Dinan Oldies Experience

A week in Brittany (with a side excursion into Normandy) We met Michel and Christiane near Dinan and spent a week exploring, walking and eating (mostly) very well. Our gite, at La Garaye, is part of the renovated outbuildings surrounding a (very) ruined, very elegant chateau. It fell victim to the French Revolution, apparently. Hard to imagine having something like this in your back yard:

The young couple that owns the gites also runs a catering business, and offers space for seminars, wedding receptions and the like. Amidst all this they are raising three perfectly adorable and polite children and a couple of lovely dogs. We arrived on Tuesday in time for supper. Wednesday we drove about two hours to Carnac, which Paul and I remembered very fondly from 20 years ago. It was a center of prehistoric activity, and boasts one of the most megalith-studded sites in Europe. When we visited in the early 90s we walked freely among approximately 3000 standing stones set up in about 10 long rows. We also visited various tables (standing stones crowned with other stones, probably tombs), and dolmens (think Stonehenge post-lintel-post.) It was one of the high points of our visit to Brittany and we were eager to see it again. Well, quite a disappointment. The standing stones are now fenced off, and somehow chest high sturdy green metal fencing really diminishes the impact of the stones. It could be any kind of half-baked art

installation. You get little sense of the weight of the stones or the effort it must have taken to move so many of them from far away to this place.

(Paul carefully took this shot over the fence.) Paul and I did venture a bit farther afield, and if we ever get back there would be a few good hikes possible, but on the whole the area was really very touristy. And lunch in Carnac was disappointing: Michel and I had oysters, not especially wonderful, and Paul had a so-so chicken and frites dish. Christianes fish was better. Im not sure we ever went into Carnac when we were there previously. Now its one tourist trap after another, which unfortunately is true in many places in Brittany. Dinan, however, was even better than we remembered. We spent Thursday morning exploring the old section:

Including a descent on the steepest cobblestone street Ive ever seen:

And ascended via a series of switchbacks to the town ramparts,

and a view down to the Rance River.

A deliciously charming little city, with lots of half-timbered buildings, a beautiful city tower, narrow alleyways, and of course many shops. Not all were selling tourist junk, though some were; Dinan is the regional capital, and there must be money around, because a lot of the shopping was very high end. We couldnt find the restaurant we ate at 20 years ago one of our most memorable meals, as the owner was trying for his 1st Michelin star but there appear to be many good food options. However, we left Dinan before lunch and proceeded downstream to Dinard. This is a very English city and has been so for almost 200 years. We heard English as much as French. Very much a resort town. The beach area is lined with upscale hotels, a large casino, and elegant second empire (mid-19th c.) homes.

Theres a cement path all around the base of the cliffs on the ocean side. I had remembered, correctly, that its narrow enough so Im uncomfortable walking along it, but adults, dogs, small children and bicyclists all use it easily.

We lunched oceanside at the Casino Bar. Michel and I had mussels, which I found very good but Michel less so. Mounds of frites Ive eaten my frites ration for the next two years. Paul had an omelet, ok but not great. Christiane had smoked salmon. Good muscadet. Lovely sunshine. But overall Dinard leaves us cold. Friday we ventured into Normandy. Dinan is actually almost on the border with Normandy, so our venture didnt take us very far. We had all been to Mont-St-Michel before and didnt care to go again, but we found a walk that promised some nice views of it so off we went. Paul and I hiked about 10k out of a little village, through fields and then to the beach, where we finished the walk with about 4 k along the dike that is supposed to protect the fields. Beyond the dike are salt marshes, and a long way beyond those is the actual beach. This is clearly an area that has been reclaimed from the sea, just like much of Holland. The polders fields protected by dikes stretch inland for maybe 1k or more. Drainage ditches are ubiquitous, and the windmills that line the horizon used to be active most of the time, pumping water out of the ditches and into the salt marsh. Now, I think most of the pumping is done with hydraulic equipment.

We picnicked on the dike. Beautiful weather! And we did drive far enough for closer views of Mont St. Michel.

That evening our landlord stopped by for a whisky (or two.) He recommended against a visit to St Malo and suggested a little village called St. Suliac, about halfway between La Garaye and St Malo. But Paul and I wanted to do a good walk, so Saturday we first went all the way to St Malo and a bit east, where the hikes book indicated a promising 10k. Michel and Christiane started from the end point along the ocean, which we eventually reached after making a circuit out into the country. Quite an interesting walk, past some really upscale housing developments, through fields and along pasture and woods roads until we reached the ocean.

Turns out that part of the ocean section is along the beach, really quite a slog though the sand, so we moved back onto the road parallel to the beach. We cut off part of the ocean path walk, as it was the same sort of narrow concrete path as around Dinard, and besides we were running out of time. If we did the walk again wed start in reverse order and turn back, I suspect. Anyway, good exercise for all. Then we drove upriver to St. Suliac, and it was totally charming. Little stone houses, lots of flowers (the dahlias all over Brittany were spectacular), a lovely church, and purely by accident we found a wonderful restaurant. It was the only one we spotted, so we thought, ok, guess we have to do this. Lucky for us! We entered into the dining room where the chef was grilling sausages over a wood fire in the huge fireplace. We sat outside on the terrace, completely enclosed by high stone walls covered with blooming roses. The place filled up very quickly, too. (Turns out its recommended

and starred in several of the guides, not Michelin.) Gallettes Breton crepes are the specialty, and wow, were they good.

After lunch we wandered around for more photo ops, of which there were many.

Sunday was the high point in many ways. One of the Michelin guides had recommended the small city of Paimpol, and mentioned the possibility of a ferry to the Isle de Brehat, about 3k off the coast. The Isle is totally without motor vehicles. We thought both sounded like fun. Paimpol was OK colorful harbor, some nice old buildings in the town center, and a delicious croissant aux amandes at the boulangerie.

But the ferry ride and the Isle de Brehat were spectacular. We lucked into the 45 minute guided ride around the island, which actually took over a hour because the tide was dead low and the boat couldnt hug the shores of the island. This coast has an impressive tide situation: it rises and falls something like 15 meters (50 feet) most of the time, and more when the moon is right. When we boarded the ferryboat we walked down to the end of the pier, where theres a pole like a telephone pole. It has a ladder attached to it, which started about 10 feet above my head. Caught in the ladder at about 10 and 15 feet above that were strands of seaweed. Makes you think.

The ferryboat ride around the island was great fun. Alternately sun and clouds, breeze and still. Narration was in French, of course, so I caught only some of it. But we could see various structures on the island as well as the very impressive looking rocks that defend it. We saw gulls (one followed the boat, hoping for handouts) and cormorants, and even a seal.

We landed on the island at the farthest quay, a good 10-minute walk to the actual shore. We had a picnic with us, but the question was where to eat it. No obvious public parks, possibly because the good folks of the Isle de Brehat want to encourage people to spend money in their restaurants, not bring their own food. We finally found the campground. No table and benches, but a good tree stump, and a wonderful view of the ocean.

After lunch Paul and I wandered the alleys and paths for a hour or so,

before heading back to the harbor to find Michel and Christiane. The return ferry left from the center quay, as the tide had come up far enough for that. The water moves quite fast I can see why there are so many warnings around Mont St Michel and at the mainland, the water was well up the telephone pole. Monday was our last day, and again at the suggestion of our landlord, we went out to Cap Frehel. Gorgeous rugged area, the highest cliffs on the Brittany coast. You can walk all over the headland itself, and even make your way down to the water. We saw a couple of guys change into wet suits in the parking lot and head for the cliffs carrying their boats and fishing gear.

The cliffs are bit high for my comfort level but the others went out to the end of the headland and got some good pictures.

Then we went on to La Fort du Lattre. There has been some sort of fortification there at least since the 8th century, though the present structure dates only from the 18th. (Thats one of the hazards of being a fort, I guess folks destroy you every so often.) Paul and Michel went down the steep path to explore the very well restored fort, which Christiane and I stayed topside and listened to birds, talked about cooking and families, and generally amused ourselves. Thankfully, it didnt rain much. We unfortunately (?) didnt see Paul and Michel climb out on the roof of the forts tower. They report that the view is stupendous.

After that we drove along the coast, climbing and descending its one of those roads on the map with the little green line indicating scenic glimpsing lovely beaches, rocky shores and cliffs and little islands. We stopped for lunch in Les Sables DOr-les-Pins, at La Potiniere, and had a really great meal the best oysters and moules of the trip. After that, back to the gite for packing, and a glass of rose with our landlord and his wife. Wed love to return to Dinan sometime, and the idea of a few days on the Isle de Brehat is really appealing. Who knows, maybe some day.