Destination Dinan and St Malo

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Wednesday 27 May 2015

Each day as we turn on the GPS we have these thoughts about Polly, our live in guide. We are sure she says, "Good morning, what wonderful place am I taking you to today?" It might even be, "Oh no not you two again, thought I left you at Saint-Michel". Those who know us know we are not GPS savvy so all sorts of wonderful experiences happen. We ended up in the psychiatric hospital in Bayeux on one of our trips. Where to next? We just have to remember Polly is a machine and has no feelings. So today we start our day in St Malo.

Shorts or jeans? The sun was shining and it felt good so shorts it was going to be. We seem to be having a great spell of weather so off to the seaside. The old town of St Malo was almost totally rebuilt after WWII. One of the benefits of this reconstruction would have been the services. In some old towns all the modern services are attached to the outside of very old buildings. This is not the case in St Malo. We chose a well located creperie for our lunch. The warm sun overhead, a pleasant group of French tourists beside us, and a delicious sweet crepe for the main course. Life is bliss. Walking the seaward ramparts gave us views out over la Manche. The tide was coming in and the blue colours were magnificent. We chose a perfect day for the visit.

On our way to Dinan we drove through Dinard. The short route took us over tidal control gates. The tides in this area are massive with a difference of anything up to 12 metres between high and low tide. Without these control gates the effect on the river estuary would be huge. We felt Dinard was worth the drive through but our other main destination was Dinan, a small port on the river Ranche.

Arriving in Dinan we stopped briefly at the Tourist Office for the all important map of the town highlighting the walking tour. Dinan is a walled town and restoration work is underway on the wall making a rampart walk impossible. Not to worry, many more sights to see. So many cobbled streets. There are two large churches in the town, both built about the same time. There obviously wasn't a shortage of labour in those days. Also there must have been enough parishioners to fill both, perhaps they had staggered services.

Everyone who visits Dinan wants to visit the postcard setting of the port. This means walking down either a steep cobbled street or take a zigzag track. The river port is every bit the wonderful setting as shown in all the travel books. Today the port is home to cruising yachts. As this part of the river is tidal the control gates must be really important to this area. The climb back up the cobbled road tested both lungs and tired leg muscles. Later we had to drive down part of this road because of a deviation. Cobbled roads certainly test the car's suspension. As we were finishing our tour we had a wonderful conversation with a couple from Belgium, who had no map and couldn't find their carpark, and a lovely French lady. We found our car, not sure about the Belgians, and the French lady went home with a tale to tell. 500,000 tourists visit each year. What it must be like at the height of the season. We must have been there during a quiet time.

The drive back was uneventful until it was time to get out of the car. Oh boy, old muscles aren't what they use to be. Perhaps a zimmer frame needs to be packed next time. The goods news is all was back to normal after a great sleep.

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Photos

St Malo
A street scene with a happy traveller

St Malo
View from the ramparts towards Grande and Petit Be

St Malo
Along the ramparts

Dinan
One of many narrow streets in the old town

Dinan
Postcard setting of the port from the town's wall

Dinan
Looking down the walk back up the hill