19 Days in Auray.
After an easy drive from Le Mans yesterday we arrived in Auray. Many people had asked me why this place. The reason is, I read a blog about the town and like the sound of it. I’m not normally a small town person so it was a bit of a risk for me. Once again the travelling gods seem to be with us.

It is a beautiful town with the lively St Goustan port, where we had a drink. We looked at the menu and saw this dish “pave du merlo chien” Knew it was something to do with a dog. I quickly texted a friend who knows all things food related. She quickly did a search and provided a description:

"Dog sauce ( or West Indian sauce) is a sauce of West Indian cuisine. It is initially composed of bird pepper, onion, garlic, shallots, stems of chives, parsley, thyme, bay leaf, lemon juice, oil, vinegar, hot water, salt and pepper. Dog sauce is used to accompany grilled fish and shellfish (classically lobster). It is also used to accompany barbecue meats.
The sauce should not be spicy (the West Indian pepper is a sweet)
We didn’t order it as neither of us felt like eating much and came back to the apartment and had boiled eggs with a baguette. Luckily we did a little food shop before leaving Le Mans as I have learnt from a previous lesson that supermarkets are not open Sunday afternoon.

As Auray has a big market on Mondays, we took a short stroll to investigate. It is a huge market over several streets where you can buy anything and everything. There is also Les Halles that sells mainly great looking seafood. I was tempted to buy some Gambas, then realised I would have to clean them.

We had a lovely lunch at one of the restaurants by the port. My meal was Turbot with a creamed rice and vegetables, and my husband had the St Jacques.
Dessert was an interesting as I ordered crème brûlée. When it was brought to me the person serving lit the top with a cigarette lighter. The flame went on for so long people thought we needed a fire extinguisher. I was worried with the wind blowing my hair around and made sure the dish was in the middle of the table and I was sitting right back in the chair. It caused great amusement or was it worry by the people surrounding us.

We have walked around the town managing to crank up 11 ks and it really is a beautiful place. Some of the streets match expectations of people who haven’t been to France and dream of coming. I could certainly have a holiday apartment here.

You can't go wrong with the area! Lucky you!
I could happily live in Brittany.

hetismij2 I’m thinking that too.

Lovely photographs. The food looks great.

Auray looks and sounds delightful.

The dog sauce sent me out looking for recipes. They are lots (of course) very different, but I will try one, modified to less heat.

Funny crème brûlée story. Now I am hungry.

It looks beautiful. We have only spent a week in Brittany and that was several years ago.

Have a lovely time.

Sometimes what sounds like a great idea turns out ordinary. Today we thought it would be nice if we drove the 18 mins to Locmariaquer and then did a walk to Pointe de Kerpenheir. The most rewarding part was seeing some beautiful houses on big blocks of land with gorgeous gardens. The Pointe was pretty ordinary, and on the way back a house had a sign up encouraging people to step into the garden. We walked around the back of the house and first thing I noticed was the big bottle brush tree. The garden was very bright and colourful and obviously owned by an artist as there were statues everywhere. In the upstairs windows their were paintings in the windows. The gentleman did come out to say Bonjour, gave us a wave, and went back inside. Lovely of him to share his garden. Only 10ks walked today.

We then drove on to Vannes and it is a really large town and very pretty. A surprise was the ramparts with lovely gardens, and lots of timber framed houses of various colours. The cathedral warrants a further visit as it was only a quick look as there appeared to be a funeral about to take place. A few minutes later the church bells started ringing and went on for some time. A sad occasion for someone, but I did love listening to the bells.

As Vannes is so close to Auray we plan to catch the bus one day and have a long lunch somewhere, and investigate a bit more of the town.

We are loving how light it is in France. Still light at 10.00 pm.


Gorgeous house along the road to Pointe de Kerpenhir

Pointe de Kerpenhir

Gardens in the Ramparts

The Ramparts

Always look so pretty on the outside

Love the colours together

The Marie is always such a beautiful building

Reminded me of home

Thank you for the photos! I have plans to visit Brittany this summer, and Auray is on my list. Still undecided about Vannes.

pgtraveller It is a much bigger town than I expected considering the population is 54.000. I will let you know when we return to have a better look around.

It's amazing how often that exact architectural plan has been used in mairies around France and even cities like Saigon.

Beautiful! Looks like a great place to base yourselves for this next leg. I need to see more of Brittany.

kerouac yes so many are the same ( beautiful buildings) and I wondered if it was a recommendation at the time from the government that all Marie’s were to use this plan. I will do some research.

When watching the Tour d’ France in the Brittany stages, the commentators always mention the wind. I can see why. There is a cool breeze everyday and we are still wearing our windproof jackets, and starts to warm up about midday. Today I had only three light layers on plus a jacket, and then my windproof jacket that kept putting on and then taking it off.

The 50 minute drive took us to a tourist packed Pont Aven. The river area is beautiful and there are some stunning houses and magnificent gardens. Some interesting artwork in the galeries. If you are visiting best to go between 12-2.00 pm as the tourists buses have left and you can get great photos. Two hours would be plenty. Basically there is the river area to see and one or two streets. I would also like others to note that the whole town does not look like the river area.

We then drove to Cornecau and had a look around, walk along the fort, and then had a fabulous icecream.


So pretty

Looks lovely from the bridge

Beautiful tree although I don’t know the type.

Would be amazing to live in this house although people walking past all the time could drive you nuts.

Gorgeous place

Really interesting and would have lived to know how it was made.

Loved the colours in this and the frame.

Yesterday we had a quick visit to the beautiful town/ village of Josslin. Unfortunately the Chateau and dolls museum didn’t open until two pm. It is a beautiful town and has lots of upgrades going on so finding a park was difficult due to road closures. We will return one afternoon next week. The only town that I think would be worth an overnight stay to see it all lit up.

We were up very early this morning to catch the train to Rennes. Nice city with the beautiful Cathedral St Peter and it is one of my favourites. Lots of timber frame houses that seemed to be in good condition. I was surprised to see the big church of St Aubin is a centre for exhibition. Looks quite sad to see this beautiful building empty.

Then visited the stunning Parc du Thurbor with a fantastic rose garden with amazing perfume, and so many other activities for the numerous schoolchildren visiting.

St Peter’s Cathedral Rennes

The stunning dome in St Peter’s

Magnificent walls

Beautiful rotunda

Orangery/ Glass house. I need one of these at home.

Stunning ceiling.

A very unusual climbing rose against a stone wall. Looked fantastic


First day we haven’t had to wear coats for the wind, and we wore summer clothes. Total walking 15ks and a bit harder when it is warmer.

Your photos are great, and showing each day's highlights adds a lot to your trip report.

We are in the same general region as you and today was our first warm day too. Looks like the next week will be warm and dry. It's a shame because they really need the rain.

Gorgeous shots, Cheska. Happily jealous of you and Coquelicot! 😁

Enjoying this thread a lot, even if I am green with envy .

TDudette and hetismij2. It is a perfect day today with no wind and there is only one thing to do….


Sit and have a lovely glass of Prosecco in this beautiful environment

The view from my table at the gorgeous bar/restaurant. At €9.65 for two I nearly had another because it was so cheap. A glass of Prosecco in Canberra is anywhere from $12-15

PS. I know you are both with me in sprit 🤣