Last stop

As this trip is wrapping up, it was fitting to see Mont-Saint-Michel in the distance across the bay. I started this trip at the beautiful yet touristy place, and now as I'm nearing the end I can see her again, against the horizon line. After leaving Saint-Malo, I realized I hadn't had enough of the oceans, waves and seafood. For a more intimate experience, I headed to the fishing village of Cancale. Cancale is famous for its oysters, supposedly the "oyster capital" of Brittany. I explored the coast where the oyster hunters were going about their jobs:



Picture of Cancale
thanks to Gerpsych from Wikimedia Commons and Ookaboo!

In the evening, I took to a walk along a circular path along the Pointe du Grouin cliffs. From here, I could see Ile des Landes (a bird sanctuary) and a lighthouse on the Normandy coast.

Speaking of Normandy, Cancale has a World War II Memorial! It was humbling to see another nation's perspective on the war, especially this one. This war is one I've heard numerous stories about, and it made it truly seem real to be in a place so close to where my Grandfather fought.



Picture of Cancale
thanks to Foroa from Wikimedia Commons and Ookaboo!

I meandered down the coast through several small villages. Though equally beautiful and wonderful, I am getting tired of being away from home. I have one more stop before I head home: Dol-de-Bretagne.

This town of about 5,000 has a rich history, much like the towns at the beginning of my trip. I visited these fruit groves that reputedly were planted in 549 by a Welsh saint and are still blooming fruitfully. There is even a legend that is same saint slain a dragon off the coast!



Picture of Dol-de-Bretagne
thanks to LimoWreck from Wikimedia Commons and Ookaboo!

Here was my route on this trip:


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But now, I just really want to go home to my boyfriend and my dog, Lavender. As wonderful as France was, it just isn't home.

Dinan to Saint-Lunaire

Leaving Dinan, I headed up the N176 towards Saint-Malo. I crossed the Bassin de la Rance at the Port Saint-Hubert. The Bassin de la Rance is a river that arises from the mountains of Shiner in Collingham and flows into the English Channel. The port where I crossed is near the point where the river starts to dramatically widen. Parts of town grow right up to the banks, like this picture shows...



Picture of Dinan
thanks to Tango7174 from Wikimedia Commons and Ookaboo!

I followed the N137 as it paralleled the Rance River (American name for the Bassin de la Rance). I got to see the beautiful area called Les Gastines.

What followed this breathtaking traverse, I couldn't imagine. As I strolled into Saint-Jouan-des-Guerets, I realized that this could top everything I have seen. As with most of the towns I have come across, the richness in history and culture is astounding. The Roman influence is obvious, as is the sailor's touch. There are 3 islands on the Rance that are a part of this town.

The finale of this leg of my trip was to the town of Saint-Malo, situated at the mouth of the Rance. This island is as storied as the rest, getting its start as a monastery, but becoming throughout history a fort, a haven for pirates and mariners.



Here is a view of the mouth of the Rance from the city wall:



Picture of Saint-Malo
thanks to Muxu from English Wikipedia and Ookaboo!

Beyond the history, Saint-Malo is thriving with modern-day life as well. The St. Servan District is a bustling place of cafes, shops, and restaurants. Here is the river-side view:



Picture of Saint-Servan
thanks to TCY from Wikimedia Commons and Ookaboo!

This is my overall path of this leg of the journey:


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Bon Voyage!

I'm sitting in the hostel common area sipping a mug of steaming tea, trying to sort out my thoughts. Its been a whirlwind of a week. In a crazy twist, I am not heading towards the Alps anymore. I was initially very hesitant to change my course, but I couldn’t resist the clashing sword, eloquent speeches, and mystery that comes with the thought of King Arthur and other fables. This is the route I have been travelling for the past few days:


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But first, Rennes. Rennes is the capitol city of Brittany, France. The history of the city goes back to the years BC! It was influential in the Roman times--Julius Ceasar himself had to come to Condate (what Rennes was called then) to be a diplomat. The Roman influence is everywhere. It is as if I've stepped back in time with how preserved some of the ancient markers are. This is a picture of the Galo-Roman wall built in the 3rd century.



Being in a big city, I couldn't help but immerse myself in the more lively bits of Rennes. The Opera of Rennes (below) is one of the smallest French opera houses, but it by far the most popular. The season for the opera house is November, so I couldn't see a live performance, but I did get to tour the house and sit up in the top, top seats and pretend I was in a swirling ball gown watching the actors gliding around the stage...



Picture of Rennes
thanks to :fr:Breizh Joan and Ookaboo!

It made me laugh, but in asking around, I found that Rennes is famous for being the most intoxicated region of France! And the Rue de la soif (below), is the infamous street lined with bars that creates much of the ruckus in Rennes on a nightly basis. On the weekends it looks a lot like Times Square on New Years Eve! In English, rue de la soif means "street of thirst"!



Picture of Rennes
thanks to Selby from Wikimedia Commons and Ookaboo!

There was so much more to see, but I didn't have much time. The allure of the medieval was calling and so I headed down the road to Paimpont, France. Here I found the Paimpont Forest, believed to be the Brocéliande forest in a book (Roman d Rou) written in 1160 by Wace. This forest is a place of untold mystery; mysterious happenings, unpredictable weather, and mystical ties to the legend of Arthur (it is believed the Arthur and the Knights of the Roundtable originated here). This is supposedly the home of the Fountain of Youth and Merlin's tomb.



Picture of Paimpont forest
thanks to Goofijve60180 from Wikimedia Commons and Ookaboo!
Merlin's tomb

I just couldn't get my fill of the medieval times so I headed to Dinan, a small town known for its upkeep of its medieval roots. It is set on the River Rance, with easy access to the port (Fresh Seafooooood!!!). I did take a day motor boat ride out to the port and back. It is definitely a different view from the water. The town is surrounded by a thick stone wall.



Picture of Dinan
thanks to GrahamBould from Wikimedia Commons and Ookaboo!

The streets are cobbled and steep, the buildings repaired and well-kept, the houses with more wood accenting than I've noticed so far:



Picture of Dinan
thanks to MGA73bot2 from Wikimedia Commons and Ookaboo!

Every other summer, Dinan hosts the Fête des Remparts (a medieval reinactment festival). Unfortunately, I came in the off year. But I was able to get lively renditions from the locals. Street entertainers are on every corner, harps and other old musical instruments make an appearance--there's even a jousting event at the end of the festival. Knights ride around in horses and damsels theatrically find themselves in some amount of dire distress that they need rescuing from!

The Thursday market was just as if it was out of a movie. Bustling, busy, with people milling every which way with stray chickens darting between the stands. It seemed that as much of the food for sale was alive as was dead and prepared :)

Though Dinan is a historic, medieval town it still manages to be big enough to have its own 13-15th century castle and a basilica (below)!



Picture of Dinan
thanks to Tango7174 from Wikimedia Commons and Ookaboo!

Now, here I am, awaiting tomorrow and a whole new world of things to do and see...

Pontorson-->Vitre

This leg of my journey might very well be the longest. I am anxious to see Rennes and all it has to offer! I have heard so many wonderful things from my friend Gabrielle. Here’s the GoogleMaps link to where I went:


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I stopped in several small towns along the way to Rennes. These little places gave me a big piece of everyday life. The manors and fields seemed to be out of Hollywood. This is a public manor that they let me poke around in and explore:


This photo of Manoir de la branche is courtesy of TripAdvisor


This photo of Manoir de la branche is courtesy of TripAdvisor

The weather hasn't changed much since leaving the coast. The winds have definitely died down, but the temperatures have stayed steady in the low to mid 50's. It is similar to the weather back home, even the humidity here is comparable to Boise! That surprised me with all the coastal lands here.

My next stop was Sens-de-Bretagne, which translated means "Direction of Brittany". This little commune of barely 2000 people have a richly historic story, and they aren't afraid to brag about it. I got there on a Monday, just in time for the weekly market set up the Charles V. When I visited a coastal town last fall, they had a weekly Sunday market. The food, clothing and crafts were amazing! Homemade sasauges, more fromage (cheese) than you could imagine, homemade dinner creations, the freshest seafood, fragnant soaps, and every type of scarf you could dream up. This market was no less fantastic.

I also got to go to an accordion concert! This town is full of music and people that want to share their music. This was quite the excitement of the day.

In a surprising twist, I fell in love with a town called Saint-Aubin-d'Aubigne. I decided to stay in a year-round campground with a POND! There are two trails set up around this town, a shorter and a longer one, that allow you to see the town on foot and explore the major historical and architectural achievements! This is my type of exploring and I decided to take a chance on this.

The long hike (the one I chose to do) had its inagural "walk" on September 20, 2009. Here is an exerpt from the brochure I recieved,

"From Saint Aubin, the group found Mr. Ternay commented that the visit of the park of Saint Aubin d'Aubigne. Quelques bonnes foulées après (!), l'arrivée à Saint Médard vers midi a été l'occasion de rentrer dans l' église de Saint-Médard et d'y découvrir des trésors et l'Histoire des lieux. After some good strides (!), Arriving at about noon St. Medard was the opportunity to return to the church of St. Medard and discover the treasures and history of the place. Vers 13h, la convivialité du groupe s'est accentué lors de la pause pique-nique au bord de l' étang d'Aubigné . To 13h, the friendliness of the group became more pronounced during lunch picnic on the banks of the pond Aubigne. La reprise des sentiers a permis de trouver quelques vieilles pierres enfouies et bien cachées, celles du château féodal d'Aubigné. The recovery of the trails have identified a few old stones buried and well hidden, those of the feudal castle of Aubigny. Encore sous le charme des anciennes demeures de ce village, un petit chemin a mené les radonneurs dans les jardins du château de la Magnanne . Still under the charm of old houses in this village, a small path led the radonneurs in the gardens of the castle Magnanni. Enfin, le retour dans la campagne encore verdoyante de ce mois de septembre a été l'occasion de prendre un bon bol d'air ! Finally, returning to the campaign still green for the month of September was the opportunity to take a breath of fresh air!"

Camping was delightful. There was sparse wooden structures that I used as a tent. My bedroll was not nearly fluffy enough for my taste, but I figured I could do anything for one night. The night was surprisingly warm. There were some locals camping out nearby and they invited me to dinner. The pond has a rich supply of fish and they showed me how to de-bone and grill it on their little grill-that-could. We shared two bottles of Saint-Aubin wine, the grape varieties that come out of this area are Chardonnay and Pinot Grigot. I'm not sure what to think of the Chardonnay, but the Pinot was delightful. Tomorrow morning I will pack up and head to Rennes. I will leave you with this expression that I learned from my new friends,

"L'amour est essentiel dans la vie!"

Mont-Saint-Michel

Sorry, readers its been so long since I have written.  I missed my train heading out of town, then the country went on strike protesting the new pension reform bill.  Recently, the French government has been making some unwanted changes.  First, they are raising the retirement age from 60-62 and they also want to make other changes to the pension system.  Students, workers and other countrymen don’t agree with this and in France it is a suitable and common protest to go on strike.  Strikes such as this commonly disrupt the transportation systems, making people pay attention to their plight. 

I saw on the CNN website that these strikes cost the country 200-400 million dollars a day!  It was a strange but empowering experience to witness this. 

Now, about Mont-Saint-Michel.

Mont-Saint-Michel is a tiny monastic commune of France in the Normandy region.  It is an island that hugs the coastline and is connected to the coast by a land bridge (now an actual road).  According to Wikipedia, it has a population of only 41.  However, it is the second most visited place in France after the Eiffel Tower.

 

1This is Mont-Saint-Michel after dark.  You can see the coastal waters surrounding it.

            

    In its fascinating history, Mont-Saint-Michel has roots in Roman, Norman, English and French cultures through repeated conquering. 

                On my visit to the monastery, I saw an unmeasureable amount of lambs and sheep grazing on the coasts.  Upon inquiring, I learned that the tides had created salt marshes that gave the sheep an distinct flavor and making it a local delicacy.  I stopped in Pontorson, France, at Les Relais Gormand for a bite of this mystery, called aagneau de pré-salé (salt meadow lamb).

2Salt marshes

3

               

4Meal with salt lamb

In France, many of their Gothic cathedrals are named Notre-Dame.  In Portorson, they have their own Notre Dame cathedral, the Notre-Dame de Portorson.

When things died down, I had to figure out where I wanted to go next.  I dream of seeing the Norman beaches of D-day, exploring the Bretagne culture and history, seeing the beautiful metropolis of Paris…the list goes on and on.  I heard from a local that the south of France is magnificent.  I think I am going to head toward Grenoble, which is kind of south-east France.  I’m not sure where exactly my travels will take me, but putting one foot in front of another, I will let my impulses, fancies and desires be the deciding factor.  My one constancy will be to finish in the French Alps, renting a bike and knowing the details of the herculean, snowy faces. 

Tomorrow morning, I will load up my pack and place on thumb in the wind, looking for a kind soul to carry me towards my next destination.

Bonjour!

Welcome to my blog!  I am in an online class learning to speak, read and write French while exploring the culture and people behind the romantic language.  As a way to explore the country, we are assigned to keep a blog of our adventures overseas.

This is my attempt to explore the brilliant country of France as honestly as I can.  The catch--I am in a town in the Western United States of America, and won't be over the Atlantic Ocean any time soon.  So instead, I am going to virtually explore the French land.  Every other week, I will travel to a new place within 80 km, visiting landmarks, restaurants, tourist sites, performances, sporting events, and anything else equally interesting.
 

To start my trip, I am going to go to a place called Mont-Saint-Michel on the North/Central coast of the Celtic Sea.  This is a ethereal, mystical haven and I can't wait to get started on my journey!
This abbaye is where I will take my first steps on discovering France.  Keep checking back as I share my stories, pictures and catastrophes!

Bienvenue!