A Trip to the BEACH!
At the end of our wonderful visit in Paris, and drawing near to the end of our time in France altogether, we thought a relaxing vacation just for two was in order. Our plans had come together and we were set on heading to Northern France to see the famed beauty of the Brittany region before taking a small plane to Cork, Ireland. But that was yet to come…on this last day in the sleepy village of Arpajon outside Paris we woke very early at Laurent’s place while the sky outside was still dark. Jonathan put water on for tea to take in our thermos and we tidied up the room and bed. With our last things packed and a few groceries for the day in our food bag we set off walking to the train station. We were in groggy company as the dawn eased in and we boarded the Monday morning commuter train into Paris. An hour later we had taken a bus to the major rail station, Montparnasse, where we arrived with just enough time to buy some fresh croissants and use the loo before boarding our TGV to Rennes. The two hour journey passed quickly with small dozes here and there, hot tea and croissants, and some light reading, while watching the pretty (if not non-descript) French countryside whizz by under a grey sky. In Rennes, we made our 10 minute transfer to the local train with ease and we were on our way to St. Malo, one hour away. Arriving at that small station we found a map clearly marked with local transport options and soon enough we waited for the local bus to take us to the campsite that would be our vacation home for the next two days. While we ate lunch at the covered bus stop, the wind blew the rainy grey clouds away and introduced us to dazzling seaside sunshine. We boarded the bus in high spirits and asked the driver to let us off at the Cite d’Alet. From there we walked just 30 meters to the campsite office. From a sleepy Paris exurb to beachside camping in St. Malo, Brittany, took just five hours traveling, all on public transit for about €40 each, door to door service, absolutely seamless!
We were impressed and thrilled to have arrived in such a beautiful quiet place with such ease. Once we’d set-up our tent we strolled around the beautiful grounds which is adjacent to a WWII German artillery bunker.
There are signs of the horrific battle that took place and we later learned that the town of St. Malo itself, a historic port fortress was bombed to bits by the Allies. The entire town was a reconstruction, albeit a lovely and historically accurate one…but a reconstruction nonetheless.
The beauty of the town can not be denied, and we were constantly in awe both of the natural beauty of the seascapes and the towering beauty of the stone fortress walls of this medieval city designed and built by rich pirates. But on this day we had a mission: we needed to find internet access to get in touch with Christine’s mom and we needed to find out how we could take a riverboat up to Dinan, which was our next Helpex location. Arm in arm we walked along the marina’s boardwalk, across the harbor locks and along the walls of the old city. After getting the tourist info we needed, we stepped inside through the gates to find a tourist’s paradise of restaurants, sidewalk performers, cobbled streets with period architecture from the 18th century, when St. Malo was the home port of many privateers and other wealthy sea merchants.
We found the internet, and then the grocery store where we stocked up on provisions, including a really cheap bottle of Gaillac red wine, from the region near Lautrec and Chateau Brametourte. There was so much to see it was never ending fun just to walk around with eyes open wide. We listened to several kinds of street music, walked along the wide pebbled shore, walked out to an old 16th century fort built on rocks which could only be reached at low tide.
For a couple who spends most of their time living and working in close quarters with others, it felt wonderfully indulgent to have so much time and space all to ourselves! We walked back to the campsite, made a nice bean salad accompanied by delicious wine, and enjoyed our first camping night (which by the way is only €13 per night for a two-person tent).
The next morning we slept in and Jon stealthily went down the street and picked up two fresh hot croissants (butter-free) and filled our thermos with coffee before Christine was hardly awake.
We ate our lovely breakfast (filling the croissants with tahini and rhubarb jam…mmmmmmm) while sitting on a peak overlooking the vast and choppy English Channel as miniature-looking sailboats meandered their way around the rocky islands.
We spent the day alternately walking in the sun on cobbled stones through the walled city, lying in the sun on wide beaches, or venturing out onto the rocks at low tide. They day passed happily and that evening we treated ourselves to a luxury almost unknown to us….dinner in a restaurant!!!
The Brittany region is renown for its specialty of crepes, and creperies of all levels were omnipresent: from the street vendor to the five star restaurant. We chose somewhere in the middle, a nice small bistro type restaurant offering high quality savory galettes made with ble noir (dark wheat flour). They make a very specific distinction in their crepes in that region: crepes are filled with sweet, galettes are filled with savory. So that evening we had absolutely delicious galettes filled with mushrooms, and they were every bit deserving of their fine reputation. We didn’t have very long to spend in our vacation wonderland, and the next day when it was time to head towards our helpx spot. Unfortunately, the ferry company that makes the trip up the river Rance to Dinan is very dependent on the tides and wasn’t offering the two and a half hour trip for another week. After another croissant and coffee breakfast, this time by the Rance river and Solidat Tower, we packed up our things and caught the bus back to the station.
There we dined on another bean salad lunch while we waited for our transport to Dinan only an hour away by bus – we left with promises to return soon. We were absolutely enchanted by St. Malo and highly recommend anyone who goes anywhere near the Brittany region of France to make a special trip there. It was pure magic.
seeingspain
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