North-East Brittany: A trip between Saint-Souliac, Saint-Malo and Mont Saint-Michel

Saturday (23.2.2019) was sunny and warm, Karen and I went for a ride in the northeastern region of Brittany. The route we took was circular, about 300 km long, we did it in one day, because we didn’t climb to the monastery at Mont Saint Michel. It was enough for us 4 times, even though the place is fascinating.

For a similar reason, we didn't spend much time in Saint-Malo and Cancale. We traveled mainly for the purpose of writing this article. For those who are visiting the area for the first time, I highly recommend splitting the route into two. Spend the first night in one of theRecommended hotels in Saint MaloAfter the first day, and the next day continue to Cancale and Mont Saint Michel.

For the benefit of the misers who are not willing to wisely invest 60 euros per night of accommodation inOur wonderful castle, and prefer to spend 100 euros per night with the Gentiles (here, I have poured out my wrath), I marked the Nantes As the starting point.
So here are the points of interest, marked in the diagram above, not exactly:
1. Nantes.
2. For the righteous – our castle, Port de Roche.
3. Saint-Souliac.
4. Saint-Malo.
5. Kankel.
6. Mont Saint Michel.

Before we continue a riddle about French culture

Who am I?

At 17, I enlisted in the French army, but left because I thought it was a waste of time. I traveled in America, marveled at the Indians, about whom I wrote two stories that were translated into Hebrew. I married a woman for her great wealth, and shortly thereafter the revolutionary government confiscated it. In revenge for this, I joined the royalists. When these failed, I fled to England.

The revolutionaries executed my eldest brother in my place. Scumbags, couldn't they kill my wife? With no choice, I returned to her, but I lost my lover. Napoleon He respected me because I wrote in praise of religion. Not that Napoleon was particularly religious, but the revolutionaries he replaced were hostile to the church, so he was a member of it.

He appointed me as a diplomat in Rome. As a token of gratitude, I wrote an article comparing him to Nero, the mad emperor. As a counter-gesture, Napoleon exiled me, and I dedicated my book “The Tortured Saints” to him. In order not to continue to suffer, I joined the government, as Minister of Foreign Affairs. In my book “Posthumous Memoirs” I summarized what I had learned in the vicissitudes of my life:

When we die, the earth opens its bosom to receive us, grows grass and flowers on our grave, and transforms us into the material from which new life is created.

So? Who am I?
(Hint: related to Saint-Malo.)

Nantes – Saint-Souliac

We set off.
First section: Nantes – Saint-Souliac.
About 180 kilometers. A lot, but almost all on highways.

You leave Nantes north on the N137, at the entrance to Rennes you take the bypass, N136, get off it onto the D137, continue north on it until you get off at the D117, which brings you directly to Saint-Souliac.

Saint-Suliac

The village itself doesn't seem to have anything special to my taste, even though it is included in a respectable list of the 160 most beautiful villages in France.
here Full list, for those interested.
However, the promenade on the edge of the bay provides a beautiful panorama. This is a phenomenon that is not unique to the place, but it is an excellent example: a river, in this case the Rance, flows into the sea, and the sea returns to it and widens it greatly, up to 2 km wide, thus transforming a village that is many kilometers from the sea, into a seaport with excellent protection from storms. There are countless fishing boats, sailboats, yachts of all sizes (=price).

Instead of a restaurant – Bistro de la Greve – which looks good, at least according to the many diners.

Not only was there no free table in the restaurant, they didn't even let us go to the restroom. But there are restrooms further down the promenade, south, at the entrance to the parking lot.

Francophile's tip: If you would like to check out additional restaurants and even receive discounts on some of their menus, I highly recommend that you go toLink this.

St-Malo

From Saint-Souliac we will return the way we came to the N137, which will take us directly to St-Malo.
The city is best known for its large ferry port. Here is one of them:

Crossing the Channel from here to Portsmouth in England takes much longer than crossing from Calais to Dover, but that's precisely why the English have come to like this route, as it allows them to stay in comfortable rooms while their car exchanges experiences with trucks whose steering is clearly on the uncivilized side. The large ferries have restaurants, cinemas, hairdressers, manicure-pedicure services, and a few other things I didn't check out.

Francophile's tip: Using these crossings, you can also reach the island Guernsey I lived there for almost three years.

Even before the ferry port, you will see a reconstructed pirate ship at the entrance to the city:

Indeed, Saint-Malo was one of the home ports of the Breton pirates. In fact, if I had said this to one of them, he would have marched me on the plank leaning over the waves, because the people of Saint-Malo do not consider themselves Breton, certainly not French:

Ni français, ni breton, malouin suis (I am not French, I am not Breton, I am Malouin)

Interestingly, the Melo-Inan identity was translated into the Spanish name for the Falkland Islands, “Malvinas,” and not by chance, but because the first Europeans to arrive there were, of course, from Saint-Malo.

In fact, it should also be noted that these are not pirates, but “corsairs.” The corsair does exactly the same thing, that is, he attacks another ship from his ship and robs its cargo, but, as in the case of lawyers, for example, he does so with a license. In exchange for a license to rob ships, which in principle is limited to enemy ships, but the corsairs’ disciplinary courts are not meticulous about small things, he transfers 10% of the loot to the authorities of his country.

Since I mentioned the pirates, I won’t leave them out easily. There are several versions of the origin of the name. The accepted one is that it is a corruption of the word Private. It is related to the issue of licenses to attack enemy ships. That is, the naval force of a country consisted of a regular war fleet, and “private” warships. Attention, our Navy Commander.

Another important point that needs clarification is the matter of the eye patch, which every self-respecting pirate would boast about. Could it be that they all lost an eye in battle? The most original explanation I found is that it is not blindness at all, but rather the covering of a perfectly healthy eye. Why? So that one eye, the one that is covered, will keep its pupil wide open. This way, the pirate can go down into the belly of the ship, and by removing the patch, that eye does not need time to get used to the darkness. Attention pilots among us.

The old city of Saint-Malo lies within massive walls, which contain several fortified gates:

The entire city of Saint-Malo, including the old part within the walls, was completely destroyed during World War II, after the Allies began advancing from Normandy to the rest of the region. FranceBy the way, I will not miss this opportunity to mention that the Americans, the British, the Canadians, and even the Free French army had no inhibitions in using massive fire on areas they were about to enter. They did so even though in most cases these were areas populated by civilians, whom, as is well known, they had come to liberate.

In one of the history books I found a quote from Churchill, in which he declared that he was tired of hearing about “French girls killed by British shelling.” To his credit, I will note that he had more successful statements, which have made it into all the history books, but which he probably made when he was not drunk.

The city was accurately reconstructed based on previous photographs and information from residents who remembered the buildings as they were before they were turned into waves of stone.
There is a large underground parking lot outside the walls. When we arrived it was full, so we did what the French do: waited at the entrance until a space became available.

General note: In some parking lots in France, it is impossible to know when a space will become available, because the exit is not visible from the entry point. But don't worry: you can't get in, the machine doesn't allow entry, but only when another car has left the parking lot, in which case it will willingly accept. Gradual monogamy, if you will.

From the outside, the old city looks like one huge fortress, but inside it is a completely vibrant civilian life. Shops, cafes, museums. It's worth wandering around.

We didn't wander around this time, because hunger was starting to take its toll, and we wanted to eat seafood. There are, of course, quite a few fish restaurants in Saint-Malo, but the recommended place is Cancale. There, the restaurants sit right on the promenade, overlooking the beach exposed at low tide, and the diner sees his crabs walking straight from the breeding ponds to his plate.

By the way, not everyone is waiting for the crabs to arrive. You can see crowds of locals walking on the sand at low tide, collecting crabs and clams, as well as fish caught in the pits. The name for this activity is “boot fishing.”

(Before we leave Saint-Malo, another clue to the “Who am I?” riddle. Besides “my” connection with Saint-Malo, there is also a steak, or more precisely, a way of cutting a fillet, named after me.)

Recommended restaurants in Saint-Malo

If you decide to stop in Saint-Malo for lunch or dinner, I highly recommend checking out the article Recommended restaurants in Saint-Malo and the surrounding area.

Cancale

I marked the route we took, which is the fastest, and we rushed to the crabs. I would love to hear from anyone who has traveled along the coast, if it is worth doing this route.

In the central square of Cancale, in front of the church, a fountain statue of two women carrying baskets of oysters:

Cancale is at the western end of the Mont-Saint-Michel Bay, known as the place where the differences in height between high and low tides are most impressive, thanks to the fact that the sea is shallow, so a drop in water level retreats the sea for kilometers.
We arrived at low tide, and the sight of the boats sinking on the exposed seabed is impressive.

You can keep up to date with tide times in Kankel atThis web page.

There is no need to delve into the charts, the page directly displays the data for the next low tide and high tide times. You can, of course, switch to the pages for other places in France.

Food. Food. Countless restaurants along the boardwalk, all full, as are the parking lots.

There are also stalls selling oysters, which are opened on the spot:

It's nice, but we didn't travel on an empty stomach to eat standing up. A tip that might work for you too: If everything along the promenade is full, go to its southern end, there's a hotel there called The Mother Champlain.

It's a hotel, but its restaurant is also open to just hungry people from the street.
A half-liter jug ​​of excellent Muscat wine costs 5 euros. Santé !!!

I started with fish soup. There are no words.

At the table next to us, there were 4 diners. Eiffel Tower Of seafood:

It seemed to me that I wouldn't be able to overcome this abundance, and even my natural hedonism is sometimes (distantly) attacked by outbursts of modesty, so I went for an order of 10 cold langoustines:

Langoustines look like large shrimp. I eat shrimp without any problems. What problem could there be with langoustines? Any problem is possible.

I easily separated the head. The tail and body were embalmed in armor like a Knight of the Templars. I squeezed. I pulled. I scratched. It didn't work. I moved on to the second, maybe it's crunchier, then to the third. Finally, after the tenth, I hid the disgrace under a few napkins. At home I saw that I wasn't alone, try typing how to eat langoustines and you'll be surprised by the number of tips and videos. Here's one website, for example:

https://youtu.be/wGojY6vtEsg

I didn't rest until I got up from writing this and drove to Redon, where there is a stall inside the InterMarcche shopping complex that sells seafood. Although not as fresh as in Kanel, they are believed not to poison customers.

For 3.5 euros I bought 10 langoustines:

I boiled water with a pinch of salt, placed the langoustines in. Head facing tail. The instructions say 3 minutes, but when I put them in, the boiling stopped, because the animals had cooled them, so I measured from the moment they boiled again, took them out, put cold water in the pot, for five minutes, and straight to the plate.

The secret, as I learned from the video, is that after removing the head, you gently press on the armor on both sides, with its back facing us, and then it releases the body:

We will return for a meal in Kanel.

For dessert, literally: Many restaurants in France serve, among the dessert courses, one called “café gourmet.” It has coffee, of course, but the main thing is that these are small samples of regular dessert courses. We got a cup of rice pudding with berry sauce, a chocolate cookie, a fluffy cookie with strawberries, and a cup of lemon sorbet ice cream. Excellent, of course.

The exit from Kankel allows for a panoramic view of the city and its surroundings:

Mont-Saint-Michel

From Cancale to Mont-Saint-Michel is about 50 kilometers. If you are in a hurry, it is advisable to cut towards the highway and do most of the way on it.
The place is considered one of the most beautiful in the entire world. Apart from the legendary appearance, which seems to have been taken from a painting, its uniqueness lies in the fact that the hill on which the monastery stands turns into an island at high tide, and connects to the mainland at low tide. Since the times of high and low tide are important, I recommend that you keep up to date with them on the tide table, which can be found atThe island's official website.

I am too weak to describe the beauty of the place. I will hang it in a tall tree:
Guy de Maupassant, who visited Mont Saint-Michel in the second half of the nineteenth century, wrote in the story “The Legend of Mont Saint-Michel” (my translation from English):

I saw it first from Cancale, the enchanted castle in the sea. Like a gray shadow in a misty sky. I saw it again from Avranches, at sunset. The vast strip of sand was red, the horizon was red, the whole boundless bay was red. The rocky castle rising there in the distance like a strange, strange abode, like a palace of dreams, strange and beautiful – it alone remained black in the crimson light of the dying day.

The next morning, at dawn, I advanced towards the sands, my eyes fixed on it, a huge jewel, as big as a mountain, and as delicate as lace. As I approached, my admiration grew. Nothing in the world could be more wonderful or more perfect. I was as surprised as if I had discovered the abode of God. I wandered through halls supported by weak or massive columns, and I raised my eyes in wonder to the spires that looked like arrows shooting into the sky, and to a marvelous assembly of towers, of gargoyles, delicate and charming decorations, fireworks of stone, lace, granite. A masterpiece of colossal and delicate architecture.

Caution: It is very attractive to walk on the sand that is exposed at low tide. Crowds of tourists go far. And you can go far. The sea retreats about 12 km! But it also returns… and quickly… I did not measure, and different websites have different estimates of the speed of the sea’s return. Between 10 and 18 km/h. Apparently not bad. But keep in mind that it is difficult to run on quicksand.

Good views of the place can be seen in the following video:

The place has inspired many artists, perhaps most interestingly MC Escher, who was apparently influenced by the sight when creating his woodcut “Castle in the Sky,” and this work probably influenced later fantastical works as well.

A little history of Mont Saint Michel

In the year 708 of their reckoning, the Archangel Michael appeared to the Bishop of Avranches, Saint Aubert, and commanded him to build a monastery on the granite rock that had already served as a place of worship. “Build it high, they will come,” he said. Over the years, layers upon layers were built, higher than high, in various architectural styles, especially Romanesque and Gothic. The island also served as a military fortress, thanks to the relative ease with which a small force could defend it against superior forces. It is one of the few in northern France that was not damaged at all in World War II.
The golden statue of the Archangel Michael stands at the top of the monastery:

At various times, attempts were made to overcome the isolation of the place during high tide. I remember that on my first visit to the place, many years ago, there was an elevated road, on which it was possible to drive all the way to the foot of the monastery, even at high tide. Later it became clear that the embankment on which the road passes was disturbing the natural balance and causing the accumulation of silt. Not long ago, probably 3-4 years ago, the embankment was replaced with a bridge standing on stilts. This way, the water passes freely under it.

Parking today is in lots about 2.5 kilometers from the island. A free shuttle service runs non-stop, and there are also horse-drawn carriages (for an additional fee of several euros).

It is possible to stay at hotels located on the route from the parking lot to the island itself, and then you can park in their private parking lots, and board the shuttle directly from the hotel. If you choose to leave your car in the public parking lot, remember to take the ticket, because the payment is at the stations quite far from the parking lot.

Visiting Mont Saint Michel

If you have decided to visit Mont Saint Michel, then you are strongly encouraged to book your tickets in advance to save valuable time. Here are some options:

• Tickets to the monastery – In case you arrived independently.
• Plus Transportation Card – Great if you live in Paris and want to visit Mont Saint-Michel for a day.
• Ticket plus transportation plus meal – An excellent and extremely affordable package.

Accommodation in Mont Saint Michel

It's best to visit Mont Saint Michel in the morning before the daily invasion of the tourist crowds. However, to do so you must live on the island itself or nearby. So if you decide to do so, I highly recommend checking out the article Mont Saint Michel Recommended Hotels.

The trip to northeastern Brittany ends here

Did you solve the riddle? Write in the comment.

דני

Want to live in the castle where Danny lives?

A 50-minute drive from Nantes is an ancient castle that has been transformed into a luxurious boutique hotel. That's where Danny lives and where you can live too. You can find more information about it in the article Manoir de la Chausée – live in an Israeli castle in Brittany.