Geoff & Rita's Europe Tour: Wet and Wonderful

Just to show you we also print the not so pretty part of our holiday as well.

Rita and I got up earlier than usual as we wanted to go to a medieval village called Dinan in Brittany and it was going to take 2 hours to get there. We also wanted to stop at Mont Saint-Michele on the way back, so it was going to be a full day. The weather was overcast when we got up and so we were optimistic. But the weather turned about 30 minutes into our drive. However, when we arrived in Dinan it had stopped raining. We found the city centre thanks to Jill, the voice coming out of our Tom Tom GPS system and parked the car. This is an unbelievably beautiful medieval city. It still has a lot of its original ramparts and walls still intact. The old city contained within these walls is in amazingly good shape from the half-timbered buildings to the cobbled stone streets and of course its churches. The old city itself sits atop a steep hill and its port sits below along the Rance River. The Port was ransacked on many occasions but the walled city was never taken by force (only by siege) this is one of the reasons so many of their buildings survived. The weather was a mixed bag of rain, overcast and sunshine but did not dampen our spirits as we spent several hours walking through the old city and port.

Half-timbered buildings in the Center of Old Dinan

Part of the Ramparts of Dinan and the Port Dinan below

This is the only road from the Old City of Dinan and Port Dinan. It is very steep and all goods had to be hauled up this road to supply the Old City.

Port Dinan as it looks today and its the starting point for boat cruises, cycling tours and hikes through the beautiful Rance River Valley.

We then headed to Mont Saint-Michel, which has been in operation as a religious pilgrimage site since AD 708. Today’s Christian church was built of top of two other church foundations over 1,200 years ago. Over 3.5 million people visit each year (many more tourists than pilgrims). Access to the Island changed in 1878 when a 2 mile causeway was built, which means it is no longer an Island as it is now attached to the mainland. The tide from the Bay of Mont Saint-Michel is very impressive as it moves at 12 mph or 2 feet per second. This means you have to be aware of the time when the tide comes in as the parking lot becomes flooded at high tide. Of course, I did not figure this out until we were on the Island about half way up the walkway to the Abbey. Rita was listening to the announcements (in French only) to remove cars to higher ground or face walking in 6 inches of water to get to them. Went back and moved the car in the middle of a rain shower!! It truly is a very interesting place as there is only one street (about 6 feet wide) that winds its way from the bottom to the Abby at the top. Everything below the Abbey is catering to the tourists (hotels, restaurants, museums and souvenir shops). Apparently, this has not changed since medieval times.
Mont Saint-Michel at almost High Tide

Mont Saint-Michel at Low Tide