Dinan
This is a nice place.
So, breakfast was so-so, the hotel is tres basic. Oh well, it is cheap and convenient and clean. Off to explore. Interesting exhibition at the tourisme about the history of the town. The wars of succession didn't do it any good, but the port was enough to make it successful. The town is preserved because after one of the old gates in the ramparts was pulled down in the 1830s a preservation movement sprang up. Who knew that historic preservation was so old? Of course, that also explains Carcassone, so if I'd thought about it I'd know.
Nonetheless, we start walking. The first stop is the bell tower with some great views...
Later, from the donjon on the keep I bag three of the Brittany spires...
Well, two of them at least.
Then walking and walking. Medieval man was in good shape. Cobblestones are hard. But great buildings.
Most were built in the 15th century, and restored, but they look great.
We walked for two hours, and at the Governor's house stopped for what turned into a two hour lunch, since it was so pleasant we just wanted to sit and enjoy the ambiance.
Continuing down the steep hill, after lunch and buying rocks, we found the old port. Tres picturesque.
Back up the hill. Infinite respect for the thighs of the middle ages. The English established a presence here, so at the top of the hill is an English garden next to the basilica.
Worn out, we hobble over to the chateau and visit the local museum. Some very nice sculptures and the views are terrific.
A long day ends with a terrific meal at the Hotel Le Challonge. When we stopped earlier for a drink I'd thought it was just a dopey hotel restaurant, but we each had one of the tastiest meals we've had in France. The lamb was excellent, Kathy's duck very good, Jenny's beef béarnaise excellent. Along with entrees, dessert and a good Cote du Rhone, we've earned our sleep.
Location:Dinan
Le Conquet to Dinan
Memo to self, a base at the end of a peninsula requires additional driving. Le Conquet is a nice little village, and La Vinotierre, despite dragon lady on check in is a nice hotel. But it is better as a destination than a base, since now we need to drive the exact same route to Morlaix to get to the next place. Next time we come to Brittany I'm all set.
Anyway, on to the Cote d'Armor, also known as the pink granite coast. At the very beginning of the area we stopped at Le Yaudet, to look at the Gallo-Roman ruins and the view. Great view, a little estuary winding up into the land with the village tumbling down. Wandered around the site, didn't see anything other than markers. The view was great though, since the weather was ideal.
Find the Gallo-Roman site and win $$$$
It was almost time for lunch, so we decided to continue on into some of the larger towns along the coast. That was a boo boo. Similar to the Jersey shore, this is a beautiful area that is quite well known. Trapped in traffic, we finally found a good parking spot, but all the restaurants were full. Desperately seeking food, we wandered more, gave up our good spot in the parking lot and drove on. We finally found a place in the middle of Perros-Guerac, a creperie of course. But, eating outside on a beautiful day solves many problems.
This drive took longer than we thought, so we skipped Treguier and headed straight to Dinan. We stopped in Lamballe for a quick coffee and walk to wake me up. Again, a very pleasant ville. Are there ugly towns in Brittany?
Fortified, we finished driving to Dinan. A gem. Half timber buildings, interesting architecture all around. We went in search of a restaurant and spent most of our time taking photos. Tomorrow should be fun.
Many choices for dinner, we ended up picking a Moroccan place. Tres bon.
Bhouka is tasty, and mutton isn't half bad.
Location:Dinan
Off to Morlaix
Off to another town I should have used as a base...Morlaix. One and a half hours from here, but an easy drive. Morlaix got rich from being a port in a convenient spot, shipping linen, lead and salt to Europe. A great view when you drive in, a huge viaduct across the city, which lies in a deep valley.
The fifteenth and nineteenth centuries meet in Morlaix.
Nice town. Excellent buildings, many of them covered in slate. I've not seen slate used on the side of building before. Makes sense, it certainly is weather proof.
We wandered for a bit, and found the museum. It was going to close in fifteen minutes, for lunch, so we walked over to the Maison de Duchess Anne, who theoretically stayed there, much like our own George Washington who slept everywhere. These houses were built to flaunt the owner's wealth, and are called pondalez because of their giant spiral staircases.
Pretty keen pondalez you have, Monsieur.
We then walk to number 9 Grand Rue to see another pondalez, but as it was part of the museum it too was closed for lunch. Taking the hint, we had lunch at a Moroccan place. Nice break from gallettes. Very tasty. Moroccan food got us to mourning the loss of Konak, our Turkish restaurant. Now we crave Turkish food.
Back to #9, which was also nice.
From there we went to the main museum, which had a show of Charles Lapicque, a twentieth century Brittany artist, specializing in maritime painting. More expressionist than I like, but okay. The show was silent about the period 1939-1945, and I noticed that he did alot of painting of French naval vessels in the 50s. Did I not understand the French descriptions or was that an odd silence?
Back to the car. Good views of the port....
And off on another scenic drive through the Mont's d'Array.
Near Huelgoat (Breton place names are fun) we saw a sign pointing off the road for an ancient mine. Gotta see that, so down the track we go to the old 18th century lead mine. I have to admit that the anticipation was better the the experience....
Lead mines are not exciting.
Back on the road, and near Loqueffret (really) we saw another parish close. Smaller, and no information other than a terse sign, but charming.
Many of the churches we've seen have some woodwork that I've not seen before. There is a carved wood piece along the top of the wall, were the roof joins.
Too bad it's blurry.
Also, there is a wooden crucifix where the chancel and nave meet, in the rafters.
Also, there are carved wooden beams traversing the nave and chancel. Interesting.
Finally back, through tedious traffic in Brest. Dinner at the restaurant the first night, Restaurant vue sur Mer. Kathy had many moules and I had veal. Tomorrow we leave Le Conquet and head for Dinan.
Location:Le Conquet
Le Conquet and the Finisterre coast
Drove north along the coast...the Cote des Abers. Very pretty, windswept and vast. The surf was high, I assume because of the storm. The surfers were out, crazy folks.
After lunch next to the tallest lighthouse in Europe, we head to Lampaul and it's sister city, Lampaul-Guimiliau. The place names in Finisterre are certainly challenging. These two cities became wealthy during the late middle ages from the linen (Lampaul) and tanning trades(Lampaul-Guimiliau). They competed, along with other towns, to build the most impressive parish closes...the cemetery, church and outbuildings for the parish. Usually it included an ossuary since the cemeteries were getting full. Lampaul-Guimiliau's was the first we saw, and it's pretty impressive. I'm not sure I've ever been more impressed with the interior of any church. Of course, that's when my battery died. It was light and airy, with great altarpieces. Since it was built in the 16th century, the sculptures were the full effect Renaissance look, lifelike, busy and expressive. Also polychrome.
Ossuary at Lampaul-Guimiliau.
The spire is truncated, since it was destroyed by lighting in the 18th century.
The next town, Lampaul, had a more impressive exterior than the first, although I didn't like the interior as much.
Closes have a cavalry, which were also exuberant in both.
Back to town for dinner at Quai Ouest. Higher end food, not exactly sure what part of duck I ate. Kathy had lotte, with something, which we suspect was tripe. The food was good (except for the tripe). Catastrophic failure of french language skills when plates were brought out. Hilarity(?) ensued.
Location:Le Conquet
On to Le Conquet via Quimper
Good bye to Auray and Le Marin. Great little hotel and a nice town. Thoroughly enjoyable. We'll stop in Quimper on the way to Le Conquet. The owner of the hotel is very high on Le Conquet, so that's a good sign.
Quimper is also an attractive town, which I regret not spending more time in. This seems to be a theme, many places I'd like to have spent more time in. Unfortunately, it's Sunday when we arrive so everything is closed. The cathedral is striking (why is the chancel offline from the nave?) and the whole town is neat and tidy. After a quick caffeine stop (I have been under caffeinated for the whole trip), which allows time for the morning mass to complete, we peek inside the church and then head to the Museum of Beaux Arts, across the place. Excellent little museum, with a fantastic exhibition about Brittany in art from the 18th to the early 20th century. It traced the changing views of artists towards the landscape, from the Romanticists to Monet. Really well done, nice paintings and a good size.
Why is it crooked?
After that museum and lunch...another creperie and another lunch of gallettes...we really haven't been able to find another lunch venue. Fortunately we like them, but if you travel to Brittany, be aware of your lunch options.
Anyway, then to the museum of Breton folklore. Also pretty neat. Amazing how late into the twentieth century the traditional clothing was worn. It seems that as late as the 30s and even the 50s it was common dress.
Off to Le Conquet. Drive drive drive, Brest is kind of ugly, at least the suburbs, and we stop at Point St. Matheu. Great views, although the weather keeps us from seeing any distance. Another F&M shirt!
Somewhat late arrival at the hotel, but no problem. Odd room layout, but quite pleasant. First choice for dinner is full, so we hike back up the hill to location 2 and are very happy. Lamb chops for the first time since we arrived, with a nice red wine. Excellent.
Location:Le Conquet
Auray...Franklin and Marshall
When we went to the tourism is Auray, I saw a local guy wearing a Franklin and Marshall sweatshirt. Interesting. We saw two more people during the day, and then another the next day and the next. What is going on with Franklin and Marshall and the French population of Brittany? Inquiring minds want to know.
This day is devoted to more neolithic sites, specifically the Isle of Gavarnis.
From there we head to Vannes.
Gavarnis is a big dolmen, on an island just offshore. 4000 years ago it was on the mainland, so no extra mystery about how it was built. What is interesting is the carvings on the interior, but in order to protect them no pictures are allowed. The outside looks like the one at Locamariaquer. The interior is low, dark and tight. Was it carved before the roof was put on? The majority of the carvings remind me of a fingerprint, although there are some shields which apparently represent human form. I'm a bit
confused since 20000 years ago at the caves in the southwest of France, like Lascaux, the art is very representationally accurate, but now it is quite abstract. Hmm.
The other noticeable aspect of the ride is the tide, which flows past the island so fast that it is like looking at a river current in the water. Boats heading past bob up and down and throw spray as they head past the island. The tides in Brittany are almost as high as the Bay of Fundy.
On to Vannes, which is also a great city to visit. The rain reduces the lingering over quaint buildings, but the old part of the city is terrific. Maybe this would have been a better base. We came out of the parking lot into the port, which is lined with stately 19th century buildings.
The market was underway when we arrived, so we pushed our way through the crowds as we walked. Nice cathedral surrounded by half timber buildings.
After lunch we kept wandering, each time we thought we should stop because of the rain, the rain stopped, so we could continue. Finally we bumped into the chateau and gardens, which were an excellent finale.
I need to remember that plain old marigolds, zinnias, salvia, petunias and all the other "boring" annuals can make a great border.
Back home to Le Marin. Best dinner of the three. We ate inside, since we were rained out. The waiter wasn't fooled by my French accent, and revealed himself as British, which meant we had a ready translator. Both Kathy and I had bar, since she like it so much the day before. It was just as good as before. Maybe it's sea bass? Goes well with Muscadet. As we left, we were introduced to the chef, who has been working in New York for a number of years. We had a nice chat, got the name of the Calvados we like so much and headed to the hotel.
Location:Auray
Auray
Still a bit bleak, but today's plan is filled with Neolithic adventure. First we need to walk over to the tourism office to book our trip to Gavarnis, which is a dolmen on an island, which needs reservations. So after breakfast we hike, and I do mean hike, since the hill from the port to the town's main square is really steep, to the tourisme. France has the best tourism offices...efficient, good information, multi lingual. She booked our trip and armed with maps we went in search or our stone age friends. The hill has convinced us we're eating dinner in the port, though.
First stop Carnac, which has a nice little museum focusing on the neolithic stuff from the area. Although given that everything isn French, we miss some of it.
Carnac is famous(?) for it's alignments...giant fields of stones set in lines in parallel with the sun's rays.
What were they thinking? Did they wake up one morning and say let's line up a bunch of rocks parallel to the sun? It was an immense amount of work, the field goes on for hundreds of yards, and the smaller stones are four or five feet by two to three feet. Apparently, they were brought to the area from several miles away. They needed to organize hundreds of people, and feed them in order to build this. Hmm.
From stone age mystery to modern beach resort. We left Carnac to drive down Presque Isle, or almost island, down to Quiberon. We had lunch overlooking the beach, at the tip of the island. Beach towns everywhere are the same. Sand, water, beach rugby tournament. From there we headed back along the Cote Savauge, the western side of the island. Quite striking, it must be fabulous in a storm.
And back to our forebears at Locamariaquer, where there are 2 dolmens and a giant menhir. This after stopping for the dolmen at St. Michel, just outside of Carnac.
This menhir originally was standing upright, around 4000 BC. Later, after it fell, they built this burial chamber
And then later this low rise dolmen...
Odd enough, but what was particularly memorable was the music drifting over from the circus set up just outside. This was the third or fourth circus we've seen set up outside or town. Listening to the calliope and looking at the dolmens was a good way to wrap up the day.
Of course, we still have to eat, so back to town for dinner at L'Eglantine. Outside again, weather cooperated, more or less and another winner for dinner. I had (I think) guinea fowl, bit Kathy had a fish call bar, which was excellent. No idea what it is, but a nice subtle white fish with herbs. Nice bottle of Nantais rose, and more Calvados. Kids happy too.
Location:Auray
Fougeres to Auray
I was a little down on the Hotel Balzac when we checked in, but upon leaving I take it all back. If we hadn't just come from the grand Hotel D'Argouges, I wouldn't have blinked. Framing is everything. Certainly the room was small and plain, but the hotel was right in the middle of town and Madam Le Proprietre was very helpful. Again, when do these folks sleep? She was up making breakfast before 7:00, and at the reception at 11:00 pm. When we left, she gave us a number of suggestions for sights elsewhere to see and some cookies. She told us to look out for "Kig ha Fanz", which is a specialty of Breton food in southern Finisterre, and off we went.
Fortified by the cookies and playing with our new hotel Balzac pen, we drove to Vitre in a downpour. Halfway there we saw a sign for la Roche aux Fees. A detour took us the dolmen, where the rain let up enough for us to get out and explore. This apparently was a chamber tomb, and would have been covered with earth. The stones were each taller than me and had been moved from a quarry 2 miles away.
Back to the road, and the rain increased. By the time we got to Vitre, where we had planned to stop, the rain made wandering around the city look unappealing. Vitre looked great, with a dense center ville and a massive chateau. Hmm, should we have stayed in Vitre instead of Fougeres? We wimped out and declined to explore in the rain and headed south.
The tourist office in Bazouges had given us a terrific guide book. We picked Malastroit, labeled a small town of character, as our new destination. Good labeling. We had lunch in a creperie next to the church. There seem to be three types of church steeple in Brittany, the oddly shaped semi-Russian, short and squat, and tall slender and pointy with sub spires.
Short and squat...
Odd shaped...
Tall and pointed...
Combination...
The town is next to a river, so we strolled along the canal bank to the locks, which were emptying, and through the old quarter. Many nice medieval structures, both half timbered and stone. Many had extravagant carvings at the corners or over the doors. Great place.
Maletroit
The tourist guide worked, so we chose another town, Rochefort-en-Terre for our next stop. We noticed along the drive that a number of the towns are labeled ville fleuries, which apparently is a designation they receive for their flower displays. Whatever it is it works. They look great, with cascades of geraniums, petunias, coreopsis and marigolds. Rochefort is both a small town of character and a ville fleury. A little overwhelmed, but a nice place for a glace on a terrace overlooking the countryside.
No chance of stopping in Vannes as originally planned, so straight to Auray. A big traffic jam and the main road outside of town diverted all the traffic into the little town. Gridlock. Several wrong turns and my poor map led usntonthe wrong side of town, where the bridge we wanted ovemthe river was down a pedestrian only street. Oops. Back through, down alleys, and poof we were on the ride side of the stream. The Hotel Le Marin is right on the port quay and very pleasant. The owner let us park our car in his parking spot for the duration so no humping up and down the steep hills to the parking lot.
Auray, despite the traffic is nice. We are is St. Goustan, which is the port. Auray is on the other side of the river. Sailboats line up along the middle of the river, and the water is framed by the old structures and ends with a medieval bridge. Many restaurants. Excellent. Dinner was next door to the hotel at Le Bout de Quai. The rain looked like is was stopping, so we took a table at the terrace. That wasn't accurate, but we settled under the umbrellas and had a great time. The food was excellent, two local kids were playing music and the staff was a lot of fun.
Auray
Location:Auray
Fougeres and the Vallee de Couesnon
The oldest belfry in Brittany does work, we learned last night, since it is one block away and keeps excellent time. It chimes on the quarter hour. I noticed it once or twice, Kathy also noticed it at different times. Sean and Jenny said "what bells" when we asked them. Youth.
Today we did our walk around Fougeres. It's charming. Nothing spectacular, but a interesting main street, rebuilt after a fire into a line of stolid stone homes in the 18th century. The main church is neat, especially when the organist began practicing Bach's Tocatta and Fugue in D Minor. The public gardens are really nice, overlooking the countryside and the chateau. Neat medieval quarter and then the chateau.
Unknown to us, this is the largest castle/fortification extant in Europe. Good walking tour and views.
Perfect day, clear, 72 degrees. A good day for lunch on the place du Theatre! Tante Suzette's gallettes were tasty (try the chevre miel and noix) and our server was delightful. She tried to understand our French, corrected us and was just generally happy. She was from Normandy, so she was happy to speak to us about cheese for and hour, she claimed. Great fun.
Off to the Circuit Touristique du Vallee du Couesnon. The goal was Bazouges-la-Perouse. Bazouges has a charter as a small town of charm (deservedly as we discovered). The route took us along the river through various cute places. The (demented) planner took pleasure in making each road smaller than the previous. It's amusing to look at the GPS map and see your location in the middle of a field because the road is too small to show up. It was great fun, trying to find the sign posts and wandering down tiny lanes. Beautiful views and buildings. As pointed out in the brochure, the skilled Breton granite craftsmen left behind distinctive double arched doors (check) and external staircases (not seen). Several interesting churches, one which had the tower off center because of the later addition of an aisle. Highly recommended. Bazouges was pretty, so the whole expedition succeeded.
Found the Roman bridge (picture) and headed back.
Once back in town, practiced my French on our server from earlier in they day. She understood my drink order! Huzzah. Baby steps.
Enjoyable dinner overlooking the chateau. Catastrophic failure of language while ordering. Hubris is always punished. Salved my wounds with Bordeaux and Calvados.
Location:Fougeres
Mont St. Michel and Fourgeres
We are a bit D-day'd out, so we are going to skip the Battle of Normandy museum and drive straight to Avranches and Mont St. Michel. On the way we drove through Norton des Poterie, an aptly named town with infinite numbers of pottery shops selling flower pots etc. Obviously the epicenter of terra cotta work in northern France.
Avranches is nice, sitting on top of a hill with a chateau and some nice buildings. Terrific museum dedicated to manuscripts from Mont St Michel. The exhibits discussed binding, resorarion and creation. It did tax our French. Terrific manuscripts...Aristotle, Cicero, and illuminations. The Cicero and Aristotle were 1000 years old when these were written, and now they are 1000 years old. Hmm.
Stopped for lunch at a charming creperie. Again our French failed us, but we got our food. From there to the public garden, with a good view of Mont St Michel, except it was hazy and thus not so good. Nice garden though.
On to Mont St Michel. Certainly the view is spectacular.
Unfortunately you spend much of your time with your new best friends...
We were all a bit disappointed. The abbey is impressive, although empty. We all wondered at the costar. Are we too jaded? Some places are worth the crowds, like the Grand Canyon. We were not sure if that's true of Mont St Michel. On the other hand, if we hadn't gone, we would have kicked ourselves.
On to Fourgeres. The Hotel Balzac is quite a step down from the Hotel D'Argouges.
We will be Spartan for the next two days, although the room is clean and the reception is very helpful. An aperitif in the main place while we plan tomorrow's assault on the sites followed by dinner at the hotel's recommendation. Very nice food from the pays Basque. Finished dinner with some mint flavored Basque eau de vie that made my eyes water. How can I buy more?
Location:Fourgeres
