10 Reasons to Visit the Beauty of Brittany

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One of the best things about slow travel is the opportunity to stay longer in a region.

Our previous trips to Brittany were to explore the famous town of Saint-Malo and the historic beauty of Mont St Michel.

It’s no secret that we love France and have spent much time travelling around it.

When we received an invite to stay with Melanie, whom we had met via Instagram in Croatia, at her new home in Chatelaudren-Plouagat. Of course, we accepted.

When you have access to the local knowledge of places to see, from the locals, it allows you to visit places often off the tourist radar.

This is why we want to share the places we found while travelling in Brittany.

10 Reasons to Visit the Beauty of Brittany

1. The Walled Town of Saint-Malo

Large ramparts around a gate entrance into a walled city
Massive ramparts and gates of Saint-Malo

Our first trip to Saint Malo was arriving by Condor Ferry from the island of Guernsey. As we approached Saint-Malo, we got our first glimpse of the old walled town – amazing. This is probably why we forgot we had lost an hour due to the time zone from Guernsey to France.

As we approached the walled town, we were in awe at the height of the walls.

Built as a privateer stronghold (government-employed pirates) – anyone trying to scale up those walls would not have gotten too far.

While the tide was out, we clambered over the rocks to some outlying fortifications from the beach. We took a stroll to look at the old pirate ship moored in the harbour before returning to an older section of the old town.

Here, you can walk up onto the wall to do a circumference walk with views over the harbour.

A lady on the walls of a city
Walking the walls that surround the city of Saint-Malo

Having recently read and watched the Netflix movie “All the Light we Cannot See”, St Malo was an important port in WWII. Many of these magnificent buildings were rebuilt after the war.

The view from walking the wall is across the harbour and back inside the walled city.

Our first-ever Galettes

A pancake meal on a plate
Galettes for dinner – delicious and cheap

As we were starting to get a little peckish, we came across a restaurant on the wall: Creperie Le Corps de Garde, which specialises in “Galettes,” aka crepes with a difference.

The crepe is flipped on itself, exposing the centre, or like the locals next to us, their crepe completely encloses the ingredients.

We chose one savoury and one sweet to share, along with a local beer and red for Maura. Curious as to what the locals were drinking in a large cup, Maura’s question in French revealed it was local cider—something for us to add to our list to try.

A street lined with restaurants at night
Walking the streets at night in Saint-Malo

2. Spectacular Mont Saint-Michel

A walkway leading to a castle on an island
The Pont Passerelle leading to Mont Saint-Michel

If you are staying at St-Malo, you can take the bus from the old town for €25 and return to Mont Saint-Michel for the day.

The drive takes about an hour and takes you along the coast and through villages. You then arrive at the designated parking area. Access to Mont Saint-Michel is by walking along the bridge or taking the free shuttle.

The walk takes about 40 minutes and allows lots of opportunities to take amazing photos to absorb the sight of this beautiful place.

When we arrived, the tide was out. We made our way around the outside of the fortification—no one else was in sight—gaining views of the Abbey and finding a small chapel on the rocks.

A lady looking at a monastery island
Maura on the mud flats admiring Mont Saint-Michel

We clambered up more rocks to find ourselves in the Gendarmerie (Police) base. After a few looks, we headed straight for the entrance of the Abbey walls, where there was a military presence.

Once through the gates, we were taken back in time.

A group of people on a narrow street
Visitors shopping on the island

A Step Back in Time

The Benedictine Abbey (Unesco site) built from the 11th century has about 40 monks still in residence. The abbey entrance fee is E9 and is accessible walking up and along the street of shops and restaurants. You can spend a good hour or more following the designated areas of old living areas, church and cloister taking in the history and views. We had a laugh when we read the abbey restoration started in 1874 and continues still today.

A tall stone church
The Abbaye du Mont-Saint-Michel

The top of the Abbey spire is St Michael the archangel, protector to the French as fortified mount was impregnable against the English attacks in the hundred years war.

A gold statue of an angel
The gold statue of St Michael

Lunch today was at a restaurant with views across the mudflats to the sea – the tide still out. Seats at a premium we waited for a table and tried another local beer and cider. The cider was dry, not sweet and very pleasant to drink.

A busy outdoor cafe
Lunch on Mont Saint-Michel
Two riders on horses looking at an island castle at sunset
Leaving Mont Saint Michel in the evening

Back to Saint-Malo

A great day day out exploring a bucket list item and we were not disappointed. We made our way back to the parking area to catch our bus back to Saint-Malo at 3.45pm.

With a lot of walking done today we decided we would stay near the hotel for dinner. But on the advice of our concierge, we walked back to Saint-Malo old town in search of another local dish. He suggested “moules” (small mussels) and another Galette along with cider at the recommended Les Korrigan’s. We finished our meal sharing a buttered crepe – sooo delicious.

A meal of mussels and French fries
A delicious meal of mussels and fries

 

A walk after dinner with many people enjoying the restaurants. We exited the side entrance gateway with a grotto of “Our Lady” above.

An exit through an old wall with a lit statue
The exit from Saint-Malo, France

Tomorrow we take the train to Paris. Saint-Malo and Mont Saint-Michel are amazing places to visit, and we have enjoyed taking the time to explore both places.