Dinan / Brittany
 

Hi:<BR><BR>We are spending a week in Dinan / Brittany in November. We should have a car.<BR><BR>We'd appreciate suggestions on what to see in the region or anything special to do.<BR><BR>Thanks, Ron

Not long away from Dinan :<BR><BR>The town of Fougeres, the Cape Frehel, the castle of Fort Lalatte<BR><BR>And of course St-Malo and the Mont St-Michel...

Ron,<BR>We're going in October and plan to be in Brittany for 3 nights (if the weather is OK). We want to see both the northern and southern coasts, as well as the inland forests. <BR><BR>But we just can't decide where to stay. It's hard, isn't it? I'm inclined to choose Pont Aven for the first two nights on the southern coast and save Dinan (north coast) for the 3rd night. (We'll see MSM the 4th day on our way to Normandy). <BR><BR>We've decided to go without reservations so that we can be flexible with the weather. If it's blowing a gale in Brittany, we may just move on to Normandy. It's hard to know what it will be like in late October.

We also will be in Dinan & south Brittany the end of Oct. What's all this about the bad weather? What's it usually like there the last week of Oct. Especially in the Quimper area.<BR>I'm wondering if my rain 'resistant' jacket that comes about 4" above my knees is enough or should I be taking my long raincoat. I just want to take one outer jacket. We'll also be in Paris for a few days.

I have taken 2 trips to Brittany (north coast) and never had bad weather. You are on the ocean; if there is bad weather, it probably will move along quickly (rather than hanging over your head for days as it does in Paris). This summer, we hung out in St Malo, which is worth a day, also Dinard is charming and pretty, so is Cancale. The trip between St Malo and Cancale is really lovely along the coast road and there is a well-marked look out point. Another area is the Cote de la Granite Rose --stunning scenery, lots of small towns, each with beautiful cliff walks. Perros Guirec to Treburden is a nice run). Ile de Brehat is gorgeous, no cars. Take the ferry from Paimpol. Haven't been inland or to the south. Have a great time. Britanny is beautiful! Reminds me of New England...sigh.

Nice message Franseca.<BR><BR>OK--so what kind of a jacket should I take. The one that is rain resistant & is 4" above my knee or my long length rain coat?

Topping again because I want to know, too. I had gotten the impression that the weather in Brittany can be very cold and stormy after September. I hope that was wrong!<BR><BR>So the question is: what kind of coat should one plan to take to Brittany in late October???

Ron, <BR>My husband & I spent 10 days in Brittany in May '01. Our favorite area was the Morbihan area. We stayed in the seaside village of La Trinite-sur-Mer in a wonderful small hotel called Le Petit Hotel des Hortensias. We had a large corner room with big windows on 2 sides overlooking the bay. This was perhaps one of the best places we have stayed in France for the price (reasonable!). We enjoyed daytrips to Quimper (SHOPPING!!!) and Vannes (lovely walled city) and the seashore. I would go back and spend a whole vacation in the same hotel in a minute--one of our fondest memories of our trips to France is this sweet little hotel and this charming town. By the way, why don't more yanks go to Brittany? We loved it--seems "undiscovered."

Toodie-<BR><BR>What was so good about the shopping in Quimper-what goodies did you buy?<BR>We'll be in Dinan & Quimper & are looking for some good places to eat.

Jeanne,<BR><BR>Actually, the weather is generally less cold in Britanny than in Paris during the autumn (or even winter). It's not particulary stormy.The issues are :<BR><BR>It often rains. not for long, usually, not heavily, but often.<BR><BR>Since Britanny is surrounded by the ocean, and there's nothing to block the wind, it can sometimes be very windy in the countryside or on the coast.<BR><BR>The weather is very umpredictable.<BR><BR><BR><BR>So, sure, the weather in Britanny isn't the best you could find in France in october. But it's not particulary worst than anywhere else in northern France. You could be lucky or unlucky, so be prepared to everything. The weather won't be warm, but it likely won't be really cold, either (there's vey rarely snow in Britanny, for instance, even in the heart of winter). The temperatures are usually moderate.

clairobscur,<BR>Thanks for the encouraging words about Brittany weather. I had gotten the wrong impression and am delighted to hear it shouldn't be "blowing a gale". I'm not going to take a heavy coat...if I need one I'll buy it over there. Can't wait!