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After a few quiet days due to not being well it was great to get out and about. Visited the lovely Chateau at Suscinio that had some interesting projections on the walls. Throughout the drive we saw some beautiful scenery, and when we were going thru a village we noticed how immaculate they were. Stopped at Sarzeau to pick up a baguette sandwich, and then drove to Abbaye Saint-Gildas- Saint Gildas de Ruys . Sadly the Abbaye is closed to the public, and there was a church service being conducted so didn’t enter. The town of Port Larmor-Baden deserves a further visit, an Arzon is gorgeous. Loving Moriban Gulf/ Brittany
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Sorry to hear you have not been well. It is a pain on holidays. We have been having a few quiet days this trip. We have each had a day when we did not feel !00%. Of course Covid is still in the back of our minds.
The weather has been good the last week or so. Time for some summer clothes. Have fun. |
Another fabulous day today. The weather has certainly warmed up and we are wearing summer clothes. My husband was responsible for deciding on where we went this morning, knowing that in the afternoon we would visit Josselin Chateau. He relied on the towns with character list and selected Mailstroit a forty minute drive, and it is a stunning small town with a population of 5.000.
The buildings in the main square are gorgeous, and the town is spotless. Then we headed down to the river and there were more stunning houses. With one being extremely pretty. This beautiful town has been added to the short list of places I could have a holiday home. We did notice that it has a big geriatric hospital and seems to be one for the region. We had a fabulous salad for lunch that included St Jacques, Salmon, Prosciutto, salad, and the best melon I have ever tasted. Three glasses of wine and the total was €38. Then a thirty minute drive to Josselin as that Chateau didn’t open until 2.00 pm. On arrival we sat on a bench overlooking the river to have a coffee. We now take a thermos with us, and a cool bag, containing water,milk, and a soft drink. Entry to the Chateau is through the Doll Museum and there were some cute dolls. Then a short stroll ti the Chateau. While there aren’t a lot of rooms to ( five or six) it is a fabulous structure. The gardens are beautiful and I didn’t know that you can take picnic supplies and sit in the English Garden. Wish I had known as we would have taken our coffee there. It is a beautiful town to visit although the traffic deviations make it a bit tricky entering and departing. https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...1960f6f7b.jpeg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...32e34c63f.jpeg Beautiful area down by the River. L- Oust https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...4b4afed15.jpeg Gorgeous house https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...06bc1576b.jpeg Fabulous lunch, and wish I knew the type of melon. https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...998eac47d.jpeg One of the beautiful streets https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...fdf3c9bf4.jpeg Gorgeous house by the river L-Oust https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...a81031088.jpeg Chateau Josselin https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...de07ea353.jpeg Chateau Josselin https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...fc957b56b.jpeg More of the Chateau https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...33086a43f.jpeg Fabulous dinning Room https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...0ff11c761.jpeg Stunning garden wall. https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...c789b5924.jpeg Beautiful waterfall |
Sorry to hear you were below par for a while, but I see you have bounced back to full enjoyment of France.
I had never heard of Malestroit, not that that means anything, and your photos make it look enchanting. Maybe it's one of those places that French people flock to that is under the radar for the rest of us. So well done, you, for "discovering" it. I want that lunch, especially that melon! |
Looks beautiful! Glad you’re both feeling better, and that the weather gods are cooperating.
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Wonderful pictures. Following along with much joy. You have me looking up all of these towns. Glad you are feeling better.
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We are so happy with our choice of Auray as a base. It has suited our needs perfectly. Quite a few people on another forum were not all that encouraging. I was left thinking do they know something we don’t. After posting a few times in that group, at least they had the good grace to say “ oh I’ve never been there”.
Here is the link we use. You can also type in by department. eg towns with character Moribahn https://www.france-voyage.com/cities...tere-label.htm Apologies for the incorrect spelling of Malestroit in the first paragraph |
Originally Posted by cheska15
(Post 17468207)
After posting a few times in that group, at least they had the good grace to say “ oh I’ve never been there”.
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kerouac. I’ve always thought that there is a nice way to say something negative.
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Thanks for the link. I want to spend a month or two in France next spring.
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Originally Posted by cheska15
(Post 17468227)
kerouac. I’ve always thought that there is a nice way to say something negative.
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An interesting start to the day yesterday with a tour to the Cairn de Gavrinis. Fascinating stone slabs (orthodtates) in a burial chamber, and there seem to be some debate about what the patterns represent. Although the tour was supposed to be in French and English the guide did not have the time to translate it all. We had read the booklet beforehand, and google translate was our best friend. The guide thought is was “ so cool” that we were using the app. A great two hours, and cost €38 Euros
https://cairndegavrinis.com/en/home/ Today we visited the town of La Gallicy for the magnificent photo exhibition that runs from June until September. The town itself is so pretty and would be worth a visit for its own sake. The exhibition is truly magnificent with over 800 photos on well designed and easy to follow. Firstly you visit the info point to obtain the map, and make a donation. My husband had gone off by himself while I sat and had a cup of tea. He didn’t have any cash on him and as he had the map explained to the person he would return with the money. She was pleasantly surprised when he did return. I won’t go into too much detail as I don’t want to spoil it for those attending this event in the near future. We understood why they get 300,000 visitors for this event. I will add a few photos and one that is my favourite. Here’s the link to some of the exhibits https://www.festivalphoto-lagacilly.com/les-editos-2023 After a really good light pizza with not to much cheese or tomato we set off for our next town to visit twenty minutes away. I can’t add much more than others have about Rochefort-en-Terre other than to say it is very pretty. This small village was on my must see list. The trouble when you research a place like this is that you expect it to be beautiful and it is. I think I have preferred the surprise beauty of some of the places we have come across. https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...83f4930ff.jpeg The town where to buy the tickets. We purchased them on Tuesday two days prior as numbers are limited to 10-15 people https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...14417d9a9.jpeg E https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...e4e6281fd.jpeg The stone slabs https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...d163eed5f.jpeg The entry to the burial chamber https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...82b79940a.jpeg The patters are beautiful https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...e531c59d8.jpeg My favourite photo that pulled my heart strings. Full of love and trust https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...5ed35babe.jpeg Perhaps we don’t need a house sitter anymore. This bikie takes his cat everywhere https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...1df937206.jpeg Stunning animal https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...fb13691c4.jpeg Wow https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...72fdcab0e.jpeg Stunning photo https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...61cc51c1e.jpeg The beautiful town of La Gallicy https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...37430f526.jpeg Beautiful river https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...6406c6846.jpeg Bridge in La Gacilly. https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...d1ac0d941.jpeg Large photos on the walls of many of the buildings https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...a658686c1.jpeg Rochenforte- en- Terre |
I'm very excited to hear that you went to the photo festival in La Gacilly. I am going in August, and I'm really looking forward to it. It was one of the reasons that I decided to visit that part Brittany. I have an Air BnB for three days in Les Fougerets.
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I am glad that your trip has gone well for the most part Cheska.
We are Brittany-bound for the first time this fall and have been following your TR closely coz Auray (or Vannes) will most likely be our base. We'll begin in Chartres---any advice for there? Our thought process for choosing a base has gone I love your food photos, especially that turbot. I am done. the Cheska |
pgtraveler. I hope you enjoy the photo festival as much as we did. We also had a good pizza opposite. It was an enclosed small covered space, and the staff were friendly and the pizza was good. The name was L’Abrucotier. The woman there wanted us to wait for her shift to finish so we could take her back to Australia with us. 🤣
zebec sadly we haven’t been to Chartres so I can’t help with that destination. Vannes is a city and busy. We have been several times and while the old town is lovely, it can be any city. It does have a very big market on Saturday mornings. Good parking options. Auray is small and nothing much happens at night. It has been a fabulous base for us for the following reasons: easy to get in and out of for day trips parking was available in the apartment restuarants and boulangerie close by very quiet at night. a fabulous Monday Market Monoprix supermarket a few streets away. The port area does have a few restaurants. However important to note as with most places in France if you arrive at a restaurant at 1.30 for lunch you may not be served. Lunch is definitely between 12-2.00 pm. Dinner can be served late, however most restaurants seem to be closing up around 9.30. This may change when the holidays start. Also the woman in the Petrol station advised that they are closing in July, and we haven’t seen another one, so you may want to search for fuel stations before deciding. I don’t know your other location. Hope this helps. |
Over the last few days we have visited Vannes, Lorient, and Penestin. A friend had recommended a kite shop in Vannes, and I thought it would be an ideal present for an 11 year old boy. The gentleman was very helpful in explaining the good and not so good types. Like anything you get what you pay for. He was also telling us he would love to visit Australia but is scared he would be killed by a spider or snake. We hear that so often.🤣
The visit to Lorient was for the submarine museum and that was ok. Lorient is not one of my favourite places. Then yesterday’s visit to Penestin was to see some beach landscape. Saw more oyster beds and people searching the rocks for oysters (?) than the alleged stunning beach scenery. It was ok. Today we were up very early and on the road by 8.00 am to visit Brest. We stopped at a lovely Aire along the way, and the scenery is gorgeous. We had a walk around the city, and visited a large warehouse that has been renovated for exhibitions. Really well done. Lunch stop was an Italian restaurant overlooking the Hotel Ville and it’s large space. There were many people sitting on the benches eating lunch. They may have been amused like we were watching workmen put up some type of timber structures. All that had been done by the time we left was some matting put down. There had been lots of chats though with them all getting together, then going off to pick up some timber palettes, or a pot plant, and then reforming a group and starting all over again. I was very happy to order a pizzetta with salad for lunch. I don’t eat pizza that often because they are far too big for me and it is such a waste. The pizza tote was a third and served with salad. It was perfect as it left room for a Pannacotta dessert. We could have sat there for ages as it was a lovely warm day, and everything was great. |
After lunch we drove the 4 ks to the Oceanapolis. The different sections of Polar and Tropical aquariums are fascinating and the colourful marine life is great to see. It is well set out with short walks between all the areas. An ideal place to take children, as they have picnic areas and a playground. There is also a restaurant upstairs.
As we spent longer there than we thought we would, we were undecided as whether to visit Locoran. So glad my husband said I think we should. First port of call was the bathroom that is well signposted from the car park. If you see where the buses are parked they are right there. Good facilities. Then you see the main street. It took my breath away as it is so beautiful with Eglise De Sainte -Ronan at the end. A magnificent vista. Gorgeous granite buildings, immaculate village, with flowers everywhere. We stopped for an icecream, and then walked around. If you have allergies like my husband, you may not be able to enter some shops as they are heavily scented. It is a really gorgeous place and even though you only need an hour it was definitely worth it. Has been added to the favourite list. |
Our time in Auray has come to an end. We have really enjoyed using the town as a base and we have made the most of our long stay. We are over halfway through our trip and having a fabulous time. We do miss our shower and bed. Oh and of course our daughter, son in law and cat.
Now comes the travelling part of the trip.St Malo and Mont Saint Michel are the first stops, where we meet friends for the weekend. It will be lovely having another couple around, as we all get on well, and Deb and I have been friends longer than we have been married. Something very comforting about being with someone who has known you for 49 years. We have Thirty nine days remaining, and out of that time have only one seven night stay in Caen. The others are three and four night stays. I’m really looking forward to this part of the trip. Tiday we had our Airbnb in Lille cancelled, and this is the second time this has happened. The owner did offer alternative accommodation however, it wasn’t suitable. Very frustrating as it takes a while to find accommodation, not to mention the higher prices. Thanks so much for coming along the journey with us. We have appreciated your encouragement, and participation. |
Sorry to hear of your cancellation. It is annoying, especially if, like us , you spend a lot of time looking for the right places to stay.
Glad you enjoyed your stay in Auray. I would be surprised if there is only one fuel outlet there. Supermarkets generally have fuel and I see there is an Elelerc there. Enjoy the rest of your trip. |
I think some people aren't familiar with using Google maps to find things, it is very useful. I use it for various types of stores, hotels, restaurants, etc. You use the search box in the "nearby" function when you are viewing a particular location on Google maps. They say they have 5-6 of them around Auray,including the one at Eclerc and another at the Carrefour towards Pluneret, and a couple others more in the center, more independent ones. Plus a Total near the Monoprix.
I've been to various towns in France that didn't have hardly any American tourists I noticed, although French would go there, maybe for a weekend or short trip. Typical guidebooks concentrate a lot on certain areas and cities, of course, and generally not smaller towns unless they are known for something I guess (like Chartres). For example, I stayed in Moulins for a couple days a few years ago and really liked it (I was interested in visiting the Nureyev dance history museum), but I don't think I saw any other Americans there. Of course it's not on the main itineraries, either, that part of France in the center. It's kind of relaxing for a change to only have a smaller town to navigate. They were big enough that they had a good bus system, plus I could walk to a lot of places I wanted to go. |
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