{"id":1850,"date":"2015-06-09T21:57:50","date_gmt":"2015-06-10T01:57:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maureensmusings.ca\/?p=1850"},"modified":"2015-06-28T20:03:17","modified_gmt":"2015-06-29T00:03:17","slug":"france-2015-brittany-monday-tuesday-june-8-9-our-little-sojourn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maureensmusings.ca\/?p=1850","title":{"rendered":"France 2015 \u2013 Brittany \u2013 Monday & Tuesday, June 8 & 9 \u2013 Our Little Sojourn"},"content":{"rendered":"

(WARNING:\u00a0 We did a lot over these 2 days so if you plan to read this all in one sitting, grab a favourite beverage and get comfy.)<\/em><\/p>\n

When we first started planning this vacation months back, I had mentioned an interest in visiting one of the Channel Islands, specifically Guernsey as my favourite book is the Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society (which I\u2019ve read 5 times in approx the same number of years and given as a gift to a few others).\u00a0 Jan has also read the book and Peter was interested in the history (the Channel Islands were the only UK land occupied by the Germans in WW2) so our intent was to take a side trip to Guernsey.\u00a0 Last week, Tuesday to be exact, I got serious and started making real plans, only to discover that 1) Guernsey is further away so Jersey would be more likely; 2) the ferry from St. Malo to Jersey is quite costly; 3) official Channel Island websites promote \u201cfun\u201d things to do with the family that really didn\u2019t interest us; 4) we would have to use British Pound currency; 5) we would have to drive on the left\/wrong side of the road.\u00a0 All these considered, I started looking elsewhere and changed our plans.\u00a0 Fortunately, there was no dissension from the others\u2026<\/p>\n

Yesterday, Monday, we piled into Peter\u2019s rental, along with our overnight bags, and headed east along the St. Malo Bay coast, back to Mont Saint Michel.\u00a0 Of course we had to do this again, as it was a MUST for J&P.\u00a0 Besides, walking all those stairs is a great way to exercise off all the food we\u2019ve been eating \ud83d\ude42\u00a0 As I\u2019ve already been lost for words once before about this magnificent historical site, I\u2019ll let the pictures do the talking again but will add that the temperature was a bit warmer this time and we brought sandwiches and had our lunch outside the abbey doors before heading in for the second half of the facility tour.<\/p>\n

\"untitled-0380\"\u00a0\u00a0 <\/a>\"untitled-0367\"\u00a0\u00a0 <\/a>\"untitled-0353\"<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 \"untitled-0012\"\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0 \"untitled-0349\"\u00a0\u00a0 <\/a>\"untitled-0096\"<\/a> \"untitled-0066\" \u00a0<\/a> \"untitled-0077\"<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 \"untitled-0032\"\u00a0\u00a0 \"untitled-0085\"\u00a0\u00a0 <\/a>\"untitled-0097\"<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 <\/a>\"untitled-0150\"\u00a0\u00a0 <\/a>\"untitled-0098\"<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 \"untitled-0139\"<\/a> \u00a0 <\/a>\"untitled-0115\"<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 \"untitled-0191\"<\/a>\"untitled-0167\"\u00a0\u00a0 <\/a>\"untitled-0162\"\u00a0\u00a0 <\/a>\"untitled-0194\"<\/a>\"untitled-0172\"\u00a0\u00a0 <\/a>\"untitled-0175\"<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 <\/a>\"untitled-0179\"<\/a>\"untitled-0221\"\u00a0\u00a0 <\/a>\"untitled-0181\"\u00a0\u00a0 <\/a>\"untitled-0236\"<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 <\/a>\"untitled-0198\"\u00a0\u00a0 <\/a>\"untitled-0217\"\u00a0\u00a0 <\/a>\"untitled-0239\"<\/a>\"untitled-0247\"\u00a0\u00a0 <\/a>\"untitled-0256\"\u00a0\u00a0 <\/a>\"untitled-0261\"<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 <\/a>\"untitled-0265\"\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/a>\"untitled-0277\"<\/a>\"untitled-0127\"\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/a>\"untitled-0118\"<\/a>\u00a0 \"untitled-0119\" \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/a>\"untitled-0311\"<\/a> \"untitled-0336\" \u00a0 <\/a>\"untitled-0341\"\u00a0\u00a0 <\/a>\"untitled-0337\"<\/a>\u00a0 \"untitled-0342\"<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 \"untitled-0344\"<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 \"untitled-0348\"<\/a>\u00a0 \"untitled-0350\" \u00a0 <\/a>\"untitled-0358\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Instead of returning home like we had done the first time, I had made a reservation at a little hotel in Dinan, 30 minutes back from Mont Saint Michel, called Hotel de la Porte St. Malo.\u00a0 It was recommended in my travel book \u201cBackroads of France\u201d, and supported by very favourable reviews in TripAdvisor.\u00a0 It was a little gem, just outside the fortification walls of Dinan, at a very reasonable cost. With only 17 rooms, one might call it a boutique hotel (without the boutique pricing).<\/p>\n

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We checked in around 6, then had drinks in one of their little gardens tucked into a quiet corner of their property.<\/p>\n

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Our hotel owner recommended 3 restaurants inside the town walls.\u00a0 We chose #2 \u2013 Restaurant de la Mere Pourcel \u2013 which served more traditional French food.\u00a0 It was located within one of those ancient timber houses that looks like it\u2019s going to fall over any minute.\u00a0 Fortunately for us, it remained standing throughout an excellent meal.\u00a0 I was excited to have Steak Tartare, common in France.\u00a0 It was very good, although I can still remember another occasion in Canada that I prefer.\u00a0 Because we didn\u2019t have to drive \u2013 and I\u2019m usually the DD \u2013 I was able to indulge in a little more wine than usual, which also meant I was asleep within 5 minutes of falling into bed.\u00a0 It was a bit of a restless sleep, though.\u00a0 Despite being totally thrilled with the crisp cotton bedding, the duvet was integrated into the top sheet and, throughout the night, I was either perfectly cosy, or too hot, or too cold if I stuck my feet and\/or arms out.\u00a0 I survived.<\/p>\n

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This morning, Tuesday, started in the quaint dining room with quite the cross selection of goodies for breakfast \u2013 lots of breads, cheeses, fruits, yogurts, cereals, juices, teas, coffee.\u00a0 Our total bill, including room, stay tax, 2 glasses of wine, and 2 breakfasts came to 103.70 euros (about $145C).<\/p>\n

Dinan is a very old, quaint town, with lots of history and lots of character.\u00a0 One of the entrances to the ramparts is just inside the gate, literally a 2 minute walk from the hotel (and our car).\u00a0 We spent a good amount of time wandering a section of the ramparts, marvelling at the structure and the homes within the walls, then hung around a very pretty garden while Jan and Peter took refuge from that wind in the cathedral.<\/p>\n

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Dinan is also not very big, and we were into the centre of the old town on the other side of the cathedral.\u00a0 There is an ancient clock tower that we could have ascended, for a fee, which we all decided to pass on.\u00a0 While J&P were in a couple of shops, we stumbled across a very stately looking gentleman playing a Hurdy-Gurdy<\/a>. Fascinating instrument<\/a> (we didn\u2019t know what it was, he had to tell us).<\/p>\n

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The last part of our side trip was a visit to St. Malo, another fortified town directly on the coast, about another 30 minutes from Dinan. Steve and I really liked Dinan, and there was more to see according to our travel book, so maybe we\u2019ll come back next week.<\/p>\n

The build-up for St. Malo is extensive and everyone who knows about it says you should visit.\u00a0 I hate the expression \u201cbeen there, done that\u201d but, I\u2019ve been and I\u2019ve done.\u00a0 Yes, it\u2019s impressive and yes, it\u2019s chock full of history (most was destroyed during WW2 and it has been rebuilt).\u00a0 But it\u2019s also so commercial and jammed with tourists (there are 25 hotels within those walls!!!).\u00a0 But we were there and you can\u2019t say you\u2019ve done it unless you actually have.\u00a0 We immediately headed up to the ramparts because that\u2019s where you get the absolute best impression of the overall size of this infamous walled town, its fortifications (both at that site and offshore), and, of course, the view of the ocean (which is always so appealing no matter where you\u2019re standing).\u00a0 And we had to be able to say we visited Jacques Cartier\u2019s homeland and statue\u2026<\/p>\n

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By the time we were tired and hungry it was 4pm and, as usual, couldn\u2019t find anything to eat.\u00a0 We drove straight back and ended up at our favourite creperie at our beach.\u00a0 We can always count on a good meal, good service, and beautiful view at Quai de l\u2019Iles.<\/p>\n

That was a very excellent 2-day sojourn and no one mentioned the Channel Islands at all.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(WARNING:\u00a0 We did a lot over these 2 days so if you plan to read this all in one sitting, grab a favourite beverage and get comfy.) When we first started planning this vacation months back, I had mentioned an Read More …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[68,76,3,10,75,77],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-brittany","category-dinan","category-france","category-friends","category-mont-saint-michel","category-st-malo"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maureensmusings.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maureensmusings.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maureensmusings.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maureensmusings.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maureensmusings.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1850"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/maureensmusings.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1850\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2023,"href":"https:\/\/maureensmusings.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1850\/revisions\/2023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maureensmusings.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maureensmusings.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maureensmusings.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}