Dinan

Today we set off for Saint Malo and Dinard but distance and Sunday worked against us. We knew it would be the longest trip we made other than to and from Nantes, but didn't realize how long the trip would take. We got a bit of a late start, but as soon as we hit the road we met up with one of the drawbacks of traveling on Sunday in France, bicycle clubs. During most of our ride down to N12 and the expressway, we were behind at least one biking club and often two or three. They filled one side of the road, so we had to wait for a clear area to pass. The roads we were on were curvy, so it was only a few miles before we got to N12 before the last of the clubs turned off our road.

The highway is very similar to American expressways with limited access and rest areas. By the time we got to the highway it was already 10:30 a.m., so we begain to worry if we would make it to Saint Malo in time for lunch. At noon we hit St-Brieuc which is a fairly large city, so we got off to look for a restaurant. The business area was deserted and it took a bit of riding around to get back to N12. By now it was close to 1 p.m.

We headed on to Dinan, another tourist city near Saint Malo. Since it was getting late we did turn off at one town that had signs for two restaurants. Both were closed and we it was now 1:30 p.m. In Dinan we saw open restaurants so we quickly found parking and sat down to eat. The people who followed us into the restaurant were turned away since it was too late.

The restaurant we chose was actually part of a large hotel and was very popular with the locals. Jan had the special of the day, Bar, a type of sea bass with an assortment of colorful roasted vegetables. I had duck confit and rice. Both meals were good and I ordered a desert crêpe.

After lunch we walked around the old town and looked for an open bolulangerie to get some bread for our supper.

Lots of people in the old town of Dinan

Carving on old building in Dinan

This old building with a very large lean to it is one of the famous buildings of Dinan.

It was time for the drive back and we made it back to Kerisquin by 6:30 p.m.with one stop for coffee. It rained most of the way back and we were happy to settle in and have a sandwich and some fruit and yougurt.