Brittany Region in France (6)

We left Quimper and were on our way to Roscoff with a stop in Brest for lunch. Originally I had planned to stay in Brest, but, the more I read, the more convinced I became that Brest was not the place to stay. Not that Brest is not an interesting and important city as it is. It is a historic naval city, a fishing port and trading center. It is very old with a working port, but not exactly what one envisions as a tourist destination even though it has the Oceanopolis, a huge aquarium. But I will note that our expectations as to lunch were low when we stopped in an industrial-feeling downtown street because we found a parking spot with a restaurant across the street. It turns out that sometimes you are just lucky! Lunch was really good and very inexpensive, and, it was obviously a local spot as it filled up quickly just after noon.

Then on to Roscoff, our stop for the next two nights. We checked into the Brittany Hotel & Spa, a Relais & Chateaux hotel and were looking forward to a nice room with a balcony. Well, although it “met the description,” it was hardly an inviting room. After a bit of “negotiating,” we had a room that was pleasant, and, just like that, the sun was shining, the birds were singing, and, everything was right with the world again. It is amazing how a room can change one’s outlook!

Roscoff is a charming town right on the Atlantic Ocean, so, there are serious tides. Shortly after we arrived, I took the following picture.

Then, last night I took the following picture with the tide back in.

Roscoff is a charming seaside resort with a square facing the water with restaurants in the square and streets angling off the square. We visited numerous times to have drinks and dinner. We had such a great breakfast at the hotel that lunch was ice cream. We also had to run an errand as Steve had to send an envelope via UPS (an envelope was at the hotel waiting for him) as he bought a car (in the US) while we were here. Fortunately for us the UPS office was only 5 kilometers away, and, the young man at the store very competent. Steve has a bad habit of leasing or buying cars while we travel, but, usually at least we are in the US.

In our roaming, we found the prettiest little church with beautiful landscaping. As charming

as the church is, it is the view from the church that is breathtaking.

We drove around the entire area in the Roscoff vicinity, which was very picturesque as there is water everywhere. In touring Roscoff, there was a lovely church, of which I just had to take a photo.

In mid-afternoon we noticed a few unique cars driving past our hotel and through Roscoff. Then we noticed more and more and realized it was a car rally. The majority of the cars seemed to be from the UK (the right-hand drives were the big clue!).

Following our afternoon of touring we ended the day with an elegant dinner in the dining room. Before dinner Steve met more Brits while he was in the bar waiting for me. And one last picture while we were in Roscoff of Steve while we were wandering the coastline.

Then we were on to Saint Malo, which will be our last stop in Brittany. Saint Malo’s roots go back to before Roman times. Its importance as a seaport developed in the 16th century. It is located in a strategic part of the French coast, the last main Channel port before the tip of Brittany, around which all the merchant ships from the North Sea and English Channel had to pass on their way south. Saint Malo became a convenient port of call for taking on or dropping off supplies or merchandise.

Saint Malo also became notorious as a den of pirates, or corsairs. But on the other hand, Saint Malo became France’s leading port for voyages of discovery to the New World. Saint Malo’s most famous seafarer was the explorer Jacques Cartier who established “New France” on the Gaspe Peninsula in North America, now a part of Quebec. In the 17th century the city’s medieval ramparts were fortified to protect Saint Malo from land and sea attacks. And, although a large part of the old city was bombed during WWII, the ramparts were spared. The bombed areas of the old city were rebuilt in the same way and style, so, the skyline remained as before.

We are in a hotel just outside the walls of the old city directly on the beach with a straight-on beach view. Between us and the beach is a one-way road and a retaining wall. There is a road that leads to the old city lined with a few hotels, restaurants and buildings. Because of the expansive tides the beach is very wide when the tide is out. Yesterday the beach area was filled with people (it was Sunday, so, families were out), and, even a few swimmers, which was beyond my belief as that water has to be really, really cold!.

The walled historic old city is wonderful. It is a living city with residents and, of course, lots of restaurants and shops. There are walkways that lead to the ramparts, and, one can walk all around the city. I walked about halfway, and, there are great views over the water. Then I went into the old city and discovered streets of interesting shops. After checking out the restaurants, I made a dinner reservation, and, Steve and I both returned later for a fun evening. He finally got to try a new drink, a French 75.

The next day involved several walks to the old city, once for lunch and once for dinner, plus a bit of walking about. In mid-afternoon we took the train ride which wound through the entire old city and the port area. Unfortunately for us, the rain started after dinner, so, even though it was not far, it was still a cool, rainy walk back.

And then this morning we were off to Paris, my very favorite city. We drove back to Rennes, turned our rental car in and took the TGV to Paris, and, this time the train lived up to its “tres grande vitesse” name! Everything went according to plan! A driver met us at the train station and drove us to our apartment for the next six nights. More on that in the next post.