While my parents were here a few weeks ago I took a day off so we could head to the coast. We took the train to St. Malo which is where the tour started. Then we headed to Mont Saint Michel and ended in Dinan before heading back.
St. Malo
St. Malo is a port town which became famous for corsairs. Basically they were authorized to raid and seize ships on behalf of the French crown though I doubt the crown would admit to it :)
It is surrounded by a wall that you can stroll around to see the city as well as the seaside. a you can tell by what we are wearing, the weather was a little breezy in the morning.
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| Heading to the top of the wall |
And for my fellow Canadians, this is also the town that Jacques Cartier sailed from to discover our fine nation.
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| While this was called Quebec Place, dude in the middle had nothing to do with Quebec or Canada |
For lunch we sampled some of the local fare. Brittany is known for cider and galettes (a crepe made with buckwheat). The galettes are stuffed with all sorts of tastiness!
Mont Saint Michel
After lunch we were off to Mont Saint Michel, apparently the second most visited church in all of France after Notre Dame. And in full disclosure, it is actually in Normandy not Brittany but then my blog title would have been a little complicated . . .
Mont Saint Michel is actually an island commune with a hand full of residents - around 40 - and a boat load of tourists! The tide varies quite a bit so it's not always accessible though it was looking a little dry when we were there despite the biblical proportions of rain that fell as we were leaving the Abbey.
The first church was built on the site in 709 at the request of the Archangel Michel. In 966, at the request of the Duke of Normandy, a pre-Romanesque church was built. And then others came along ad added to it here and there.
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| Uphill, and then uphill some more |
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| And did I mention there are a few stairs |
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| Part of the original walls of the Abbey |
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| The dining hall |
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| What's holding it all up - ok, some of it |
Dinan
After getting soaked, we headed to our last stop - Dinan. Dinan is a quaint medieval town with a church, clock tower and little small streets. I would tell you more but to be honest, we didn't see much. The torrential rain returned so after walking around 2 minutes and standing under a tree getting soaked for 10, we headed to a bar for the rest of this stop!
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| The clock tower |
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| A much needed beverage! |
I actually stayed on Mont St Michel one night. It was really cool, since by about 6:00 all the tourists leave and you can wander at will without feeling like cattle. After 8:00 all the street entrances to everything close, and the only way into our hotel was via the ramparts, but wandering around on the ramparts brought you to all the non-touristic restaurants - it was very cool.
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