To celebrate her second to last week in France, Annika and I went to Brittany. We got cheap train tickets through iDTGV and found an Airbnb in the city center. This was definitely the least planned trip that we took: neither of us knew much about Rennes, and the whole region was barely mentioned in the travel guides I have. After a bit of googling, we decided to use Rennes as a base for day-trips to St Malo and Mont St Michel, and to check out the market and the park, which my friends had visited on the ESN trip.

We got smoothies at Montparnasse, and the usual breakfast (un maxi-pain-au-chocolat et un chausson aux pommes à partager, svp), and hopped on the TGV to Rennes. When we got there, the entire station was under construction, the metro was closed, and as we walked towards the city center, we noticed that that seemed to be the norm. It wasn't the best of first impressions. We crossed the river (or the square built over the river) into the historic center, and entered the neighborhood where we were staying. We met our host, settled into the Airbnb, and booked a Blablacar to St Malo for the day. We headed out to look for lunch, and after looking at a poutinerie, a crêperie, and a lebanese restaurant, we decided on Chawp Shop, a Thai place with a funky atmosphere. I got larb kai and a red curry, both of which were fabulous. 

The Blablacar dropped us off at the St Malo aquarium, a fair way out of town, so we had to take the bus in. The bus dropped us off in front of the walled intra muros district, next to the castle. We went into the town and went into the castle, which had a museum about the history of St Malo. The first part of the museum was full of a bunch of historical items that were kind of interesting, but weren't really cohesively put together. Then there was a tower, where each level was a different aspect of St Malo's history, which was pretty interesting. It reminded me of Nantucket, since it was also an old port that became a vacation destination, all with a pretty similar aesthetic. We climbed up to the top of the tower and got a gorgeous view of the walled city, the coast, and the islands in the channel. We looked over at a tidal island that was still connected to the mainland and decided to head over. We took off our shoes and walked across the beach, where the air held that perfect mix of saltwater and seaweed. After relaxing on some rocks and exploring some tidal pools, we headed back to the city wall, and walked its perimeter. We saw one another tidal island, the Grand Bé, but it was still separated from the mainland, so we kept walking, past a monument to Jacques Cartier, and a swimming pool cut out from the ocean. We started to walk out to the lighthouse, but decided it was too far, and opted to get some ice cream instead.

We had already climbed a tall thing, and we were planning to get a local food for dinner, so to complete the trifecta, we walked to the Cathédral de St Vincent. Its architecture on the inside was reminiscent of any other Gothic cathedral, but it was built with local stone, and had clear mortar. The traditional stained glass was mixed with more abstract patterns, similar to in Reims. We walked around a bit until Breizh Café opened, where we had dinner reservations. They offered Breton-Japanese food, but for the most part we just got Breton food. For an appetizer we got a galette roll with goat cheese, jam, honey, and walnuts. I got a galette with andouille and caramelized onions, and Annika got a salmon galette, both served with runny fried eggs on top and a side of Japanese pickles, all washed down with a local cider. For dessert we had a crepe with caramelized bananas, Valrhona chocolate, and sea-salt caramel topped with whipped cream. The couple next to us had brought a black lab into the restaurant, and we chatted with them a bit about how they're such great dogs. After the restaurant, we had some time to kill before the ride back, so we went for a walk on the beach. We walked out and saw that the road to the Grand Bé was above water. There were signs not to walk to the island unless the water was more than ten meters away from the path, but we knew the tide was going out, so we just walked past them, out onto the island. We climbed up to the top of the island, and looked at the city and the bay. Then we realized we were almost late for the car back, and we ran through the city to catch it on the other side.

We got up the next morning for the Marché aux Lices, France's second largest market. The market filled two buildings and spilled out onto the surrounding streets. There was typical French market fare: cheese and cured meats, bread, fruits and veggies...as well as local fare, like fresh oysters, kouign amanns, and galettes. We opted local for breakfast, getting a kouignette each as well as a galette saucisse for me, and a galette fromage for Annika. We kept looking for lunch, and got some local goat cheese with garlic and fines herbes, a chunk of aged comté, a baguette, some black cherries, and some local gariguettes, marketed as "les freizh". We packed it all up and caught the TGV to Dol-de-Bretagne, where we took a bus to Mont Saint Michel. When we got off, we were both struck by the fact that our surroundings resembled a nature reserve in Northern Illinois. There were grasslands and scrub with a big welcome center, followed by a path out to the island. We walked for about ten minutes until we caught a glimpse of the monastery towers across the tidal plain. We followed the causeway for around half an hour before finally arriving on the island. It looked much closer from shore. When we got there, we walked a couple blocks into the streets, but it was packed, so we climbed up the walls and found a little place to picnic, since we were both getting hungry. The inside of the town felt like a medieval-themed amusement park, with throngs of tourists and themed souvenir stores on either side, but it was a bit less crowded once we got up onto the walls. We ate our food from the market on an old watch tower, then continued our trek up to the monastery. We walked around the monastery and climbed up the steps to the entrance. The abbey had beautiful architecture, with a main hall fit for a cathedral. It also offered spectacular views across the beaches of Normandy. We went through the cloisters and the guest hall, which were also beautiful spaces. The guest hall's windows were decorated with varied knotwork that was reminiscent of Celtic or Norse designs. When we left the abbey, it started drizzling, but we decided to walk around a bit anyway. We walked back into the town, but it was still too crowded, so we walked out onto the beach, and caught a glimpse of some seals. Then we walked the 40 minutes back to the welcome station, and caught the bus back to Rennes. Annika wasn't feeling well that night, so I went a picked up pizza (I got proscutto, arugula, and parmesan, so I can't complain), and watched Unbreakable.

Sunday morning we got up and went to l'Épicerie Bistrot à Tartines, where we got...tartines. We split a cheese-pear tartine, I got a bolognese one, and Annika got one with tomatoes and pesto. We also got salads, and split some amazing raspberry tart for dessert. The amount of food we got earned us some looks from the waiter and from the people around us, but it was our breakfast and lunch, we loved it, and we had earned it walking ten-mile days since Thursday. We walked up to the Parc Thabor, which was absolutely beautiful. We stopped in a couple spots just to lie on the grass. We walked up to the church of St Mélaine, because I had to take some pictures for Mélaine, and then crossed back over the park past the Orangerie through the rose garden. When we had our fill, we walked back to the apartment to get packed up. We headed over to the Museum of Brittany, but got distracted by Rennes sur Roulettes, a rollerskating and rollerblading festival with races and dance events. We stuck around and watched some teenagers competing doing tricks on rollerblades around some cones. Then we kept walking through till we got to the Museum. I was expecting an older museum, more along the lines of the Alsatian Museum in Strasbourg, but the Museum of Brittany was part of a very modern cultural center. They had fascinating exhibits on Breton history from Roman and Celtic times through the Middle Ages to the World Wars and modern times. There was also a special exhibit on trains in Brittany and the development of the TGV. After the museum, we walked back into town to get sandwiches for dinner and some kouign amanns for the rode, and grab a cup of coffee at at La Cité d'Ys, a funky little café/bar that was playing Celtic rock and offered a slew of local ciders and beers. Then we headed back to the Gare to catch the TGV back to Paris.

Written 24 May, 29 May, and 4 June 2017 in Compiègne