Dinard

Cabaret at Dinard!

It's another long weekend here in France, for Pentacost apparently.  Friday (the day we arrived) was the anniversary of the D-Day landings in nearby Normandy. It perhaps wasn't the ideal weekend to be in Brittany as today the crowds are tremendous and yet services are reduced due to holiday time tables .... but here we are and loving it anyway!

This morning we had a lesisurely breakfast at our hotel. Barb was intrigued to see the couple at the next table to us power their way through seven mini croissants each plus cereal and coffee. At first we thought they must be secreting some in a bag to eat later, but when they stood up to walk away they had no bag. They really had eaten that many.

We walked to the bus stop and discovered services were so greatly reduced on Sundays that the first bus service didn't start until 10am. We went back to our hotel and caught a taxi to the train station instead.

catching the boat at St Malo harbour

Us in front of the ferry we'll be catching tomorrow

entrance to the Rance

A quick look at the time table there revealed much the same thing. It was still only 8.45am, so we walked from the train station into the port (St Vincent) to where we'd seen water bus services leave for Dinard. By this time it was getting close to 10am anyway and we caught a boat across the estuary of the Rance river to Dinard.

We were amused by a woman who was on holiday from nearby Jersey and who kindly took a photo of some tourists sitting opposite her. "Come on, let me take a photo of you two love birds" she said to the bemused couple. They happily posed for the photo, and then told her in halting English they were not partners, and indicated that their partners were actually just over there. Two women swapped places and the lady had to take photos all over again, to much hilarity all round. Oops!

Dinard is a very wealthy town and has been a favourite of the Paris elite for centuries. It is also exceedingly pretty. We walked around the perimeter of the town on a path just above the rocks, stopping to ooh and aah over the gorgeous vistas. There's a tidal sea swimming pool above the beach which was built in the 1920s. It looks disused now but above it, enclosed in glass so you still get the ocean views, is a swanky indoor pool and gym. We just might cope with walking on a treadmill with that view before our eyes. (Speak for yourself, Barb, speak for yourself).

John walking into Dinard

Barb on the path to Dinard

the sea pool at Dinard

We stopped at an outdoor beachside cafe with the blue and white striped umbrellas which seem to be de rigeur in seaside resorts in France. It was lovely sitting there enjoying the life style of the rich and famous for a day. Afterwards we wandered into the shopping precinct and quickly discovered that most of the stuff on offer was well beyond our budget. We decided to try and visit Dinan, an old medieval town further up the Rance river instead. Once again we were foiled by reduced timetables, so we headed back to Saint Malo instead.

John at cafe Dinard

beachside cafe, Dinard

Alfred Hitchcock monument

Dinard

Casino at Dinard

Barb at Dinard

While we were waiting for our ferry a group of Moslem girls in their late teens, who were also waiting in the shelter, started to sing and dance spontaneously for their own entertainment. The noise drew a larger crowd and soon there were a group of older French men, either sailors or footballers (they appeared to be wearing some sort of team attire) who started singing their rowdy French songs too. The two groups egged each other on, clapping and cheering and we got treated to a wonderful impromptu cabaret which continued onto the boat once it arrived. Wonderful!

Moslem girls sing and dance

group of French men break into song too

yacht harbour at Dinard

Saint Malo was heaving with tourists when we got back. Nearly every cafe and restaurant was bulging at the seams with patrons and we didn't find anywhere to eat until 1.30pm when the crowds finally were fed and moving on to the shops.

busy Saint Malo

Lunch was fabulous. We have SOOO enjoyed the food in France. Every meal we've eaten out has been wonderful and we've enjoyed the local cuisine and fresh produce very much. It will be hard to leave here tomorrow. It has been a perfectly wonderful getaway and we start saving to return someday as soon as we get back home.

local seafood

restaurants at Saint Malo

In the meantime we have to slum the evening in our hotel room with fruit, crackers, cheese and rillete. We're some way from anywhere and the hotel restaurant is closed this holiday weekend!