Again, for our own record, to help us remember the why, what, when and where of another major trip, similar to what we did last year in Denmark!
This was a driving trip, from beginning to end, 1734 km/1077 roundtrip without excursions, and will be divided in this post by the 5 cities where we stayed over 20 days:
The 5 numbers indicate the order of cities where we stayed in hotels:
Rouen, St. Malo, Brest, Vannes and Amiens
1. ROUEN (Normandy), 2 nights
Day 1: Sunday, May 26 (485 km/301 mi from Gorinchem)
To be honest, the drive to Rouen that first day was worth the entire trip, seeing these truckers
take care of themselves at the rest stop, because of coin-operated washing machines.
Day 2: Monday, May 27, Rouen City Center (25 km/16 mi)
We spent the day in Rouen's city center, where we saw as much as we could before visiting the cathedral that opened at 2 p.m. This is the city where Joan of Arc, age 19, was imprisoned and then burned at the stake for heresy in 1431. The astronomical clock from 1389 is one of the city's most visited landmarks.
The Rouen Cathedral in Gothic style is from 1030.
2. ST. MALO (Brittany), 5 nights:
Day 3: Tuesday, May 28, Fougères Castle and Windmills (367 km/228 mi)
On our way to our St. Malo hotel, we stopped at this castle from the 11th century.
It was our first stop in Brittany. We thought we had died and gone to heaven!
At the castle we ate our first crêpes and later, on our way, our first French windmills,
Day 4: Wednesday, May 29, Quelmer Boat Cemetery and Dinan City Center (82 km/51 mi)
Before Dinan, we started the day at our first ever boat cemetery in nearby Quelmer. OMG!
But our main destination was Dinan's city center, which became our favorite of the trip.
And, yes, they have poke bowls even in France!
Day 5: Thursday, May 30, Cap Fréhel (126 km/78 mi)
Cap Fréhel is considered one of Brittany's most beautiful landscapes, with its cliffs and 2 lighthouses.
On the way back, we stopped to see the beached boats at low tide at Saint-Briac-sur-Mer.
NOT to be confused with a boat cemetery!
Day 6: Friday, May 31, St. Malo City Center (19 km/12 mi)
We first took a mini-train ride (30-min) to get the lay of the city, and then walked where we wanted.
Totally worth seeing.
Day 7: Saturday, June 1, Quelmer Boat Cemetery (again) and Cancale (48 km/30 mi)
We loved the boat cemetery so much we decided to go back and were glad we did,
because an art teacher was there with her students.
But Cancale, called the "Oyster Capital" of Brittany, was where we saw our first and only oyster farm.
Astrid and I are NOT oyster lovers but it made for a great photo op.
3. BREST (Brittany) 5 nights:
Day 8: Sunday, June 2, Cancale (again) and Ploumanac'h (304 km/188 mi)
[photo and collage credit: Astrid]
Because we were not there at low tide the day before, we started our day going back to Cancale,
where Astrid walked down to the beds and got these close-up shots of the oyster beds. Totally worth it.
Astrid had also done plenty of research to find the best pink-granite rock sites in Brittany.
Ploumanac'h was a winner along the Pink Granite Coast!
Day 9: Monday, June 3, Térénez Bridge and Camaret-sur-Mer Boat Cemetery (145 km/90 mi)
On our way to the boat cemetery, we crossed the Térénez Bridge to the Crozon peninsula.
The curved deck is a photo op for us photographers!
Most of these are decommissioned fishing boats and not as many as in Quelmer.
But definitely another magnet for photographers.
Day 10: Tuesday, June 4, Morlaix (133 km/83 mi)
As always, we head straight to the city center, to make our hearts sing!
It began and ended at the viaduct, where we parked.
An unexpected plus for the day was seeing all the murals!
Day 11: Wednesday, June 5, Plougovelin Lighthouse and Le Conquet (62 km/39 mi)
The 1835 Saint-Mathieu lighthouse was built among the ruins of the 17th century abbey.
On the way back that day we drove around Le Conquet, the most western point of France.
The pitcher and cups, btw, represent how Breton cider is served!
Day 12: Thursday, June 6, Landerneau and Daoulas Abbey (59 km/37 mi)
The 16th century Rohan Bridge in Landerneau is one of the few surviving inhabitable bridges
in Europe, where we ate at the Crêperie restaurant, on the bridge.
The only other such bridge we've visited is in Bath, England.
The 1167 Daoulas Abbey now houses 3 hectares of gardens growing medicinal plants.
We were there mainly to see the abbey church and ruins, of course!
4. VANNES (Brittany), 5 nights:
Day 13: Friday, June 7, Port Launay Guily Glaz Viaduct and Larmor-Plage (217 km/135 mi)
On our way to our new hotel, we stopped first in Port Launay to see the Guily Glaz viaduct,
a railway bridge from 1864. Don't you love what Astrid finds for us to see!
And because we were close to the coast, we had to stop at the Larmor-Plage (beach) for lunch.
Day 14: Saturday, June 8, Vannes City Center (5 km/3 mi)
It was just a 5km roundtrip by car from our hotel to the Vannes city center...on market day.
And like we had done in St. Malo, we took the mini-train ride (40-min) to get the lay of the city,
but stayed only 3 hours, eating lunch at the hotel and resting the remainder of the day.
But we did go back the next Tuesday, June 11.
Day 15: Sunday, June 9, Carnac and Quiberon (117 km/73 mi)
Brittany's best-known prehistoric site is Carnac, with its remaining 3,000 Neolithic menhirs.
Along the stretch of 8 km, we stopped at 3 places, ending at the Géant du Manio, at 21 ft. tall.
From Carnac we drove 18 km to the Quiberon seaside resort on Brittany's southernmost peninsula.
The Turpault Castle from 1904 was one of our main photographic finds of the day.
Day 16: Monday, June 10, Kerhervy Boat Cemetery and Lorient (142 km/88 mi)
Yes, I know. Another boat cemetery! You have no idea how long Astrid searched for them!
This one is in Lanester, where boats were deposited in the 1920s and 1940s.
You can see why they're magnets for photographers.
Lorient is France's second-largest port and is mostly commercial.
We drove the 4 km from Lanester only to find as many of its graffiti murals as possible,
which we knew about from 2 of our French photobloggers.
Day 17: Tuesday, June 11, Vannes City Center (9 km/6 mi)
Without the crowds from Saturday's market, we enjoyed a quieter city center this time around.
It's like we saw the city again for the first time.
The very posh pizza restaurant where we ate lunch that day became an epiphany for me.
Our waiter reminded me of g'son Nicholas where I "saw" him doing restaurant work overseas,
which daughter Amy later confirmed for me. It was my "holy" moment of the trip.
5. AMIENS (Normandy) 2 nights:
Day 18: Wednesday, June 12, Normandy Bridge (551 km/342 mi)
This was our longest travel day, from Vannes to Amiens, to make our last day home a faster trip.
A highlight was crossing the 1995 Normandy Bridge, spanning the Seine river.
When built, it was the longest cable-stayed bridge in the world.
Day 19: Thursday, June 13, Amiens City Center (15 km/9 mi)
Another mini-train ride (1 hour) and our last city adventure of the trip!
As Joan of Arc left her stamp on Rouen (our first city), Jules Verne left his stamp on Amiens.
Finding his tomb from 1905 was one of the highlights of the trip for Astrid.
And to be honest, we were much more impressed with the Amiens Cathedral than the one in Rouen.
And because it was my 79th birthday, I chose for us a Japanese noodle bar for lunch.
Day 20: Friday, June 14, Drive home to Gorinchem! (363 km/226 mi)
The original 1724 km/1077 mi roundtrip, without excursions,
ended up being a total of 3,274 km/2,034 mi, all of which were driven by Astrid!
Compare that to our Denmark trip last year of 3,399 km/2,112 mi, also driven by Astrid!
There you have it. Another Big-Trip overview in the life of Astrid and Ginnie.
Thankful, yet again, for travelling mercies.
