World Travel Guide Online

1: The Northern Coast of Brittany

Mont Saint Michel, France

Barely into our two-year journey, our determination to chase the sun already seemed difficult.

We arrived in Rennes, the capital of Brittany, in the pouring rain and walked straight to the hostel. The hostel was very nice and clean. It was early June; the tourists had not yet arrived. The city of Rennes was established in medieval times. The streets were lined with colorful red, green and yellow timber houses that over the years had settled into the ground, creating a very crooked look. Along with the cobblestone streets and a couple of beers, we stumbled around the town like two drunk kids.

On December 21, 1720, a fire swept through 33 streets and 900 houses. After the fire, the houses in the city were rebuilt in stone so the timber homes that survived were tucked between the stone ones. It was really beautiful. We rented a car for a reasonable price to explore more of this fascinating part of France.

Our next stop was a must see for everyone – Mont St. Michel! This place might’ve been covered in tourists, but it was absolutely amazing! It was an abbey that was built on an island of rocks in the 16th century. Years ago you could only visit the abbey at low tide and by foot, but now there is a paved road that takes you right up to the front gates.

St. Malo was next on our itinerary. It was a walled city from the 16th century that was attacked by the Germans in August 1944. Most of the city was destroyed at that time, so the buildings we saw were newer. St. Malo has the highest tide in all of Europe and was quite windy – good for flying kites, which some of the locals were doing. We were still searching for the sun, which had not yet appeared, although we could see it laughing at us behind the clouds.

We visited the Ile de Brehat, a rock island, that is accessible by ferry (worth the trip). It is known for its beautiful flowers, which cover the island with color. It was a two-mile walk across the island to its lighthouse, which is carved out of rose granite and sits atop a cliff of the same. There was no sunshine, only rain.

Ploumanac’h, France

We journeyed on to Plougrescant on the coast. The scenery was magnificent and very peaceful. There was a house that was actually built between two rocks right on the water. The rocks block the harsh winds of the coast and is quite a sight to see. The scenery was incredible, and we dreamed of what it would look like in the sunshine!

Ploumanac’h, the city of Rose Granite on the sea, was next. We felt like Barney and Fred from The Flintstones were going to pop out from behind one of the gigantic boulders and yell “Yabba Dabba Dooooo!” at us. The boulders were so large they looked unreal; balanced on one another, they looked like a movie set. It was a unique coast, unlike any other we had ever seen. North Brittany was amazing, and we would like to venture back there some day (hopefully in the sun).