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Frolicking Through France
Last year I had a fall and injured my arm. As I recovered from surgery my therapy was to start planning a return trip to France.
We have been wanting to return to explore new areas and to return to a few others, Reading trip reports and taking some notes an itinerary started to come together. Boston- 3 nights Rennes- 1 night La Gacilliy- 4 nights Pont Aven- -3 nights Dinan- 2 nights Bayeux 4 nights CDG overnight for flight home Talking to a very good friend she decided to meet up at the end our trip. So when my husband flew home she arrived. 3 nights Strausbourg 4 nights Dijon 4 nights Paris Living in California I booked flights to Boston. I had a companion pass for my husband so he flew free one of the ways. I booked premium economy seats on SAS for France. This was not a direct flight and had a small layover in Copenhagen. Our time in Boston was filled with lovely weather and lots of walking. We managed to get to the Fine Arts museum and saw the Van Gogh exhibit. We also did the Freedom trail, explored Beacon Hill and walked through the Public Garden and Boston Commons. Here are some pictures from Boston: https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...45d515638.jpeg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...a355ab1d1.jpeg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...96bd372c4.jpeg https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...6c8678424.jpeg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...e5be2effe.jpeg https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...e5f4c7c43.jpeg I love the wavy glass https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...7949af1a6.jpeg https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...7bfc40e0a.jpeg https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...53c786272.jpeg https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...4a294ec2f.jpeg |
Trip Report flag added
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I’m on for the ride!
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Wonderful shots, Paqngo. I'm also ready to see more.
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I'm hopping on for the ride. I'm excited to see what you thought of La Gacilly. I assume you went to the photography festival?
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Originally Posted by pgtraveler
(Post 17684626)
I'm hopping on for the ride. I'm excited to see what you thought of La Gacilly. I assume you went to the photography festival?
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Our flight from Boston/Copenhagen/Paris was very nice. The food was decent, plenty to drink and lots of leg space.
Since our connection was short we hustled to immigration and then to the gate with about 5 minutes to spare before boarding. The good thing was that we did not have to go through immigration when arriving in Paris. Our arrival in Paris was easy and chaotic all at the same time. We had a train to Rennes from Montparnasse and had three hours to get to the train station. Not knowing how long it would take to get to the train station I gave us plenty of time. There are direct trains which is what I wanted because I knew we would be tired after a flight with little to no sleep. We ended up taking a taxi to Montparnasse train station and got a coffee while we waited for our train. The booking of train tickets was pretty easy and having the app in my phone was great for accessing the tickets. Our train ride was uneventful and there were two men who gave us lots of suggestions as we were getting off of the train for our time in Brittany and Normandy. The hotel we stayed in was Accueil - le paris-brest hôtel. It was clean, reasonably priced, included breakfast and was close to the train station/car rental . Dropping off our luggage we headed to find a cold drink and some food. We ended up at La Beret and sat outside with lots of locals. We had a nice conversation with two French men while we enjoyed our wine. We ended up enjoying a charcuterie board, Gougères and some fries. Our eyes were bigger than our stomachs. The atmosphere was lively and made for an enjoyable time. https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...483b8beff.jpeg https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...2abcf8323.jpeg We wound our way back to the hotel just as the rain arrived. |
Regarding Phones-
We both have iPhones and have a Verizon plan. Knowing we would need our phones I researched phone plan options. I ended up changing our plan to the unlimited Ultimate plan which includes international service. The cost was minimal compared to the other options ($25.00 total for both phones) and seemed to work well but we did have a glitch. There was no issue with service from our arrival in Copenhagen and in Paris. When we got to Rennes the data wouldn’t load. After a bit of research, I found that if we turned off auto select for network you could choose a different network. This enabled us to manually select our network (We chose Orange) and we had no more issues. |
Rennes to La Gacilly-
Waking up refreshed we decided to walk before breakfast. It was a bright sunny morning and perfect for exploring the old timbered houses in Rennes. The cathedral was beautiful and the old homes were wonky. There were workmen laying big chunks of granite for a square update. There were lots of people out going to work, walking their dogs and getting the toddlers out for a stroll. The hotel breakfast was wonderful and it was nice to have coffee and croissants before we got our car. We rented a car through Enterprise. Picking up in Rennes and returning it to CDG. Not a big difference in price to return to a different location. The cost was $705.00 for 13 days. They gave us an upgrade for free because they did not have any manual cars. Our drive to La Gacilly was easy. We were in no hurry so took the longest route. We enjoyed seeing some of the small towns. Arriving in town our map took us to the wrong house and the picture of the address on Google maps showed the house that we were at (which was wrong). We finally figured it out but couldn’t check in yet. We parked the car we walked into town and dined Al fresco at Le Jules Verne. Cold drinks and a nice lunch of steak, frites and salad. There were school kids walking through the town exploring the art work hung throughout. After lunch we explored the art hung in the park and then went to check in at our Air bnb for the next four nights. Thanks to pgtraveler for her report Three Weeks in Beautiful Brittany, Normandy and Paris. Your trip report inspired me to stay in La Gacilly and the photo festival was fabulous. |
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Rennes https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...4e4951c0b.jpeg Rennes https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...89f088198.jpeg Rennes https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...008018d28.jpeg https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...af63fd9c2.jpeg Rennes https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...8f44372c1.jpeg This pup was patiently waiting for his owners to eat their lunch. My dog would never do this. |
Originally Posted by Paqngo
(Post 17684700)
Our arrival in Paris was easy and chaotic all at the same time. We had a train to Rennes from Montparnasse and had three hours to get to the train station. Not knowing how long it would take to get to the train station I gave us plenty of time. There are direct trains which is what I wanted because I knew we would be tired after a flight with little to no sleep. We ended up taking a taxi to Montparnasse train station and got a coffee while we waited for our train.
There are three direct TGV (high-speed) trains per day in each direction connecting CDG Airport and Rennes, and the journey takes about 2 hours and 45 minutes. This can save you time and the hassle of taking a taxi or metro across Paris — as long as the train schedules line up with your flight times. So before booking a connection through Paris, it’s worth checking the direct CDG–Rennes TGV, or the direct Rennes-CDG TGV, options. |
PJ94 is correct regarding the trains. Unfortunately, our arrival time didn’t line up with any of the direct trains.
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Were those buildings crooked, Paqngo?! Very cool.
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Tdudette- They are. It’s crazy to see them.
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Our next three days were filled with absorbing La Gacilly and exploring Rochefort-en-Terre La Gacilly has a photo festival every year from June to the beginning of October. Festival Photo La Gacilly - Expo Photos en Extérieur. It is not just some photos hanging here and there. The festival is huge and getting to explore all the locations and art is a real treat. We even saw some photos of a bear from California.
The weekdays were definitely not that crowded and I was able to get up early for some exploration. The weekends were definitely more crowded with lots of people throughout the town. Not only was the photo festival spectacular but the town was too. I got up early to walk through town to a Boulanger. The pan au chocolate and croissants being pulled from the oven caught my eye. I joined the queue to order both and a baguette traditional for later. The old stone homes and cobblestone streets were wonderful to wander through in while the town is just waking up. A market was setting up and after breakfast we went down to explore its offerings. We ended up with a roasted chicken, potatoes, olives and fresh goat cheese to enjoy later. I love French Markets with the colorful produce, variety of cheeses and beautiful plants. Our plan was to drive to Rochefort-en-Terre. The farms and fields along the way along with horses galloping in their fields made the drive better. Our drive through other small towns was uneventful except Google maps though can sometimes lead you down unwanted roads. We learned this from our last trip that if you are going down a dirt road you should probably turn back. The town was quaint and charming. The vivid blue sky and warm weather helped. Lots of people with their dogs in tow wandering through the town. I must be missing our dog at this point. As we walk around I notice a wonderful smell. It’s a The Kouign-Amann the smell of butter and sugar. No wonder it smells good. It is something that we notice for most of our time in Brittany. We spend a few hours meandering through the town and shops before stopping for a cold drink and some time to relax. We stopped by the local grocery store on the way back. It’s alway interesting to see what you can get at other stores. We did manage to get some wine, more cheese, yogurt (I love French yogurt) and potato chip. Please note that when you finish paying make sure you go through the main door. Yes, I set off the alarm by going through an emergency exit. Back at our Air Bnb we enjoy a late lunch/early dinner. Best roasted chicken of our trip. |
Rochefort en Terre
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Thats an interesting mix of locations paqngo - including some of our favourite spots in France. Looking forward to more.
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Hi ANUJ thanks for following along.
Our next two days were spent in town enjoying the photo festival. The Air bnb was in a great location and we loved the space. https://www.airbnb.com/l/mJLnpRN4 https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...d56379d87.jpeg https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...35f044136.jpeg https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...8407141cc.jpeg https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...d5fa04a9f.jpeg https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...059b92a8b.jpeg https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...12e92a255.jpeg https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...2aaf74d61.jpeg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...906e6f64b.jpeg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...c1e0eb866.jpeg https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...2aade8954.jpeg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...ab7be9293.jpeg https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...548940b11.jpeg https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...19737a873.jpeg https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...12359a0f8.jpeg https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...23871616a.jpeg https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...9e4a132ad.jpeg https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...e4095e871.jpeg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...c9db03fa9.jpeg |
Not only did the festival go through town it wound its way along the river and along a forest trail. https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...a5192c4c3.jpeg
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