This post is about Dinan sights and a little bit about Cote d’Armor. Dinan is really worth seeing: old houses, flowers, a scenic descent to the lower town, no crowds of tourists… Many details just ask for the camera.
travel in france
Brittany. 1. Ille et Villaine. Saint Malo
Brittany (Bretagne) on the maps seemed somehow quite easily “explorable”, especially since the first time we decided to take a car, remembering from previous trips that traveling in France without a car creates some, in some places significant, problems. In reality, the region turned out to be huge and interesting. However, the vast distances make it impossible to explore Brittany in any detail in a week.
You have to choose what is characteristic of Brittany and drive a lot, or explore one small piece, hoping to see other parts next time.
Mont Saint Michel Abbey
According to legend, the St. Archangel Michael appeared to bishop Ober in a dream and ordered to build a church here. And that was done: in the 8th century a chapel appeared on the rock. However, the Archangel Michael is unlikely to have anything to do with the transformation of the chapel into a fortress, which we see today. The place was strategically and economically profitable, and the abbots were smart enough to use it. But the main merit, of course, belongs to those architects from the 11-16 centuries who managed to unit the man-made and nature so poetically.
Writers and not only they admired Mont-Saint-Michel, called it the eighth wonder of the world. At number one, it entered the UNESCO list.
Strasbourg (Strassburg). What to see
Strasbourg (Strassburg in German) is a city for a short visit for a couple of days or for christmas market in Advent. It is not very suitable for a base in Alsace: it takes quite a long time to get to any interesting point – either to the north or to the south. True, there are many hotels in the city, and this makes it very likely that this is where you will stay.
A significant part of the old city is on the UNESCO list, including the most famous landmark – Strasbourg Cathedral.
Lower Normandy Map. Manche attractions
We were in Brittany and Upper Normandy, but Lower Normandy remained unexplored for us. Let’s look, what interesting is there and begin with Manche attractions.
The beaches are beautiful and sandy almost everywhere, but Manche has also rocks.
There are two maps in this post.
Lower Normandy. Calvados and Orne. What to visit
Upper Normandy tourist attractions. 1. Seine-Maritime
Rouen old town
Brittany. 1. Ille et Villaine. Saint Malo
Lower Normandy. Attractions Calvados and Orne on the map
Attractions Calvados deserves a closer look: cider, cheese, calvados, picturesque old towns and trendy resorts nearby. And the beaches are wonderful everywhere. The whole line of beaches is also connected with the history of D Day. For the D Day I give a separate map.
Perhaps few will get to Orne, it is too far from the sea, but it makes sense to study the map of Orne too – maybe you will want to stop there for a couple of days on the way.
Fecamp attractions
Fecamp is one of the largest cities on the coast. The next to the south is Le Havre, to the north is Dieppe.
All cities, towns and villages are arranged according to the same principle: high gypsum banks (Alabaster Coast) are cut by a river of greater or lesser strength, a large or small gorge is formed and also an exit to the water, houses grow around this exit.
Upper Normandy tourist attractions. 1. Seine Maritime
Main Upper Normandy tourist attractions are a picturesque Alabaster coast with chalk cliffs. The castles here and there are in most cases not the most outstanding and more like the estates of not too rich nobles. Nice villages with old houses. Calvados and Camembert. Gardens planted by talented gardeners. The beaches are pebbly, in some places at low tide you can find sand, which becomes more in the north.
“Hanging” Valley in Senneville sur Fecamp
Nearby hamlet, north of Fecamp, Senneville sur Fecamp. I knew that there was access to the sea, but where exactly was not clear. There are no signposts. I pointed my finger at a promising dead end on the navigator.
List of villages with “hanging” valleys can be found on the map of attractions.
What to see in Alsace. Alsace attractions from Selestat to Colmar
We continue to explore Alsace attractions. In the previous part, we got from the north to Selestat. Now let’s go further south. Here the number of attractions and picturesque towns increases. Endless vineyards stretch along the hills, and in the half-timbered old villages you will find no less endless vinotheques.