May 2, 2022 – Distance on the GR – 4 km from Plage Bréhec to Plage Bonaparte (plus 3 more because I got off trail!)
On my last day in Binic I set out to complete a 4 km section of the GR 34 that I had omitted because of the bus schedules, and I had to complete it in the opposite direction of travel, again in order to fit in with the buses. This was the first real morning with rain but it was very light and by the time the bus arrived at Plage Bréhec it had ceased altogether but the skies remained dark and gray. Again, Plage Bréhec was all but deserted as I arrived at 8:10 a.m.
Of course the trail started with stairs up, but it was worth it to rise up above the sea,
with views down to Bréhec.
Somewhere though, after these two sections, I took a wrong turn and got off of my GR and onto another one!
I ended up walking away from the coast along some country roads. The scenery was lovely, but I kept getting further away from the coast.
Each time that I was ready to pull out my guide book I would see another GR marking of the red and white stripes and thought, ”Well, I guess this is the way,” until finally I thought, ”This can’t be the way!” Both GR’s travelled to Plage Bréhec and I had veered off on the wrong one. I had done at least an extra 1.5 km and now had to retrace my steps! Grrr. At least I’d seen some pretty countryside and another ring-necked pheasant! Soon, I corrected my error and was back at the clifftop trail and with more views back to Plage Bréhec.
I felt a little sad as I walked along because this was to be the last of my cliff walking with wonderful views like these.
And, sure enough I arrived almost too quickly at Plage Bonaparte after my 4 km on the trail were done. Here is the view of the parking lot, with the tunnel and ramp down to the beach beyond it, and there was one lonely vehicle in the parking lot.
My pants and boots were soaked from the wet trailside grasses, the wind was blowing quite cold, and I had a good two hours before my bus would arrive 2 km away at Dernier Sou (because I’d missed the earlier bus because I got off trail.) Hmmm, what to do? Go right away to Dernier Sou and wait at the bus stop by the road, or spend some time at the beach? I decided to head down to the beach and as I neared the VW van the owner was arriving at his vehicle. I asked which way he was headed and thankfully he was headed in the right direction and offered to give me a ride as far as central Plouha where there was a bus stop and a wonderful café with croissants and pain au chocolat. Saved! Everyone here that I have met has been so kind!
I returned to Binic and after a little rest in my apartment I decided to to photograph some of the older buildings in the town that I had noticed on a walk the previous evening on my restful Sunday. I headed towards the marina over the pedestrian bridge,
and then visited the large L’Eglise Notre-Dame de Bon Voyage, built between 1821 and 1930 in a neo-classical style.
From the interior it was very obvious that concern for the fate of mariners and fishermen was paramount here. There were statues of Saint-Julien, patron saint of boatmen, and Saint Clément, patron saint of navigators. There was also the boat and the statue of Mary that I had seen at the procession on the beach the day before, as well as a memorial to the captain and 27 men of the ”Maria” who perished in 1901 in the Icelandic fishery.
Exiting the church, I headed up a nearby street that had many older houses along it, all quite distinct and interesting-looking with many different kinds of building stones and bricks used, and lots of evidence of ”patching up” over time.
Here are a few more,
And this is what can happen in the middle of town in Bretagne when the vegetation takes over a house!
I loved my week-long stay in Binic and regretted a bit not having explored the town more. But, there’s only so much time in a day, as we all know. I returned to the beach for my last few photos of the day and said a quiet goodbye to the lovely seaside town of Binic.
April 29, 2022 – Distance: 15 km from Plage Bréhec to Kerity*
My third day of walking on the GR 34 was another exceptional day of walking. There were many similarities with my first two days, but also some differences and a few surprises. I took the bus to Bréhec and all was quiet in the small beach community when I arrived at 8:10 in the morning. This beach is where Saint Brieuc and the first of a wave of emigrants from Britain landed in the 5th century. It was the beginning of Brittany’s Celtic heritage.
Within a few minutes I had found the trail and was beginning the climb up above the beach.
When I reached the top, the trail veered left and I was very surprised to suddenly find myself at a paved road. Two gentlemen were passing as I arrived and we talked briefly, but their energetic collies were eager to get going so off they went ahead of me.
I didn’t see anyone else until a good two hours later! The road continued for about a kilometre or two up on a moor-like plateau that was densely covered in gorse. Here’s a view looking back. The patch of forest in the distance is where I met the road.
The ocean was still in view on my right, but a little further away than I had become accustomed to.
At one point, the route left the road and became a trail again and I was approaching my first descent of the day down to a beach. I could clearly see the ”Z” of the trail rising on the opposite hill. Yikes!
Here is a zoomed-in view. Double yikes!
I made the descent and rose to the other side for this view back to the ”Z” that I had come down.
My knees were still feeling sore from the previous days’ walking but otherwise I was feeling really good as I continued along back on the clifftop. I think it takes several days to really get into the rhythm and flow of a long-distance walk, and I had a strong feeling that this was what I was meant to be doing, and that this was the only place to be at this point in time.
The top of the cliff continued to remind me of a moor and I even began to see small patches of early-blooming heather in amongst the gorse and campion, as well as the purple button-like flowers that I had seen in Provence.
A left turn took me onto a very old cobbled track that soon brought me to another paved road. I certainly didn’t mind this road walking, free and easy up above the sea. As I stopped to look back, I felt amazed that I had come so far in three days and I was very grateful to be here.
A little further on, a trio of signs close to each other at a crossroads confirmed that I was on the right route, and the bench was a welcome place to sit for a few moments. The place names on the road signs are written in both French and Breton.
At the yellow GR signs, I left the road and was back on a clifftop trail,
and soon I arrived at quite the descent!
Stairs down this side, and then stairs up the other side.
And the next few down and ups were similar! Gone were the longer, gradual descents of the last two days. It was like a different trail designer had taken over here, perhaps an impatient one! Or, perhaps someone with long legs and strong knees. Oh well! At the bottom of the hill, a small stream crossed the path and led to a terraced beach of large cobbles.
I considered sitting on this peaceful beach for a while but then decided that it might be harder to go up the staircase after having had a rest. “Onward and upward,” I thought as I started the climb. About half way up, I turned to look back and I saw the first person that I’d seen in two hours. Can you see him half way down the stairs?
Back at the top, I continued along the trail towards the Pointe de Plouézec in the distance, with several more of the steep down and ups along the way.
After the Pointe de Plouézec, there was a longer descent which took me down to Port Lazo and from there the entire character of the trail changed. Before me was a giant bay at low tide and the tidal flats stretched for what seemed like miles. Port Lazo was busy with large tractors heading out onto the sand to load up great heavy wire cases of farmed oysters.
I had left the tallest sea cliffs in Brittany behind me and the trail would now travel a mere 20 metres or so above the sea for most of the rest of this day. But it was still a most wonderful trail!
The sea was always on my right and sometimes there were breaks in the trailside vegetation for full views out to the bay.
The next highlight of the trail was not a surprise for me as I had been eagerly expecting it. A short side trail led me up to the top of the hill and to the Moulin du vent a Craca which was built in 1844 and restored in 1995.
There was a picnic table onsite, and a sea view, so it was the perfect place for a good long rest and a good lunch. Refreshed and happy, I returned to the trail and as I travelled along there continued to be views out to busy tractors on the sand. There were acres and acres of oyster cases!
The trail itself continued to delight with me with its plant life, birds, bees and butterflies.**
In one area, I passed a community of plantains (which usually grow about as high as my knees) that grew as high as my chin!
The trail offered up several more surprises for me as I approached the end point of my walk at l’Abbaye de Beauport. Here was my first exciting view of the abbey from between a break in the trees.
The trail led out of the trees and crossed over a canal on a stone bridge. Here is the view looking inland,
and here is the path leading towards the abbey! It was lined with dark green grasses beside a pond filled with tall dried reeds that waved and rattled lightly in the breeze, and on the other side was a salt marsh where a small flock of wild Brant geese were feeding.
Wow. The wide bay, the quality of the air, the natural beauty and the sense of history at this place quite overwhelmed me! (Sadly, my pictures do very little justice to the specialness I saw and felt here.) As I looked at the beautiful ruins of l’Abbaye de Beauport, I felt very thankful that I would be returning tomorrow to visit the abbey before continuing on with my walk on the GR.
I began to feel very tired as I walked to the bus stop, but I was also feeling excited about returning tomorrow. The GR 34 had surprised me several times today, and I was looking forward to seeing what else the trail would have to offer in the days to come.
* You may have noted that I have a different start point on Day 3 than my end point on Day 2 and that is because of the buses. I had to skip a 4 km section of the trail but I was able to complete that section after the weekend when the bus schedule was in my favour.
**Here are some butterfly details for those who might be interested. I mostly saw some brown and orange butterflies that were very similar to a painted lady. I also saw several tiny lavender-coloured butterflies that were only about 2 cm across, and a very striking pale yellow butterfly with bright orange spots on the tips of its two front wings. Finally, there was one tiny butterfly with a very dark back, almost black, but when it folded up its wings it was grass-green and perfectly camouflaged as a piece of leaf. I was almost able to photograph it, but off it flew!
Distance: 12 km from Plage Saint-Marc to Plage Bonaparte, plus 1.5 km to access the trail from Tréveneuc and 2 km to access the bus at Dernier Sou
I headed out early for my second day of walking and on my way to the bus stop I passed the market square where merchants were setting up for Binic’s market day. I briefly considered not walking 15.5 km today to attend the market instead and have an easy afternoon, but the first day of walking had been so exceptional that I carried on with my plan, hoping that today would be the same. I arrived in Tréveneuc with its beautiful church,
and walked down a few quiet streets to access the path that would take me 1.5 km to the beach at Saint-Marc and back on the GR 34. The woodland path was so vibrant with new green growth and Spring flowers. “Where are all the rabbits?” I thought. (I had been wanting to see a rabbit since my walk between Vaisson La Romaine and La Costa). If I was a rabbit I would definitely live here.
At Saint-Marc beach, the trail quickly climbed up onto a headland and again my day was filled with cliff-top walking along headlands to rocky points and descents to long sandy beaches.
As I walked along, it was rewarding to look back at headlands that I’d traversed the day before, and ahead to the beaches and headlands to come.
The clifftop walking was fantastic with the ever-present wind, the views, the trail under foot, and the trailside vegetation of grasses, gorse and brambles, bright yellow and bi-coloured broom, dense patches of sea campion, and more.
Here is the view down to the small beach of Port Goret.
And here is the view over Le Palus, a large beach where a family of five on horseback cantered in a circuit the length of the wide sandy beach multiple times.
The descent down to this beach had been a long gradual one.
And that was the pattern on this day, with several long descents that swung inland to progress down a ravine to a cove or beach. The ravines were densely vegetated with tall trees, ivy, ferns, bluebells (and white bells) and countless other plants in every shade of green. Here the birds were very numerous, busy, and vocal in the tree tops.
Down at the beach of Le Palus, I walked to the water’s edge to watch a search and rescue team practice some manoeuvres in the strong surf.
This is the view looking back towards the distant shore.
I walked back to the buildings on the right side at the top of the beach to regain the trail, only to be confronted by this very steep beginning to the next ascent. It worked best to climb this staircase like a ladder! It was worth it though for the great view back down to the beautiful beach of Le Palus from the top,
as well as continuing great views of the trail itself and the terrain ahead.
Here’s an example, further along the trail, of my arrival at another wide ravine. I will descend heading inland (towards the left) and then rise up on the other side where you can see the trail cutting through the vegetation.
After that rise, there were more great views back,
and then forward to the Pointe le Pommier. It was truly spectacular and I was so happy to be walking here.
Beyond the next point there was this interesting cove at Gwin Zégal where boats were moored to tall posts sunk into the sandy beach. I wondered how long ago those posts had been installed, and who put them there!
Here’s another view back to Gwin Zégal from further along the cliff.
Soon I began to catch glimpses of my end point for the day, Plage Bonaparte. But first, there was another ravine to navigate and the ”up” section on this one was a very narrow footpath going pretty much straight up without a zig or a zag. A new kind of flower provided an excuse to stop for a few moments! (I think it’s time I learned how to take a picture of an ”up” that looks like it’s an ”up”!)
But again the climb was worth it to regain the cliff top,
and for the views of Plage Bonaparte as I drew nearer.
I began the long descent that would be my last on this day’s walk.
Access to the beach was through a tunnel below the parking area and then down the length of a concrete ramp. At the bottom of the ramp I plunked myself down on some rocks to rest my weary feet and knees and have my lunch.
There were a few people scattered here and there on the very big beach and soon an elderly gentleman of 76 years came by while I was having my rest and we chatted for a while. He had been digging for clams and had found oysters, clams and scallops to take home for a feast with his wife and his son and son’s family. He had a strong Breton accent and sometimes I didn’t understand him, and I’m sure that sometimes he didn’t understand what I said either with my Canadian accent and rudimentary French, but we smiled a lot and both enjoyed our conversation.
On the first two days of my walk on the GR 34 I have been alone most of the time which I love. I occasionally passed walkers who were out for a morning hike, some walking their dogs and some with binoculars for bird watching. I’ve also passed several couples with big backpacks obviously doing a multi-day walk on the GR. On my first day I had walked and chatted for a ways with a young woman who was doing a five day walk, and on this second day, as I was stopped half-way up a long incline to catch my breath, a young man with long legs, a big grin, and a backpack fully loaded for camping breezed by me with a cheery ”Bonjour” as if he was going downhill instead of up!
After walking 13.5 km, with a good amount of elevation gain and loss, I was feeling rather weary and I began to get chilled sitting on the rocks in the wind. I gathered my things, hoisted myself up, and decided to walk down to the water’s edge but suddenly it just seemed too far away so I stopped and took this photo instead, looking in the direction of travel and knowing that I would be traversing those next four headlands and beyond in the days to come.
For now though, I had two kilometres of road walking to do but thankfully it was a small and quiet country road with pretty views that helped to take my mind off of my now quite sore feet and knees.
I reached the bus stop at the small community of Dernier Sou, which translates to ”Last Penny”. There must certainly be a story that must be behind that name! I had to wait almost an hour but then the bus came and whisked me back to the comforts of my apartment in Binic. I was so happy that I had carried through with my plans because it had truly been another exceptional day of walking on the GR 34.
I arrived in Binic, settled into my wonderful third floor studio apartment with a view of the sea, and then headed out to explore the beach and port. The tide was way out which is typical of the beaches and bays on this coast. Saint Malo to the west has the highest tides in Europe and the water can rise 13 metres between low and high tide.
This coast is famous for the harvesting and cultivation of shellfish such as clams, mussels, oysters and scallops. As I got closer to the low tide line, the sand was peppered with clam holes and the evidence of marine worms.
Here is a view looking back towards the town. This is just one corner of a very big beach!
I walked towards one of the two long jetties that protect the harbour. There is a seaside outdoor pool here that must delight families during summer vacations, and I saw several more as I walked up the coast.
I walked out to the end of the first jetty to take this photo looking out to the lighthouse at the end of the second jetty. The surface of the beautiful green sea looks calm but up on the jetty the wind was blowing in strong gusts and I had a hard time steadying the camera!
I walked back down the length of the jetty and towards the second arm. To reach it I had to cross a little bridge above a lock. When boats want to enter the marina from the harbour, they need to use the lock and the bridge can be raised to allow sailboats with tall masts through.
I walked out onto the second arm towards the lighthouse. What a beautiful place on a beautiful day!
Back at the foot of the jetty there was a small rocky hill with this view over the jetty and harbour,
and this view of the next-over, gorgeous, beach.
The next day, I would be starting my walk onto and along that headland! Speaking of which, my path would start exactly here, with a somewhat daunting staircase – a portent of things to come!
I headed back towards town, but not before saying hello to two old friends on the rocks by the beach that I hadn’t seen since Northumberland, sea thrift and sea campion.
I walked back along the shops and restaurants that lined the marina and past the centre of town to a pedestrian bridge that led to a small civic park and a war memorial (each French town that I have visited has had one).
As well as the houses and yards being tidy and well-kept along this coast, the civic and public spaces have also been attractive and welcoming with gardens, benches, picnic tables, and other facilities for residents and tourists. My afternoon walk in Binic was certainly a wonderful introduction to my time here, and it had been exciting to see the beginning of the GR trail, despite it starting with stairs! I shopped for groceries for the week, did a load of laundry at the apartment, and perused my maps, guidebook, and bus schedules. I worried that I might not sleep well because I was so excited and nervous at the same time but I slept soundly (all that sea air!) and awoke early, ready to start my long distance walk!
Interruption: Yes, yes, I know – that was lots of text and way more than 6 photos. Oh well, I did say I would ”try”!
Second interruption: Feel free, if you like, to start a little drinking game each time I use the words ”beautiful” or ”wonderful” or ”lovely”. Warning: you will get tipsy very quickly! Don’t even try it with my exclamation marks!! (Dear Brent, you know who was famous for those.)
Day One on the GR 34
Distance: 13.5 km from Binic to Plage Saint Marc, plus 1.5 to access the bus at Tréveneuc back to Binic.
I awoke early and headed out to a sea that was gray this morning instead of green, and the wind was blowing strongly. The tide was way out and the boats in the harbour were sitting on the sand.
I climbed the staircase easily and quickly to rise above the beach and onto the trail which was a very pleasant surprise, a dirt path instead of an expected street. On my right was the sea and on my left was either a wild patch of vegetation or sometimes someone’s large and verdant back yard garden.
As I climbed higher, I had this view back towards the jetty. The wind was very evident as it pushed those waves toward the shore!
Soon I had left the houses and town behind me and new views opened up as I walked along the top of the headland.
This view back shows how the strong winds here affect the growth of the vegetation.
Below, on the rocky Pointe de Trouquetet, a cross was silhouetted against the sea, likely to memorialize mariners lost, or perhaps to help ensure a safe return.
I kept stopping to look at the beaches that stretched behind me and in front of me, and the trees on the clifftop trail offered a beauty of their own.
Sometimes the trail would veer a little more inland from the cliff edge and the vegetation on both sides of the sides of the trail would surround me. Here I enjoyed my first swath of bluebells and a leaning-over chestnut tree in bloom.
The birds were very busy and vocal in the trees and shrubs all along this trail, the wind was still blowing, and I was nothing short of exhilarated as I walked along! After 4.5 kilometres, the trail descended to the Plage des Godelins. For some reason the panorama function on my camera is not working so here is my sad attempt to capture the expanse of the beach.
The trail rose up again to travel along another headland and soon there were views down to the next beach, the Plage du Moulin, and beyond it to the long arms of the harbour jetties at St-Quay-Portrieux.
Another descent, and another up and over (which would become a recurring pattern), and I reached the town and harbour of St-Quay-Portrieux. Here too the boats were beached by the low tide.
I walked along the harbour-front street to the port area where a convenient picnic bench offered a sunny but windy place for a small break and snack. Beyond the harbour the next beach over was very striking and I couldn’t resist walking down toward the water’s edge.
This town is very popular with tourists and it is very easy to see why!
Because I was drawn to walk out onto this beach, I lost track of the GR trail (which is really well signed) but I reasoned that it is very hard to go wrong if I just keep walking forward with the sea on my right. Back below the cliffs my guess at the trail location was wrong but it was easy enough to navigate with my guide book and my cell phone and soon I was back on the correct path or rather street. The amount of street walking that exists on this section of the GR is minimal and is easily managed, especially with sights like this to keep one interested and happy.
After negotiating a small headland via streets and trail, more St-Quay-Portrieux beaches came into view!
Staircases led me down to a promenade over the beach where a large swimming pool was awaiting summer families.
I carried on down the long promenade, stopping to look back,
and then forward to the next little cove.
This was next! The beauty of this place was unending!
By this time I had walked over ten kilometres and I was beginning to feel a little tired, perhaps more from the excitement than from the walking – it was a lot to take in! The coastal path said goodbye to the town and began to rise up to anther headland with the shore below becoming very rocky.
At the top of the cliff the path cut a swath through the thick vegetation. You can see the line of the path ahead in the photo on the right as it tracks along the top of the headland.
The trail continued along past brambles twined with ivy and bright yellow gorse until finally I could see the beginning of the inward curve of the beach at Saint-Marc. Almost there!
A dip down, a new up, and then the path took me across a wide open field with one last descent to the 15th century Chapel of Saint-Marc.
I paid a very quick visit to the beach,
and then I said goodbye to the GR 34 and walked along a pleasant path to the town of Tréveneuc where I had unfortunately just missed a bus with the next one not for another three hours! The bakery and convenience store were both closed (darn Wednesday) and I had no pen and paper with me (lesson learned). I took photos of the lovely church, chatted with a couple of teen boys, read ahead in my guide book, and then in the last hour resorted to entertaining myself with youtube videos on my phone. I was tired but very very happy – the GR 34 had exceeded my expectations and I couldn’t have hoped for a better first day on my long distance walk.
Well, I adore Brittany. I am in Binic on the north coast and I have been walking on the Grand Randonée 34 (GR 34) path and have completed 52 kilometres over 4 days of walking (with more to come). The trail is varied and wild and is pretty much always in sight or sound of the sea. The scenery is nothing short of spectacular with a combination of long golden sand beaches, small rocky coves and gorse-covered headlands, the highest sea cliffs in Brittany, and small fishing towns that have become the joy of summer holiday makers.
It is so green here and the plants are full to bursting with life! The weather has been fine and the grandness of the landscape has been graced and made even more beautiful by the wonders of spring: wildflowers and young oak leaves, bluebell-lined wooded paths, ferns and ivy, beetles and butterflies and bees. I actually saw a butterfly bump into a bee!
The birds, including swallows, sparrows, and pretty little European robins, have been my constant companions and I have not walked one step on this path without hearing their songs and calls. I have felt exhilarated, profoundly joyous, contemplative, grateful, and sometimes all of those emotions at once. What a journey!
Now, I’m not quite sure where to go from here post-wise as I am very much behind. It’s Labour Day and a day of rest for me today. The sun is shining out there on the sea (it was supposed to rain!) so I think it’s time to go out for a walk to help me decide whether I will try and create posts about my arrival in Binic and my last four days of walking. In the words of Arnold, ”I’ll be back.” (Here are two pictures while you wait. They are the views from the front and back windows of my apartment here in Binic.)
Okay, I am back from my short walk to the beach and have delivered my recycling to the depot. This is the perfect place to refer back to some of the disappointments that I mentioned in my ”Musings” post. None of them apply here! I have seen almost no litter or graffiti, and I have witnessed people bringing their recycling to the many little depots available. Also, each beach that I visited had a large box at the access points for people to place any litter that they might find on their walks! All of the houses that I have seen while walking and on my bus rides up and down the coast have been very tidy and well-kept with beautiful and flourishing gardens. Such a pleasure to see! Here are two rather grand homes in St-Quay-Portrieux.
While out on my walk this afternoon, I decided that I will go ahead and create several posts about my days on the GR 34 trail thus far, but the posts will be brief, with just a few highlights noted for each day of walking, and I’ll try to limit myself to a maximum of 5-6 photos per day. Wish me luck!
Also while out on my walk, I was very fortunate to witness an age-old tradition, the ”Pardon de Notre Dame de Bon Voyage”. The church bells were ringing and ringing and a small procession from the church arrived at the beach to say prayers and blessings for mariners, and to remember those lost at sea and those left behind. It was very moving to see a tradition like this be respected and carried on.
Many of the fishing towns along the coast here participated for almost a century in the cod fisheries around Iceland and off the coast of Newfoundland. Fishermen would leave in schooners and be gone for up to six months at a time. From the town of Paimpol alone, between the first and last expeditions of 1852 and 1935 to Iceland, 100 schooners and 2,000 men were lost. Thankfully, life for many today on this coast, and definitely for me, is much easier and safer.
Dinan has a most wonderful clock tower that caught my attention soon after I arrived in town. My first thought upon seeing it was exactly this: ”Whoa, that’s a tippy tower!” Here is the view that inspired that thought.
In other photos that I took from different vantage points the tippiness is less apparent, but I was very aware of it when I climbed to the top of the tower. These two photos are taken from different ends of the same street, but sadly I do not have an image of the clock face at the front of the tower.
On the bottom level of the tower there is the original set of clockworks, made by Hamzer in Germany in 1498.
A spiral stone staircase led up to a room where town councillors used to meet to discuss civic matters. On the next floor up there was a very entertaining and informative computer animated film that presented some of the history of the town and the tower from the fictional point of view of an old sailor, born and raised in Dinan, who returns home in 1750 after many years at sea and becomes a watchman on top of the tower.
About two thirds of the way up this 46 metre tower, the stone staircase ends and a wooden staircase begins, and at the very top there is a steep narrow ladder for the final climb onto the platform for views all around. Warning, this next collage might make you feel a bit vertiginous!
The views were tremendous in all directions! The image on the left is of the Basilique Saint Saveur (I see the steeple from my apartment window), and the image on the right is looking down to the river valley.
While up here on the tower, I will magically transport you to the interior of some of the principal churches of Dinan. The Basilique Saint-Saveur was founded by a knight who had safely returned from a crusade. Begun in the 12th century, it was not completed until the 16th century and has been built in a combination of Romanesque and Flamboyant Gothic styles. The altar was very elaborate.
I liked the simplicity of a peaceful side chapel that featured beautiful stained glass and a statue of the Virgin Mary, and I also appreciated the fatherly tenderness that is evident in the sculpture of Joseph and Jesus.
In this basilica, the heart of Bertrand du Guesclin, a son of Dinan and hero of the Hundred Years’ War, is entombed in a vase. There is also a statue of du Guesclin in the area which served as the town’s fairgrounds during the Middle Ages.
The next view from atop the tower is of the Eglise Saint-Malo which is just a five minute walk from the Basilica! This second large church also took 400 years to build and its planned steeple was never completed.
Pillaged during the Revolution, the interior was very stark but I appreciated the bareness and simplicity and absolute quiet of the space.
The lack of excess ornamentation helped one to focus on the beautiful modern stained glass, most of which depicted scenes from the bible or from Dinan’s history. There was also a case which displayed some liturgical objects that must have been hidden away somewhere during the pillaging!
From the film in the clock tower I learned that many religious orders established convents and abbeys in Dinan, including the Benedictines, the Franciscans, the Clares, the Ursulines, and the Dominicans. I will point out a few of their edifices to you, as the old sailor did to me in 1750! The large church in the middle ground of the photo, plus the adjacent buildings to the left, was built by the Cordeliers (Franciscans) who first came to Dinan in 1247.
Now used as a private Catholic school, parts of the “Couvent des Cordeliers” were open to the public for an art exposition so I visited here on Sunday. (My favourite photo is of the lovely rose bush behind the old yellow and purple glass.)
This steeple belongs to the 1662 chapel of the Benedictines who arrived in Dinan in 1631 to found their monastery. After damage by fire, the monastery became a college in 1775. It was closed during the French Revolution until 1841 when it re-opened as the College Roger Vercel.
I do not have a view from the tower, but I did visit the Chapel of Sainte Catherine, built between 1661 and 1664 by the Dominicans. Here is a collage of photos from the very beautiful chapel, elegant in its simplicity and with a stunning wooden ceiling.
The convent buildings adjacent to the chapel were taken over during the French Revolution and converted into barracks, then a prison, and then a hospital in 1817. After restorations in 2005, the stately building now contains the library of Dinan. There is quite an expansive esplanade leading down to the old convent lined with sculptures by Dinan artist Roger Vene, including this statue entitled ”Homme.”
Now that our tour of some of Dinan’s many churches is finished, we are back up on the tippy tower. Here’s a somewhat scary view looking as “straight down” as I was brave enough to achieve leaning (a bit!) over the wooden railing.
And here’s the bell, which did ring when I was up here. This bell was recast in 1906 from the iron in the original bell which was gifted to the town by Anne of Bretagne, Duchess of Brittany, in the year 1500, and which range for more than four centuries.
And, finally, here is my favourite photo taken from atop the tower. I have given it the rather obvious (but pleasing to me) name of ”Rooftops of Dinan.”
On my first full day in Dinan I got up early in order to be able to photograph the wonderful buildings in this town without having to wait for tourists to exit the frame! It was cool and fresh and a light rain had fallen just before I left my apartment. My first destination was the Rue de Jerzual which would lead me down to the river Rance. This steep street was the route between the port on the river and the city on the hill, and was continually busy with the flow of people and goods. It is still a busy pedestrian street for tourists and locals but this morning I had it all to myself.
The buildings, many housing artists’ and crafters’ studios are beautiful!
The road continued steeply down the hill past half-timbered and stone houses and shops.
Part-way down was the Porte Jerzual which was the gateway between the river port and the city. This particular defensive gate was built in the early 14th century, but a gate has been at this location since as early as 1123. The lumber in the archways is there because this is one of the places where stones fell from the ramparts.
From the Porte Jerzual the road (now named the Rue du Petit Fort) continued steeply downhill,
and further downhill,
until finally reaching the River Rance. I walked a short distance upstream to take this photo of the old bridge which crosses the river.
I then walked onto the bridge and took these views looking first upstream and then downstream. The river meets the sea downstream some twenty-five kilometres away at Saint Malo and Dinard.
Returning to the shore, I walked downstream along the cobbled walkway. This river is largely responsible for the growth, prosperity and importance of the town of Dinan during the early middle ages as it provided maritime links with Flanders and England for the trade of linen cloth, leather goods, wood, and agricultural products. Ships were hauled upstream by mules and men!
Looking back upstream, the tall viaduct was built in 1852 to bring goods and people into the upper city as an alternative to the narrow and steep Rue de Jerzual. The viaduct was routed to bring traffic to the city along the outside of the medieval walls, thus helping to ensure the preservation of most of the town’s ramparts and towers.
I returned to the old bridge,
and then turned right to return up the Rue de Petit Fort as far as the Porte Jerzual.
Rather than passing through the gate, I took a staircase to the left which led to a pathway leading steeply uphill along the base of the ramparts. Soon I reached the base of the Tour Sainte-Catherine, one of the oldest towers in the 13th century walls.
The trail continued uphill to the next tower, and before passing through it I took a photo of the trail below, the walls leading towards the Tour Sainte-Catherine, and the view down over the viaduct, port, and river.
Once I passed up and through the tower, the path continued along the top of the ramparts, with an excellent view towards the back of the Saint Sauveur church and the tall trees of the Jardin Anglais, and also more views down over the river valley.
I was able to walk on the ramparts almost all of the way around to the 14th century castle which consists of a tall keep with its roof top terrace, the Tour de Coetquen which I am standing on for this photo, and the Porte du Guichet entrance gate which is built in the wall between the keep and the tower.
The castle keep looked small to me from the outside but there was a lot to this castle and it was presented really well. The tour route began with a walk on the ramparts, past the four flags to where I am on Coetquen tower which was built in the late 15th century to strengthen the defences of the keep. The keep, or ducal tower, was the principal residence of the dukes of Brittany for several centuries.
In the guard room of the Coetquen tower there was a model of the ramparts and towers of Dinan and some information about the strategic importance of the site and of sieges over time.
On another floor, there was a small display of armour and armaments from the 13th to the 15th centuries.
A tunnel at the base of the tower allowed guards to pass undetected from the Coetquen tower to the keep.
After entering the keep, the tour led first down to the large kitchen in the basement with its massive fireplace, well, and water drainage system.
Rising up to the next level I entered the banqueting hall, a large reception space meant to impress guests. Elaborate meals with an abundance and variety of dishes were served to display the duke’s wealth and prestige.
The principal room on the next floor was the ”Facing Room” where the dukes received homage from their vassals and rendered justice. The dukes would sit on a high-backed seat that was set on a dais bearing their coat of arms.
Also on this level was a small chapel that would have been reserved for the use by the duke and his family.
Here is the retiring room where the duke would meet with his family and closest advisors, and there were also private apartments and garderobes adjacent.
As well as these principal rooms, there was access to and information about many other rooms and anterooms. The top level of the castle keep was reserved for guards and in this room there was an audiovisual presentation that showed the evolution of the castle over the centuries. It was amazing to me how many changes occurred over time with entire walls being moved, dry moats dug, drawbridges added, gates and towers fortified etc. The physical changes to the castle evolved in partnership with the fortunes and ownership of the castle through time and through wars with England and the King of France. The castle was abandoned in the mid 17th century as it had fallen into disrepair and it was partially restored at the beginning of the 18th century to be used as a prison for captured English sailors and soldiers. (It would have been a terrible imprisonment in small, cold, dark and dank stone cells.) Finally, it became a civil prison from 1817 until 1904 and then was bought by the city of Dinan to be used as a museum. The current, excellent restorations, tour route, and educational displays were completed in 2019. I highly recommend a visit if you are ever in Dinan!
I exited the castle through the Porte Guichet. Flanked by two towers, the gate’s defences included a portcullis, murder holes, and seventeen arrow slits.
From here, I had a good view of the keep from its base. I walked past the keep and along the wide promenade that paralleled the eastern edge of the city walls.
Along the walk I passed another large tower, a narrow tower which once held a bascule drawbridge, and a very narrow tower which very well could have been the tower which held Rapunzel.
And that was just my morning! After lunch and a restful hour or two in my apartment I explored more of this wonderful town, but this post is surely long enough already so I’ll end here. Apologies for all of the historical details – I did try to whittle it down! (Though I know several readers of this blog who love this stuff as much as I do.) As always, thank you for reading.
I said goodbye to Montmartre, found my way to the Gare Montparnasse via the metro, and took a TGV to Lamballe, Brittany. We travelled mainly through relatively flat, agricultural land with expansive fields of new green growth as well as bright yellow fields of canola in bloom. There were fields with small herds of black and white cattle, and occasionally we passed a farm with a few sheep or horses. There were glimpses of towns and villages, each with a tall church steeple visible from a distance, and sometimes the train paralleled a main freeway for a distance and easily out sped its cars and trucks.
At Lamballe, I transferred to a small, and seemingly very slow train (after the TGV) to Dinan. I loved the journey to Dinan as we travelled a very good distance through a deciduous forest, fresh with new leaves, and the agricultural fields we passed before and after the forest were smaller and wilder-looking with many hedges, large copses of trees, and old farm houses. I was very happy to see three raptors on this journey, a small swift and two beautiful hawks. Also, it was like I was having a second spring as the trees and plants that were in bloom a month ago in Provence are in full bloom here like cherry and apple trees, lilacs, camellias, and wisteria. Very fun!
I was immediately charmed by Dinan as I walked through its medieval streets headed towards my apartment. This walled town, full of half-timbered houses from the 14th to the 17th centuries, sits atop a hill high above the valley of the Rance River and my apartment is located on a quiet street just a few minutes’ walk from the centre and all of the town’s historic sights. I am so pleased with my apartment and feel very lucky to be here for four days. Here it is!
And, even better, here is the amazing view out of my living room window (left photo) and then my bedroom window! Wow! I invite you to click on each photo for a larger view. How exciting to stay here!
After taking a few moments to settle my things, I eagerly headed back out to explore the nearby streets. Here are some of the beautiful half-timbered houses in Dinan, many of which expand outward as they go up. Property taxes were based on the amount of square footage of a building, so clever merchants built smaller ground floors with overhanging second and third stories. This had the added bonus of providing covered space on the ground floor for setting up tables and selling their goods.
I loved the small panes of old glass in some of the windows.
Some of the buildings were quite colourful, and there was a wide variety of patterns in the placement of the wooden beams as well as a surprising amount of asymmetry!
Some of the buildings had carved wooden figures tucked under the overhangs or in little alcoves.
This building, built in 1559, was moved to Dinan from the small town of Lanvollon when it was threatened with demolition. It features 14 carved figures sporting weapons and clothing typical of the 16th century.
Here is the last half-timbered house that I will show from my afternoon walk though there were many more! The dark slate roof tiles on all of the buildings here, and the preponderance of granite as a building stone, are typical of Brittany and an obvious change from the building styles that I saw in Provence.
I also took photos of the exteriors of the two massive churches in medieval Dinan (they are located only blocks from each other!), but I will save presenting those until after I have viewed the interiors. It is predicted to rain on Sunday so I will save my visits to the churches until then. Walking away from the town centre I found this quiet street lined with stone houses and followed it to the gate at the end.
This is the Saint Malo gate which was built in the 13th century to guard access to the northern part of the city. Extra defences and a drawbridge were added during turbulent times at the beginning of the 15th century.
To the left of the Porte Saint Malo was the Tour de Gouveneur. A walkway for pedestrians atop the tower and adjacent walls was recently closed after stones fell from the wall during a storm. Turning to the right of the Porte Saint Malo, a walk of about 100 metres brought me to the largest of Dinan’s towers, the Tour Beaumanoir. There are almost three kilometres of ramparts surrounding Dinan, with ten of the original fourteen towers still standing, as well as the four gates that provided entrance to the city. The ramparts are the largest in France north of the Loire to have survived to the present day.
I continued my walk around and beyond the Tour Beaumanoir and there was this view back that shows the remains of a second wall that was added at the end of the 16th century in front of the curtain wall to give extra protection against cannon fire.
From here, I wandered back into the city to the main square and then on to my apartment, taking pictures all along the way. I will leave you with only two more photos though, again from my apartment windows but now with the sun lowering in the sky. The view from my front window is zoomed in on the steeple of the Basilique Saint-Saveur. Goodnight from Dinan, Brittany.
So, it’s a quiet rainy Sunday in Dinan (I haven’t yet finished my post about arriving in and exploring this wonderful town in Brittany), and I wanted to relate a few thoughts now that I am a bit past mid-journey on this trip to France. I loved my time in Provence, especially in Avignon and Arles (so much to see!) and in the beautiful hill towns of the Luberon. I also greatly enjoyed my time by the sea in Cassis and on the Giens peninsula but it was very busy there with too many people and too many cars. And, it was somewhat heartbreaking to look at that gorgeous blue sea and not swim in it! If I am lucky enough to return to Provence, I would visit in the early Fall once the kids are back in school, the grape vines and trees are turning gold and orange, and the intense heat of the summer is gone but the beautiful Mediterranean is still warm enough to swim in.
The people here in France have been incredibly kind, welcoming, and helpful, from my accommodation hosts, to bus drivers, to shop keepers, museum attendants, and people I have chatted with at bus stops, on trains, and on park benches. My friend G. (who is very much a people person) has asked me several times about my conversations with others. My longer conversations have been limited to easy, casual topics due to my level of spoken French but they have all left me feeling that I have connected well with the person or persons I spoke with. I am missing conversations with my friends and family back home, but I do also very much appreciate this time to be by myself and I do not mind long stretches of being alone and silent.
I have written with enthusiasm about all of the wonderful things that I have seen and experienced while here, but I do have a few disappointments to share. First, the level of litter and graffiti that I have seen (especially in some parts of Paris) is quite shocking coming from a very clean Vancouver. I really don’t know how people can stand it. Next, there seems to be very little recycling going on which surprised me and again makes me very appreciative of my home. It has been almost painful for me to put cardboard, plastic, glass and even organics into the regular garbage when I am so used to recycling it! Finally, the lack of wildlife and truly wild spaces has also been disappointing, but I guess is to be understood when this land of almost seventy million people, but only half the size of British Columbia and one eighteenth the size of Canada, has been settled, farmed, mined, quarried, traversed, fought over, and developed for thousands of years. Thank goodness for the birds I have seen, my two lizards, and yesterday at dusk I saw bats from my window which was very exciting. I’ll look for them again tonight!
Now about food as I seem obsessed with it since arriving in Dinan! Up to this point in my journey I have only had one restaurant meal and several purchased sandwiches. For budgetary reasons, and also because grocery shopping and cooking provide some downtime from my sightseeing, I have subsisted on these main staples: oranges, apples, bananas, peppers, carrots, salad greens, milk, yogurt, eggs, ham, baguettes, butter, jam, coffee, and simple pasta dishes made with tomato sauce, mushrooms, zuchinni, chicken once (meat is expensive here), and herbs de provence, especially rosemary plucked fresh and free from the hillsides. I have also bought cans of sardines in various sauces (basil and lemon, olive oil and lemon, sun dried tomatoes) when I was craving fish and they provided an easy, inexpensive, and surprisingly delicious source of protein and omega 3’s. Here is a very easy recipe for a delicious meal that I enjoyed more than once (photo top left): Boil up some carrots and potato pieces and add asparagus pieces in the last two minutes. Meanwhile, in a fry pan, melt a pat of butter with garlic and fresh cut rosemary and spoon it over the drained vegetables. Then, swirl the ham around in the residual hot butter, garlic, and rosemary in the pan for about a minute. Quick, simple, and very very delicious!)
But, since entering Dinan with its very many boulangeries, ice-cream shops, creperies, cafés, and restaurants (prices here are better than in Provence and Paris) I find myself reading every other menu board to see what’s on offer! Yesterday, I splurged on a lunch of Chinese food, of all things, (it was delicious), and I bought an amazing local specialty – a Kouign Amann aux Pommes. Not cheap at 3 euros, but omg, buttery, caramelized on the edges, flakey, buttery, a spiral of apple hidden in the centre, and did I say buttery?
And this afternoon, I visited the same shop to purchase another local specialty – a Far aux Pruneux. There is no line up at the shop in my photo, but every other time that I walked by this bakery, there was a big line up. The Far? Also delicious, but the Kouign is in another league!
On my outing this afternoon, I purposefully stocked up on healthy groceries to last for the rest of my stay here in Dinan so that I am not tempted to splurge on a restaurant meal. I know that I’ll soon be sampling another Bretagne regional specialty, crepes or a gallette, on one of my hiking days when I won’t be able to cook. I’m already looking forward to it!
Okay, I’m done obsessing and writing about food! The sun has come out so I will go for a late afternoon walk in lovely Dinan. Hello to everyone at home. 🙂
