Fougeres the impregnable fortress...

I was trawling my photographs when I came across these pics of the medieval fortress at Fougéres in Brittany and was reminded of one of the few disappointments of or trip up there in October.. 

We had been blessed with exceptional weather during the first few days of our stay but on the Monday turned a bit grey and we asked our host what we might do nearby on such a day. He suggested a visit over to the fortified castle,one of the largest in France,at Fougeres. I had seen photographs of it and it looked interesting. Although an hour from Dinan, he assured us it would be worth the drive.

 On arrival it did impress us with its mighty walls but it was was closed for lunch! We didn't see this as a big problem as we needed some sustenance as well, After an average lunch in the town we headed back just before 2.00 o'clock by which time a small group of eager visitors had gathered around the entrance. By 2.15 however there was still no evidence of any activity and the natives were getting restless. I thought maybe I should check what the information on the door said...just in case. What our enthusiastic host had failed to learn and the people in front of us hadn't noticed was that from October to April it was closed on Mondays, I then had to break the bad news to the other,mainly French, people waiting in anticipation. The children in one of the groups were not at all happy with the outcome whereas we just shrugged!

Back to Brittany...Saint-Malo

Our second coastal visit while up in Brittany recently was to the fortified port of Saint-Malo. Which has expanded well out of the original citadel  to become a modern town. They offer a free and very efficient 'park and ride' system which takes you down to the actual port where the ship above greets you to confirm your nautical location. 

You enter the town via the the 'Grand Porte',the oldest (15th century) of the citadel, which is made up of two impressive towers and an artillery platform. It is quite a formidable sight and one that  would have greeted the Saint Malo ship owners returning from from trading trips to the South Seas,  Arabia and China as this is where the original quay was located.

The citadel was originally built on a rocky island at the mouth of the Rance estuary. This strategic position allowed control of the sea and the access further into the interior of Brittany. Today it is considered by many to be one the most attractive channel ports in France. 

Once you get behind the ramparts there is somewhat of a surprise as the buildings start to reach upwards using there footprint to the maximum.

Tall granite mansion blocks line the characterful cobbled streets and squares within the surrounding ramparts. Here you will find a plethora of restaurants bars and shops. As we walked around there was a somewhat familiarity to the place - at times we felt as if we could have been back in Edinburgh.

Surprisingly, although the buildings give the impression of being from a different era they are almost all the result of a staggering reconstruction project after the effects of WWII. Taking many years, the project was only officially completed in the early 1970's returning the town to its former glory.

It is possible to walk almost the complete circuit of the walls which can be accessed via gates at various locations around the ramparts.

The views can be quite stunning.  

Looking back on our way out via the modern harbour that links the citadel to the mainland we got the feeling that we would be back one day.

Back to Brittany...

When we were up in Dinan we decided to take a trip up to the coast, Our first trip was up to Dinard which is a traditional seaside town that sits on a rugged coastline.When we arrived it was rather dull but after a cuppa on the seafront things changed rather quickly...

...with the sun breaking through to give us a beautiful morning.

 You get great views over the bay to Saint Malo.

We took a walk along the shoreline on a designated path that proved to be another example of the lack of health and safety concerns here in France...   

...you walk along a path that has a shear drop yet no guardrail of any kind - it did at times feel a bit precarious, especially where it narrowed on bends and you were met by a jogger coming in the opposite direction!

The town has some interesting housing stock both along the waters edge and in the town. Where it wasn't our favourite place of our Brittany visit we were glad we went and catching a glimpse of Saint Malo over the bay convinced us it was worth a visit.