If you are interested in digging for razor clams, here are specific instructions as to how to do it, explained by the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife. |
 RAZOR CLAMMING AT PORT NAVALO |
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| We had lunch in one of the local restaurants - "The Grand Calè". Everybody who worked here looked like family and they were very cheerful. We had a nice seafood platter and a good cold beer. The place was quite busy and they had a nice selection of oysters and other seafood. It was nice, but nothing special. | ||||||||||||||||
 FLOATING TOURIST OFFICE IN PONTIVY |
The Morbihan region has more than just the Bay of Morbihan to visit. We also drove north of Vannes to a beautiful area called Blavets Valley. We drove there to visit the town of Pontivy, which had an art festival going on. The art exhibitions were in the town's churches, as well as in several venues outside of town. Unfortunately, once we got there, we found out that during September, the festival only operates on the weekend. So we strolled around Pontivy, which has 2 old towns - one from the Napoleanic era, and one from the medieval era. | |||||||||||||||
| There were 2 very notable places to mention in Pontivy.
One is the tourist office, which is a boat (picture to the right), and
the other is "Le Grand Cafe", a brasserie where we had the grandest cappuccino of
the entire trip. The coffee was rich and strong, and it was topped by a huge dollop of delicious fresh whipped cream! |
 LUNCH IN PONTIVY |
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| Vannes
turned out to be my favorite town of our Brittany visit. The
center is completely enclosed in fully preserved walls, with
beautiful landscaping and gardens
outside the walls. It was a beautiful town in every way both inside and
out. Lots of narrow streets, beautiful old buildings, interesting
juxtaposition between old and new, lots
of stores and restaurants, and outside the walls, a beautiful port area
full of
boats. I fell in love with Vannes and couldn't stop taking pictures. Wednesday is one of the market days in Vannes, and the
market in Vannes was really one of the best street markets we have been
to anywhere. It literally fills every street of the old town. We also
found the best brioche of the trip in the closed market hall
of Vannes. Every day we picked up a brioche or two here. Below is just a small sample of the pictures we took in Vannes. |
here is a lovely video stroll of the old city of vannes |
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| We ate at 2 delightful restaurants while in Vannes. |
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| Le Gourmandiere |
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 SELECTION OF AMUSE BOUCHE AT GOURMANDIERE |
This
restaurant is located 2 or 3 kilometers outside of Vannes, and the
setting is a little unusual, but inside, this restaurant is beautiful
and our meal was flawless. Alisa took the “Inspiration Menu” which
included langoustine and pigeon. I ordered the menu one step higher
which included another course, and that was a lobster dish. Everything
was superb and the service was perfect. I think the lobster dish was
the best dish we had on the entire trip. Chef Olivier Samson created an
amazing dish which included whole pieces of lobster, confit of onion,
nectarine, and a curry of egg-plant. It was absolutely delicious. We
met with him at the end of the meal and discussed the meal, which was
perfect in all respects. |
 EXQUISITE LOBSTER DISH AT GOURMANDIERE |
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| Roscanvec |
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 FUNKY DECOR AT ROSCANVEC |
This lovely
restaurant is located in the heart of the old town of Vannes, and our
dinner was excellent. This is a kind of quirky restaurant, but it does
have a Michelin star and it is well deserved. We both took the
“Collection Menu” which includes 2 courses and dessert. It’s priced at
a very reasonable 55 Euros. We had langoustine, duck breast, foie gras,
and monkfish. There were several amuse bouche and everything was
excellent. All the dishes were presented beautifully. |
 BEAUTIFUL AND DELICIOUS DUCK BREAST AT ROSCANVEC |
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 RENNES CATHEDRAL |
Rennes is the capital and largest city of Brittany. It's a medium sized city with a population over 200,000 people. It's
a lovely city filled with beautiful old buildings and an old center
filled with half timbered houses. We stayed here for 2 nights and had a
lovely time. We stayed in a Best Western hotel called "Hotel Spa Le Saint-Antoine". |
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| This
is a modern 4 star hotel located right in the center of town. It
has its own secured parking, which involves 2 elevators, a secret
password, and to access your car you need the accompaniment of a staff
member. The result is that it’s not worth taking the car anywhere. That
suited us because we spent our 2 days here visiting Rennes and we had
no intention of going anywhere. There’s plenty to see and do in Rennes.
The hotel is modern and the room we had was large and very well
designed. There was lots of storage space and plenty of room for
suitcases. |
 HALF TIMBERED HOUSES IN RENNES OLD TOWN |
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 ROCHEFORT EN-TERRE |
On the way to Rennes, we made 2 stops. Both were unforgettable. The first stop was in Rochefort-en-Terre, which is a lovely little village with one long main street, a couple of side streets, and a chateau which are all worth visiting. We didn’t visit the chateau, but we did visit quite a few lovely stores, mainly selling unique local artwork and handicrafts. One store in particular was special. It is called "Madame Chamotte" and it specializes in extraordinary ceramics and pottery, as well as a variety of natural concoctions. To the right is a picture of a tray of what looks like polished stones, but it is pottery (or ceramics - I'm not sure)! This town was recommended by Christine of our B&B in Vannes, and it was one of the most pleasant surprises of the entire trip. |  AT MADAME CHAMOTTE'S CERAMIC STORE |
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| The
other unforgettable stop was at a tiny town called
Saint-Martin-sur-Oust, where we stopped for a cup of coffee at a local
bar, whose name I have fortunately forgotten. I
call it unforgettable because the coffee was by far, the worst coffee
we have had anywhere. I managed to drink it by adding lots of milk and
sugar, but after one sip, Alisa just left hers on the table. |
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 RIVER LA VILLAINE IN RENNE CENTER |
While in Rennes, we visited the old town, did some shopping in Gallerie de Lafayette, strolled down the main street which has several different names, and which is divided by the River La Vilaine. We also spent some chill time in beautiful gardens not far from our hotel, Jardin Saint Georges. This little park houses beautiful gardens and a historic mansion now used for municipal purposes. |
 FLOWERS IN JARDIN SAINT GEORGES |
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| We
found a delightful street called Rue Vasselot, which runs from very
near our hotel into the heart of the center of town, very near where the
central market is located. This street is filled with
shops, bakeries, small restaurants, and is was a pleasant place for a
stroll, or for a cup of coffee and a croissant. There were several wonderful pattiseries with delicious baked goods. |
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| While in Rennes, we ate at 2 notable restaurants. |
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| La Galopin |
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 TARTARE OF CRAB MEAT, SALMON, TUNA AND YUZU JUICE AT GALOPIN |
This high end brasserie was just a few steps from our hotel. It was an easy choice to eat dinner here. I had the “gourmet menu”, and Alisa ordered a la carte. She had sardines for starter, and then king prawns. My menu included tartare of crab meat, salmon and tuna with yuzu juice, for mains wild sea bass, and a tarte tatin for dessert. All the dishes were well done and tasty. The restaurant is big, and noisy and fun. The wait staff was very friendly and jovial. All in all, an excellent dinner. |  ANOTHER SARDINE DISH FOR ALISA AT GALOPIN |
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| Le Carre |
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 DUCK BREAST AT LE CARRE |
We
had a lovely lunch at this restaurant in the center of Rennes.
The service and atmosphere were spot on and the food was excellent. We
had crab tartare, John Dory fish, oysters and duck breast. Everything was
excellent. I believe it doesn't yet have a Michelin star, but is just one step lower on the Michelin ladder of excellence. |
 CRAB TARTARE AT LE CARRE |
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| Our last
stop was a visit to Chartres, a city which is on the edge of the Loire
Valley region. Chartres is about 115 KM from Charles De Gaulle airport,
and is therefore a convenient last overnight, if you don't want to
sleep at one of the soulless hotels at the airport. We did the exact
same thing (last night in Chartres), when we visited the Loire Valley,
exactly 10 years earlier, in 2008. The light show in Chartres is a real
treat, and we thought it would be a visit worth repeating. |
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 OUR LARGE ROOM AT THE TIMHOTEL |
We drove
directly to Chartres, and stayed in the same hotel we had stayed
in in 2018, albeit with a different name. In 2008, it was the Chatelet
Hotel, today it is called "Timhotel Chartres Cathédrale".
It's a tired old fashioned hotel, but it's only a 5 minute walk to the
cathedral, and it has its own secure parking. The room we took was also
nice and big, very suitable for last minute packing. |
 WELCOME TO CHARTRES |
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 WALL MURAL IN CHARTRES |
We
came for the famous light show, and we got far more than we bargained
for. Without knowing this beforehand, we were there for the big, giant,
extra special light show, done once a year on or about September 15.
It's called the "Festival of Lights", and is quite an extravaganza. Starting
when it gets dark (around 9:30 PM), the city was inundated by visitors,
there were several entertainment venues set up, and the light show was
projected on many buildings, not only the cathedral. |
 BUSY SQUARE IN CHARTRES CENTER |
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| It's quite a show. Everybody was busy taking pictures of the light
show, but it's very difficult to get good pictures, so I have none to post. The lighting is
difficult and the left side of the cathedral is obscured by trees. Here
is a pretty good YouTube video which should give you a good idea of what the cathedral light show looks like. It really is impressive. |
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| While in Chartres, we ate at 2 notable restaurants. |
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| L'Amphitryon |
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 SARDINES AT AMPHITRYON |
This is a
restaurant with a Michelin star and is part of a very upscale hotel,
called Le Boeuf Couronné. It is also located only 100 meters from our
much more modest hotel, and when we arrived in Chartres, it was time
for lunch, so we had an unplanned lunch here. We had just 2 dishes, but
enjoyed them very much. Alisa had the sardine starter and thought it
was wonderful. I had the bass and it was also excellent. Even from this
quick and abbreviated lunch, it was clear that the restaurant deserves
its Michelin star. |
 LOVELY BASS DISH AT AMPHITRYON |
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| Bistro Le Sully |
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 DINING "ON THE STREET" AT LE SULLY |
Le Sully is
a popular brasserie in the center of Chartres, just a short walk from
the cathedral. This was our last meal of the trip, and it turned out to
be the strangest meal of the trip. Due to the "Festival of Lights", the town was flooded with visitors and all the restaurants were filled to capacity. Fortunately, we had made a reservation, but we still had to eat outside right on the street, and found out that the entire menu for this evening was 3 dishes – a fish dish, a meat dish, and a chicken dish. The whole scene was chaotic, and many people were standing in line to get in. The food was tasty, but this was definitely not what we had expected. The service was friendly, chaotic and funny. If we ever visit Chartres again, perhaps we will give Le Sully another chance. |
 THE "SPECIAL" LIGHT SHOW MENU AT SULLY |
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 GIFT PACKAGES OF KOUIGN-AMANN |
Kouign-Amann
(pronounced "queen-ah-mahn) is the number one confectionery in
Brittany. It is also considered by many to be the fattiest pastry in
all of Europe. It's about 60% butter and sugar. It is found everywhere
in Brittany - in all shapes and sizes, in vacuum packs for tourists,
and available in various flavors, although the most popular type is the
natural (butter and sugar flavor). I had one, and after 1 bite, I felt
that I had had enough. It's so rich, it's hard to eat a whole one. |
 KOUIGN-AMANN ON DISPLAY IN SAINT MALO |
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| PERROS GUIReC BEACH ABOVE: AT LOW TIDE |
The coastal tides in
Brittany are amazing. For most hours of the day, all the boats near
the beach are "beached", resting fully on the sand. Then, very swiftly, and
for a relatively short time, the tide comes in and floats all the boats. It's
amazing to watch! There are many islands which can be visited on foot,
at low tide, but you have to check the tide schedule if you don't want
to get stranded on one of these islands when the tide rushes in. Mont
Saint-Michel is the best example of this, but there are many more
lesser known islands as well. To the left are 2 pictures of the
same beach, one at low tide and one at high tide. Different times and
lighting, and slightly different angle, but it's the same beach. |
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BELOW:AT HIGH TIDE |
That's
the view from our room at the Beau Castel Site, and the stone structure
in (and out of the water) is called L'Oratoire de Saint-Guirec, and
within it is a statue of Saint Guirec himself, the Breton saint of
Perros-Guirec. This "oratory" was built in the 12th century, and
nearby on the shore is a chapel dedicated to Saint Guirac. Young girls
wishing to get married in the coming year, must plant a needle in the
poor monk's nose, which explains its flattened face. To the right is a
picture of the Oratory I took while the tide was out. Our hotel is in
the background. Here's a video which captures the atmosphere. |
 L'ORATOIRE OF SAINT GUIReC |
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 |
Crepes are very popular in all of Brittany. Every town is full of creperies, where crepes are made with all kinds of filling, some sweet and some savory. They are very popular for lunch. Galettes are also popular, and they are different from crepes, and in Brittany, there is a serious debate about which is which. Here is a primer about the difference between them. |
 TYPICAL CREPE RESTAURANT IN SAINT MALO |
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| Corn
is the most popular crop in Brittany. It is grown everywhere. While
there are grape vines all over the rest of France, here it is corn,
corn, and more corn. The interesting thing is that we didn't see any
corn dishes on any restaurant menus. The answer to this riddle is that
the corn (or maize as it is called here), is mostly for animal feed. Very little gets to anybody's kitchen table in Brittany. |
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| Postcards! Yes,
the humble postcard seems to be a specialty in Brittany. It's the only
place we have been where most of the postcards are prints of artist's
paintings, and not photographs. We found these postcards irresistible
and bought quite a few. The price is the standard price for postcards
(1-3 Euros), and they are even better than magnets on the
refridgerator, as they really are works of art. Some of them even come
on textured paper, and most are suitable for framing. Below is
my favorite of the ones we bought. The signature of the artist is
clearly visible and readable in the lower right corner: B.(Bernard)
Morinay, and the paper is textured in such a way that it looks and
feels like a real oil painting. You can see lots more of Morinay's
beautiful work here. |
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|
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 |
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| THE INDEPENDENT ON BRITTANY | ||||||||||||||||
| THE TELEGRAPH ON BRITTANY |
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| A SHORT HISTORY OF BRITTANY | ||||||||||||||||
| BRITTANY; BY FRANCE-THIS-WAY |
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| THE 10 MOST BEAUTIFUL TOWNS OF BRITTANY |
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| THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE FOR VISITING BRITTANY |
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| A WEEKEND ITINERARY FOR VISITING BRITTANY |
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| THE MICHELIN GUIDE TO VISITING BRITTANY |
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| BRITTANY'S BEST BEACHES; BY TRIPSAVVY |
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| "POSTCARDS BY HANNAH" - ALL ABOUT BRITTANY |
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| TRAVELLER'S GUIDE TO BRITTANY by THE INDEPENDENT |
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