Brittany

The second region of France that we are exploring is Brittany, in the North West corner of the country.

Our first stop was the small coastal village of Hirel. We enjoyed a couple of days camping in a leafy shaded Aire across the road from the beach and while we were there, I cycled down the peninsula to the town of Cancale, the main oyster producing area of France.  The streets are lined with shops selling various selections of oysters and I even came across an oyster vending machine.  I’ve got used to seeing pizza vending machines in France but an oyster vending machine is definitely a first for me!

From Hirel we headed to the port city of St-Malo. St Malo has one of the broadest tidal ranges in the world and our visit was during low tide so we missed the spectacle of waves crashing against the walls but instead we were able to walk around the broad sandy beaches below the walls.

The old town of St-Malo, the intra-muros, is a maze of streets within the walls which were constructed from the 12^th century onwards.  Sadly, 80% of the town was destroyed by the Allies in an effort to drive the Germans out in 1944 but this has all been painstakingly rebuilt using the original materials to re-create this beautiful medieval town.

We spent the day exploring St. Malo and even though it is an ideal place to leisurely spend a couple of days we moved on that evening as the parking we found was just a car park next to a travelling circus and it was a hot day so we needed somewhere cooler to spend the night, so we drove the short distance to the port town of Dinan.

The very picturesque port of Dinan is on the river at the bottom of a steep hill with the medieval town protected by its walls at the top.

The municipality provides a great free parking place for motorhomes in a riverside field under the shadow of a huge viaduct, just a stone’s throw from the cafes lining the riverside and the narrow cobbled side streets leading up to the town centre – a 10 minute sharp uphill walk, or if you prefer, a much easier and free shuttle bus ride.

The town is one of the best preserved medieval towns in France and the half-timber faced houses are beautiful. There is a castle which was built in 1380 and was originally a ducal residence before becoming a prison.

One of the best roads is the Rue du Jerzual which runs from the town down to the port and dates back to the 12^th century.

We spent a lovely couple of days relaxing in Dinan but having done quite a few towns recently we were keen on having some down-time in the country so we headed to the peninsula of Cap Frehel, part of the Emerald Coast. The coastline here is made up of rocky cliffs punctuated by beautiful golden sandy beaches.

We stayed in the leafy municipal campsite across the road from a lovely small cove and were really grateful for the cooling sea breeze and extremely fresh temperature of the sea in this hot spell that we’ve been having recently.   We had the best time swimming and kayaking at the beach, which unlike British beaches in hot weather, was surprisingly virtually empty.

A few kilometres up the coast from the campsite along a clifftop footpath through gorse and wild flowers is the actual Cap Frehel point, atop 70m cliffs. There are three lighthouses here, progressively getting bigger through time, with the biggest built in the 1950’s.

Just off the cape is a pinnacle covered with seabirds and lots of baby European herring gulls and Great Cormorants on the nest.

A little way further down the coast from the lighthouses and nesting seabirds is the castle, Fort La Latte. This was built in the 14^th century and was used defensively until the 1800’s when the evolution of weaponry rendered it obsolete.

We initially planned to spend 2 nights here but the weather was so hot that we extended our time in this little paradise. It became something of a joke with the woman at reception when each morning we would arrive and extend our stay by another day.   We ended up spending 5 nights here and loving our little beach holiday.