In June, Erin and a friend went to a week-long cooking class in Brittany. At the end of the week, I rented a car and the kids and I drove out to pick Erin up.
We drove on Friday night after school and spent the night outside of Rennes. On the way, we stopped in Chartres for dinner and quickly visited the ancient cathedral there. This was something that Erin and I had wanted to do earlier (a day trip for her birthday in January) but the weather was too cold and we canceled.
Perhaps the most spectacular element of the Chartres cathedral is its size relative to the rest of the city. Unlike, for example, Notre Dame, which is surrounded by the seven story buildings of Paris, Chartres really stands out. As you are approaching the city, from miles and miles away, all you can see is the cathedral. It made me think of the medieval pilgrims and how awed they must have been on their approach to Chartres.
After picking up Erin and meeting her instructors and fellow cooking students (as well as seeing the home in which they worked), we drove to Dinan to explore the city. We had lunch at the port by the river then hiked up cobblestone streets and walked along the fortified wall.
We then began driving to our hotel that night in St. Malo. However, along the way, we discovered that the hotel was named “Hotel Porte de St. Malo” and wasn’t actually in St. Malo but back in Dinan. We weren’t entirely disappointed since we really enjoyed Dinan. So we continued on to St. Malo for a visit, highlighted by a beach where the kids played among the rocks for a while.
We then turned around and went back to Dinan for a wonderful dinner and more exploration.
The next morning we drove straight to Mont Saint-Michel for a visit to one of the big attractions in France. There we climbed around, trying to find off-the-beaten-path streets and imagined being defenders against Viking invaders. We snapped a bunch of photos, absorbed the atmosphere, and had a terrible lunch (which, against all French norms, is about the only kind served there).
After Mont Saint-Michel, we drove back to Paris and, along the way, decided to stop in Bayeux to see the 800 year old tapestry chronicling William the Conqueror’s ascendancy to the British throne. Even though Erin and I had seen it previously, this was still the highlight of the weekend. The museum has done an excellent job with an audio guide that walks you through the entire story. It keeps you moving, highlights details otherwise missed, and makes the tapestry come alive. They even have a kids edition that kept both of ours engaged.
We drove on Friday night after school and spent the night outside of Rennes. On the way, we stopped in Chartres for dinner and quickly visited the ancient cathedral there. This was something that Erin and I had wanted to do earlier (a day trip for her birthday in January) but the weather was too cold and we canceled.
Perhaps the most spectacular element of the Chartres cathedral is its size relative to the rest of the city. Unlike, for example, Notre Dame, which is surrounded by the seven story buildings of Paris, Chartres really stands out. As you are approaching the city, from miles and miles away, all you can see is the cathedral. It made me think of the medieval pilgrims and how awed they must have been on their approach to Chartres.
After picking up Erin and meeting her instructors and fellow cooking students (as well as seeing the home in which they worked), we drove to Dinan to explore the city. We had lunch at the port by the river then hiked up cobblestone streets and walked along the fortified wall.
We then began driving to our hotel that night in St. Malo. However, along the way, we discovered that the hotel was named “Hotel Porte de St. Malo” and wasn’t actually in St. Malo but back in Dinan. We weren’t entirely disappointed since we really enjoyed Dinan. So we continued on to St. Malo for a visit, highlighted by a beach where the kids played among the rocks for a while.
We then turned around and went back to Dinan for a wonderful dinner and more exploration.
The next morning we drove straight to Mont Saint-Michel for a visit to one of the big attractions in France. There we climbed around, trying to find off-the-beaten-path streets and imagined being defenders against Viking invaders. We snapped a bunch of photos, absorbed the atmosphere, and had a terrible lunch (which, against all French norms, is about the only kind served there).
After Mont Saint-Michel, we drove back to Paris and, along the way, decided to stop in Bayeux to see the 800 year old tapestry chronicling William the Conqueror’s ascendancy to the British throne. Even though Erin and I had seen it previously, this was still the highlight of the weekend. The museum has done an excellent job with an audio guide that walks you through the entire story. It keeps you moving, highlights details otherwise missed, and makes the tapestry come alive. They even have a kids edition that kept both of ours engaged.
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| Dinan |
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| St. Malo |
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| Dodging the waves in St. Malo |
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| Back to Dinan for the night |
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| Mont Saint-Michel |
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| Squeezing through a narrow passageway in Mont Saint-Michel |
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