A drive through north-west France

[RooFlyer]

Looks great, we also loved Josselin, Rochefort and Vannes. First half of June - looks like a relatively small number of tourists thankfully (except at Mont St Michel)?

Exactly right. I think I’ve timed it pretty well. The lack of tourist is especially appreciated in parking situations.

Timed that well except we’re going to have another heat wave over the next week. 41° in Rouen for 2 days, where I’m heading today.

I hope you took time from sightseeing to have one of the famous Mont St Michel omelettes!

To be honest just anbout every eatery looked terribly touristy and not very appealing including the one I went to. There were a couple of up-market ones but I couldn’t be bothered fussing in them.

 

[ellen10]

Brings back lots of great memories of our stay on the Mont. Indeed a highlight!
When we were there it was king tide time, and amazing how fast it came in.
Thanks for sharing the photos and we did have one of the famous omelettes @TheRealTMA , delicious.

 

[TheRealTMA]

Exactly right. I think I’ve timed it pretty well. The lack of tourist is especially appreciated in parking situations.

Timed that well except we’re going to have another heat wave over the next week. 41° in Rouen for 2 days, where I’m heading today.


To be honest just anbout every eatery looked terribly touristy and not very appealing including the one I went to. There were a couple of up-market ones but I couldn’t be bothered fussing in them.

The whole place is a tourist trap, but the omelettes are real.

 

[RooFlyer]

The guise at the Mont said that although the archives had been destroyed by a WW2 bomb, some ancient manuscripts remain and are on display at Avranches, nearby. So off I went - without checking and when I got there, it was closed.
However I discovered that Avranches paid an important role in WW2.

Operation Cobra was launched after some failures in the surrounding areas to break through the German lines.

By 31 July, XIX Corps had destroyed the last forces opposing the First Army, which emerged from the bocage and liberated Avranches. Reinforcements were moved west by Field Marshal Günther von Kluge and employed in various counterattacks, the largest of which, Unternehmen Lüttich (Operation Liège), was launched on 7 August between Mortain and Avranches. Although this led to the bloodiest phase of the battle, it was mounted by already exhausted and understrength units and was a costly failure. On 8 August, troops of the newly activated Third United States Army captured the city of Le Mans, formerly the German 7th Army headquarters. Operation Cobra transformed the high-intensity infantry combat of Normandy into rapid maneuver warfare and led to the creation of the Falaise pocket and the loss of the German strategic position in northwestern France.

Advancing southward along the coast, later that day, the U.S. VIII Corps seized the town of Avranches—described by historian Andrew Williams as "the gateway to Brittany and southern Normandy"—and by 31 July XIX Corps had thrown back the last German counterattacks after fierce fighting, inflicting heavy losses in men and tanks.[93] The U.S. advance was now relentless, and the First Army was finally free of the bocage.

The U.S. advance following Cobra was extraordinarily rapid. Between 1 and 4 August, seven divisions of Patton's Third Army had swept through Avranches and over the bridge at Pontaubault into Brittany.

General Patton is remembered in Patton Place in Avranches

 

[RooFlyer]

A few more of Mont St Michel from my Canon camera.



St Michael



The sleigh used to bring supplies up to the abbey, powered by prisoners in the 'hamster wheel during the Revolution.

 

[RooFlyer]

The next day's drive was from Mont St Michel to Dinan, not far away, but I went via Cancale and St Malo.



Cancale for the oysters. It was misty drizzle, and a bit early, so at 10:30am I didn't catch the place at its best.







Nevertheless the market was there and most of them were up and selling.





I chose 1/2 doz of # 2 size of rocks







Delicious and demolished quite quickly.



And the shells just go on the beach

 

[GDSman]

To be honest just anbout every eatery looked terribly touristy and not very appealing including the one I went to. There were a couple of up-market ones but I couldn’t be bothered fussing in them.

Your great photos of Mont St Michel brought back some lovely memories from 35yrs ago. I spent a chunk of every Monday (in the touring season) for 5 yrs in the 1990s there as a Cosmos Tour Guide. Used to take the tourists to La Sirene (featured in your photos) for a galette or crepe - pretty touristy but tasty and fun nonetheless...

 

[RooFlyer]

I'd heard a lot about St Malo and was considering deleting my overnight in Dinan tonight for a stop in St Malo and in the end I'm glad I didn't. Not that St Malo was bad, but Dinan was very good.

The day was still dreary when I arrived to my reserved underground Q-Park space (didn't need it - virtually empty), but improved through the morning and early afternoon. I walked the old town and had lunch.

Port near where I parked and the chateau.





City gate





House 'houssaye', from the 15th century.







Walking the ramparts, first built late 17th century, raised in the early 18th.





Fort National from the late 17th century. Offshore looks pretty treacherous.





I think this one is Fort La Conchee, similar age.

 

[RooFlyer]

I was looking forward to another feed of mussels but it was here that I discovered they were out of season - a couple of restaurants had signs that they were closed until the season opened (next month). So I settled for a Breton galette - a pancake made with buckwheat flour (making it dark). In this case a galette saucisse.



Interesting, but I'm not going to rave about it. May as well mention here that throughout my trip, restaurant servers have been uniformly polite, usually breaking into English as soon as they hear my French . But in my defence I have now reached the stage where I can buy the morning's coffee and pastry in French and do most of my checking-in in French. Small steps ... But it is a bit annoying when someone address me in English before I open my mouth .



Cathedral of St Vincent was begun in the 12th century and extended from the 13th to 18th century and was extensively repaired after WW2 damage. The stained glass is modern.



It has an odd stepping-down form. Parts of the nave - shown here - and some other parts date from the earliest period.







The cathedral holds the tomb of the French explorer Jacques Cartier who was born in St Malo on 31 December 1491 and died there on 1 September 1557. He received a blessing from the Bishop here before departing on his 1535 voyage to Canada.




The Cartier bit probably explains this:



and Renee Levesque!

 

[FlyingFiona]

galette - a pancake made with buckwheat flour (making it dark)

Yes, hence the name Galette de Sarrasin (= Saracen in English). Doubt they'd get away with that name now if it were in English...

 

[RooFlyer]

Onwards to Dinan, a lovely medieval town atop a hill. Stayed at the Mercure Dinan Port Le Jerzual, on the Rance River, described here in the Accor thread..

Lovely location. These views just in front of the hotel. The aqueduct is late 19th century.





The town is on top of the hill off to the right - but its a lot higher than you can see.



From the hotel, Google maps shows a deceptively easy walk into town - it hides the hill climb!



But the walk is very pretty. These pics taken in the evening when I walked up the second time, to dinner and most of the crowd had dispersed. Not many people even then - and a high proportion of Brits.

This is the curved street just below 'Le Logis', above, starting at the bottom. The Rue du Jerzual







Until you reach one of the 14th century Porte du Jerzual near the top.





And then almost the final stretch to the top.

 

[BriarFlyer]

Despite the hill climb, I love the look of that street in Dinan. Looking forward to hearing more about your stay here.