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For those seeking a break from the kitchen the Cotes d'Armor, from which originates the dish 'Lobster Armorican' known to many as 'Lobster American', will feed your food fantasies and fetishes.
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The walled city of St Malo is a must with its chic shops and bustling boulevards. The street artists are reminiscent of Montmartre in Paris and you could visit a different cafe or restaurant every day for a year. But let's buy a 'sandwich' -half a baguette filled with local cheese and salad, a filled croissant and a pain au raisin and stroll along the ramparts that circle the ancient city centre separating city and sea, houses and harbour. The St Malo aquarium is great for a rainy day - whatever one of those is! A short ferry ride from St Malo across the Rance estuary is Dinard which retains the dignity earned as a favourite seaside haunt for the English during the Belle Epoque. For many years the northern coast of Brittany was more accessible by steamer from the English coast than by road from Paris. The architecture reflects its Englishness and those halcyon years built a great mutual respect between the Bretons and the Anglo Saxons that to this day ensures the friendliest welcome in France for English speaking people. However, all visitors are made welcome and leave with heavy hearts. Stretching westwards along the coast from Dinard are the bucket and spade towns of St Servan and St Lunaire with some of the finest beaches this side of anywhere. They have borrowed some of the Englishness of Dinard but all these towns are as French in essence as Maurice Chevalier. St Jacut de la Mer defies the passage of time on a finger of land pointing proudly northwards and firmly away from the twenty first century. If you are seeking the France of Victor Hugo or Maupassant look no further, you might expect to meet Jean Valjean around any corner. Few lazy pleasures surpass stroll through the Friday market set amongst the narrow streets of centuries old buildings. |
St Briac is a town of two halves. The first is a bucket and spade seaside resort, set amongst the harbours, inlets and islands of a breathtaking coastline. Here the 'Dinard Golf' course and strenuous cliff paths overlook rugged, rocky coves and splendid sandy beaches. But travel inland to the true St Briac and you will find - Clochmerle. The town square reflects a memory of France that belies the hypermarkets and aoutoroutes of today. Quaint local shops with friendly service remind us that shopping used tobe an interactive experience. Pay a little more but with a smile.
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The beaches of the Emerald coast rank amongst the finest in the world. Sweeping flat sands that slope safely to a warm sea ideal for family days are interspersed with sandy coves and rocky inlets. Cliff paths meander for miles above crashing waves, somnolent sun worshippers and sandcastle architects. The massive tides that twice daily wash the beaches clean and nurture the mussel beds, leave exciting rock pools teeming with marine life for the amateur naturalist. The beaches are ideal for surfing, windsurfing and land yachts replace the sunbathers at windy times. On some beaches swim wear is optional! Enjoy day trips to marvel at the Mont St Michel - curse its commercialism, Rambling in Rennes or shopping in St Brieuc. Inland are lakes, hills and forests where Asterix and Obelix once hunted wild boar. |
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