August
2017
Cancale to Mont-st Michel, via Dol-de-Bretagne
After an emotional night watching Interpol in Saint-Malo, it was off towards Normandy and the breathtakingly magical island village of Mont-st-Michel.
We left Saint-Malo via Cancale and the beautiful Rochers sculptés de Rothéneuf. The fantastical rocks were carved and sculpted by the abbot Adolphe Julien Fouéré from 1894 to 1907, and the shapes are mostly faces but other fascinating forms appear too, most notably a large dragon.
After a quick visit to the Cancale Super-U and subsequent picnic overlooking the bay, we headed into the town itself to briefly explore the (subtly nautically-themed) church.
The last town we visited before leaving Brittany for Normandy was Dol-de-Bretagne. Sadly I do not remember it fondly – it was humid and oppressively hot, the traffic had been pretty bad and, being a Monday and lunchtime, most of the shops were closed…so I wasn’t in the best headspace as we walked around.
My spirits were lifted by a visit to the church however – someone was practicing on the organ and the music oscillated from traditional and quite lovely, to humourous (can’t remember what it was but after a particularly serious piece he hammered out a few bars of something that made all in attendance giggle appreciatively).
After settling in at our Airbnb in nearby Beauvoir (and waiting for 7pm when parking would be cheaper) we made our way to Mont St-Michel. Driving along the bay earlier that afternoon I totally squealed with joy when the distinctive silhouette first appeared out on the horizon, so seeing it up close filled me with emotions that threatened to overwhelm me.
It’s truly like something out of a fairytale – such a magical place.
First impressions up close – taken through the shuttle bus window
It was pretty busy along the walkway/entrance but overall not too crazy full.
Inside the walls the magic continued: I was immediately enchanted by the many beautiful signs above the ancient buildings. The tourist shops were closing for the evening but the lamps were all being lit and just enhanced the feeling of being in a medieval fairytale.
We watched the sunset from a large platform, accompanied by the distant bleating of sheep, it was totally idyllic.
– – –
BZH 2017: Intro | Pt 1 | Pt 2 | Pt 3 | Pt 4 | Paimpol 2017 – Festival du Chant de Marin
Pt 5 | Pt 6 | Pt 7 | Pt 8 | Pt 9 | Pt 10 | Pt 11 | Pt 12 | Saint-Malo: La Route du Rock Festival
Pt 13 | Pt 14 | Pt 15 | pt 16 | Pt 17 | Pt 18
If you travel and you don’t use Booking.com you really should it’s the best! I’m not 100% sure how the referral codes work but try mine if you haven’t used one before for a discount after your first trip: https://www.booking.com/s/35_6/rattsi32
