StuDudley

I think I read someplace that the Grand Palais is undergoing some reconstruction & may be closed. Their web site will let you know.

Tuesday is not a good day for Versailles because it is closed on Monday, and the normal Monday visitors will probably go Tuesday. Get there early

In Vannes, it seems that both the office at the Gare and their bigger office away from the center of town are both open all day Saturday. Make sure you specify that the car will be returned at the Gare office. Of course, they both take their normal 2 1/2 hr French lunch break.

Saturday is market day in Vannes - so get to Vannes early if you want to enjoy the market. It is not near either the train station car rental office, or the main car rental place. So I would head for the port, park the car underground (see my itinerary for details) with the trunk backed up against the garage wall so nobody can open it & take your luggage, visit the market, then check into your hotel (or drop the bags off) & return the car.

Stu Dudley

chale1

It is official, Scenic has cancelled the June river cruises, so it is now time to cancel all the plans for the pre-week trip to Brittany that I had made. They did allow me to re-book next year for the same price that I had the previously cancelled 2020 trip. Hopefully, the third time is a charm, and we will get to go.

barefootbeach

chale1, so sorry to hear that your wonderful trip will be delayed. With Paris going into another lockdown, the travel future is definitely cloudy. I had a trip to Morocco planned for last March that I hope to rebook for next year...if I have to rebook September’s Norm/Brit trip too...that will have to give.
BTW, I sure wish River Cruises would offer a Paris Honfleur one way option...4 nts and then pick up a car and tour Brittany.

Coquelicot

Barefoot, any time you are in France the third weekend in September, you can take advantage of all the interesting places open for the European heritage days, called Journees du Patrimoine in France. There's a lot to see and do, even in rural areas. There's probably more to see in Paris and other cities but the lines are shorter in the countryside. Most places are free, but if they charge, it's not much. We've been to many private manor houses and chateaux we'd never have been able to visit otherwise. We've been going to the same area for 10 years and still find new places to visit.

I'd had my eye on a modern house on the Monuments Historiques list that had never been open to the public. Wouldn't you know, in 2020 it was finally on the J du P list. The house was open but France was closed.

barefootbeach

Coquelot, thanks for telling me of the Journee site. I will check to see if there is anything near me. Perhaps we will take an earlier train to Paris to catch something.

ethrush

I often discover that things I wasn't much interested in seeing turned out to be so much more interesting than I expected. The museum at Normondy is very touching, and I learned a lot I never learned in school. I didn't know, for example, that the Australians and Canadian forces were in the D-Day landing along with the Brits,and that the 3 together lost fewer people than the US, because the US took the toughest beach. It's also fascinating to stand on the cliffs overlooking the beaches, and see where the French Resistance hunkered down in dugouts, and then helped the Allied forces. Similarly, the tapestry is worth a look. You don't have to spend a lot of time there, but the way history is depicted in embroidery is astonishing. The little town of Bayeux is charming and has a lovely market. Whether the warnings of hordes of tourists are true for next September depends on a lot of factors- primarily, whether France and the EU can get their act together on getting people vaccinated. Tourism may still be down for a while. We climbed MSM, but didn't feel the need to spend more than a day there. Dinard and Dinan are both charming- I think the fantastic seafood dinner we had was in Dinan. Then we drove to Brittany and stayed in a B&B. Almost ran out of gas- after hours, some of the gas stations only take French credit cards, so keep your tank topped up!

barefootbeach

ethrush, you're right...you often don't know if you'll enjoy something if you've never experienced it before...so, "while in Rome" we will check out the Bayeux tapestry. Thanks for the gas tip...wouldn't have known that about French credit card acceptance. Still hoping the trip will be on.

AJPeabody

Re: Credit cards at unmanned gas stations. The Andrews Federal Credit Union card worked flawlessly. It takes several steps over a few weeks to get the card (membership, $5 savings account, online paperwork, etc.). Stations outside of cities were unmanned most of the time.

StuDudley

Open gas stations are sparse on Sundays. Also, many stations associated with grocery stores close at lunch when/if the grocery store closes.

Stu Dudley

Gardyloo

Coming late to this thread, but here are a few taken in Brittany during a late August trip a few years ago.

Dinan and the north







We took a day trip to Mont Saint-Michel but found it so crowded that we didn't stay, but enjoyed the view from countryside near the Mont.





We then moved down to Finistère and stayed in Pont-Aven. Our arrival happened to correspond to a local festival, Fête de la Belle Angèle, which celebrates the sardine harvest and features lots of old boats, music, dancing and lots of beer, cider and crepes. Pont-Aven is stunning (it was the home of Gaugin for a time and had/has a thriving arts community.)















We also toured around the area including a stop in Bélon, famous worldwide for its oysters. The oysters were amazing, the people friendly and the scenery pretty nice too.

Gardyloo

Meant to add, if you're doing a driving tour of Brittany, don't forget to load a CD or USB flash drive with some Breton music. With performers like Alan Stivell and Dan ar Braz, Brittany's heritage of Celtic-inspired music is pretty marvelous, and a source of much regional pride.

Here's Tri Martolod, something of a Breton "national anthem."


and Borders of Salt, featuring various instruments including bagpipes, widely adopted in Brittany.

chale1

Beautiful pictures, Gardyloo. So sad that our trip was cancelled this year. Hopefully next year....

barefootbeach

gardyloo, love the photos...keeping the dream alive. Thanks for the musical names...I always like to get local music CD's to listen to while driving and I especially love Celtic style music. Gotta love a band that includes a harp!

ldatt22

Good video. There's Irish music in france (brittany)? I guess it makes sense. International music exists everywhere.


Lynn