La Bretagne

As if Saint Malo wasn't fantastic enough on it's own, it was perfectly situated in Bretagne to visit other gorgeous cities. Every different village had its own special charm. 

Cancale is the seafood haven of Bretagne, so the beaches are pretty much dedicated to fishermen. Deadliest Catch is a lot less exciting in real life..

At low tide, anyone can walk out on the beaches and find oysters. Most restaurants along the bay actually allowed you to bring in the shells for them to prepare fresh for you. With help from Boris, I harvested two perfect oysters. Once they were cooked with a lot of butter and sauces they tasted decent, despite the unappetizing texture. 

Dol is the only city I visited that wasn't on the ocean, but it was still gorgeous. It had a much more medieval feel that made it really fun to wander. Most of the streets in the center of the city were so narrow that only motorcycles and bikes were allowed. That also meant that you could rarely see what you were heading towards. At one point, I turned a corner and went from tiny passage to the parking lot of a massive cathedral. 

There was also a free medieval museum next to the cathedral that pretty much consisted of knives and buttons. 

Dinard is right across the bay from Saint Malo, so there's a cheap sailboat taxi running between the two all day. The coast of Dinard is primarily cliffs and wild land, so I spent the entire day climbing the rocks and hiking.

That morning I had packed a baguette and cheese picnic for myself, but when I sat down down to eat, I ended up sharing. I had climbed down from a path to a nice flat rock where I could dangle my feet in the ocean.

It wasn't long before a seagull was slowly inching towards me. Somehow, he never moved while I was watching but was closer every time I looked, like in a horror film. Eventually he was standing right next to me just starting at my bread. When I finally caved and fed him a piece, he took it surprisingly politely and sat down. He ended up sitting next to me for the whole meal, cooing happily. 

Dinard was a refreshing escape from the crowds of tourists in the cities. And the ride back gave me an amazing view of les Intramuros I have come to love so much.

One of the coolest places I visited was Mont Saint Michel, an incredibly old abbey and fortified island. It still houses monks today, but luckily the prison and torture chambers that used to occupy the basement have closed. 

Saint Malo was a wonderful city, and I'm lucky to have lived there. But plans change and life goes on, so as sad as I am to leave, my job with this family has ended and I'm heading out to explore the rest of France on my own. So be prepared, because I plan on making the most of my last two weeks and having plenty of fantastic stories.