TWO walled cities in one day!!

The lovely village of Rohan; some flowers and ducks we found; views of the port de Dinan from our hotel!

Sunday, May 24, 2009 – Late!

Bonjour! Was wondering why I was feeling like I’d already written today – and it’s because I HAVE! So…I’ll try to keep this short, with lots of pictures!

Up about 7:30 and out about an hour later, deciding that rather than circling the peninsula, we’d cut cross country and head to Dinan, our stop for the next two nights. Have read that much of the end of the peninsula, near Brest, was pretty much wiped out during WWII, and that most of the rebuilding was done in a modern style – ie. Not much to see. (Of course if this isn’t correct, somebody, please let us know!)

Took a winding route to Dinan – and drove through some absolutely stunning little towns! Rohan in particular attracted our attention. Lovely, neat and trim houses and farms; nice size with just the amenities one needs – patisserie, banque and restaurants! From there, dropped down into Dinan, which is on the Rance River (which is yet another very large and lovely river that we’ve never heard of!). Our hotel, Le Jerzual, is right at the port, on the quiet side of a small stone bridge. It’s absolutely stunning! Being a beautiful, warm, sunny Sunday, lots of people were out and about. Dropped the luggage at the hotel, as our room wasn’t ready, and then decided to drive UP into the town, rather than walk it … (must be getting lazy in our old age; the steps up remind me a lot of our morning walk in Tucson!) Found lots of parking in the central square, and headed out looking for 1) lunch, 2) the wall.

Found lunch first – a WONDERFUL restaurant called La Lycorne (unicorn). Most of the restaurants in this part of France specialize in crepes or galettes (both pancake-affairs) but this restaurant also specialized in moules (mussels). In fact, there were something like 25 different ways to have them! I had mine with a stone-ground mustard sauce; R had his with tarragon – both were delicious, and came with side orders of French fries, as well as bread. Well…obviously a successful meal when we both think we “won” on who has the best dish! Did trade a few moules back and forth, but really enjoyed mine, that’s for sure. Followed this up with a tarte tatin (warm apple tart) with vanilla ice cream for R, and two boules (balls) of ice cream – chocolat, which was GREAT and mint chocolate, which wasn’t – WAY too minty for me!
Also had a pichet of wonderful French red wine.

From the restaurant, we walked through town and onto a portion of the town walls. Lovely views down the river; beautiful day! Meandered around the walls and streets a bit, then headed back to the hotel and to our room. Room 108, ground floor, little balcony overlooking the pool. Quite peaceful until some kids arrived, as definitely a pool kind of day! Oh well!

Decided to head to St. Malo, about 25 km down the River Rance for dinner. A bit of a traffic jam getting there, but between Emily (the GPS) and Robert, we managed brilliantly, thank you very much! Drove through the modern city of St. Malo, and to the port and the old part of the city – more walls!! Wow! Two walled cities to add to our collection in one day!! An absolutely perfect time of day to visit (unless you’re a shopper, as most of the shops were closed!) – walked around a bit and then decided on a small Italian restaurant, as we weren’t particularly hungry; didn’t want a BIG meal! R ordered pizza Marguerita (plain pizza with cheese and sauce). I ordered my old standby, spaghetti Bolognaise. Both dishes excellent, and we were full without being stuffed!

From the restaurant, found the town walls and headed UP for more views from the top. St. Malo’s walls go on a long way, and they are really beautifully maintained! We walked along the sea front, overlooking sandy beaches and some of the small islands that dot the harbor entrance (although whether they are man-made or original, we don’t know!) Finally made it back to the car and headed to Dinan. Arrived at 9:44 p.m. and believe it or not, the sun was JUST setting! And there are still almost four weeks to go before the days start getting shorter! Just magic!

Will close now so R can download the pictures, and I can get this posted. Our plan for tomorrow is to get up and out early (by 7 a.m.) so that we can see the Rose Granite coast and hopefully get a birding trip out to Sept-Iles to see some puffins!!

So take care! More later!
Much love,
m