Nicole and Alain are determined to spoil us, wanting to show us more of the countryside around Dinan in their very comfortable Mercedes station wagon. We joined them downstairs at 10am and agreed on a plan for today's outing. They took us to many villages and towns, wending our way through lanes of beautiful stone cottages and wooden houses from as far back as the thirteen hundreds. The narrow streets encourage a slower lifestyle and more people ride or cycle. On the Rance Canal we were dropped off at a path and encouraged to walk 500 meters on a shared path past a lock in the canal. Very tranquil area with just a few joggers and cyclists. They picked us up at the next crossroad.
Our first town was Combourg, where we had failed to see very much on Saturday because of the distance of the town from the station. We were surprised to find another street market packed with people. We pushed our way through the thick crowd and decided to have lunch at the Restaurant du Lac, sitting next to a picture window with magnificent views of the lake. They served us a four course meal that was worthy of the French reputation. This is the lake with the Castle behind it.
After two hours of lunching we explored the grounds of the Castle, which was dated back to the twelfth century.
In legend it belonged to Sir Lancelot of the Arthurian Round Table (cue for a jibe about us being lunchalots) and the lake we had looked over was the home of the Lady of the Lake (now called Lake Tranquil). Read more here.
The town has Chateaubriand, the father of French Romanticism, as its favourite son and the castle was where he grew up. This castle is to Combourg what Victor Hugo's house is to Guernsey. After driving slowly through Dol and other towns we emerged at the north coast and found that it was low tide. There were many people using the wind and the smooth sand to drive their "chars roulants" back and forth.
We had afternoon tea on the verandah of a cafe overlooking the port at Cancale.
Heading back to Dinan we stopped at a lookout across the estuary of the Rance River, and we appreciated why the locals are so attached to their environment. The little towns we visited around the water have been classified as the most beautiful in France. We could only agree with that description.
We were back home by 7:30 pm and told Nicole we had a magnificent day and it was much better than being on a tourist bus, which could not have taken us to many of the places Alain succeeded in squeezing his car into.
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