Well, unless you count the regional cake called ‘ Kouign Amann’, of course. Basically, it’s made with pastry, sugar and butter. Then you add as much extra butter as you like. Once cooked, pour over a syrup made with sugar and butter. Serve warm with butter. So, you get the idea…..

We had a small one each and of course, anything so calorie laden is bound to be delicious and it was, but it ended up being both lunch and dinner, so I could justify it. I won’t get my cholesterol checked anytime soon, though.

Stephanie, our host at Belle Fontaine, had given us many suggestions of what were the sights to see around the northern coastline of Brittany so we drove, at her recommendation, to a little town named Trégueux, which is known to be a ‘Cité de Caractère’. We agreed. It was beautiful, with many gorgeous old buildings, a port and a magnificent church ‘St Nicholas’.

We then drove along the Côte de Granit Rose, to Perros Guirec. Here it was amazing to see the extent of the tides, which rise and fall by 7 metres usually, but can be up to 10 metres in a king tide. The marinas need to have their own lock system to accommodate these fluctuations. It just means that the boaties around here have to be very patient and aware, because at low tide they can’t take their boat out, but if they’ve have already been out, they won’t be able to get back into the harbour again until high tide,  as the lock only works then.  The tidal flow is very fast as well, so anyone scouring for oyster and mussels while the tide is out, need to make sure they don’t wander too far from the shore line because, apparently, the incoming tide is known to out run a horse. So, you’d better get your skates on….or get a faster horse!!

There is a coastal path of 7klms from Perros Guirec to Ploumanac’h port, which is renowned for its unusual rock formations of pink granite and stunning scenery. So, on with the hiking boots and off we went.  The guide books do not do it justice. I think we saw it on probably one of the rare occasions that all factors were at their optimum. The weather was perfect, (around 19 degrees), the sun was shining, there was a slight breeze and the sea was like glass. The combination made for a spectacular day.  Plus we walked off some more of the calories from that Kouign Amann!

This morning after a breakfast,we hit the road. Our first destination? The Château de la Roche-Jagu. Built in the 15th century, it  is the only survivor of about ten fortresses that once oversaw stretches of the valley in medieval times. It’s been recently restored, and now still guards the way to Pontrieux and it’s pretty port.

Overlooking the Trieux River, it is in a stunning location. Then onto the ‘Intermarché’ for some grocery shopping. It is a ‘jour férie’ (public holiday) here tomorrow for the Pentecost so, as we are off to Dinan today for 5 nights and unsure whether anything will be open tomorrow, we wanted to be sure had the basics. Dinan isn’t too far from Pontrieux, only about 1.5 hours, although we decided to take a number of small diversions into other seaside villages along the way, so it took us a little longer. The Breton scenery is stunning, with steep cliffs and villages perched on the top. Beautiful. And a hot coffee tastes so much better, with a view like that!

We arrived at Dinan by mid afternoon and our apartment  ‘Le Loft’ is  gorgeous and just the perfect size for the two of us. All those months of me trawling the internet to find accommodation certainly paid off, didn’t they?? What a view we have from our front window!

Tomorrow will be an exploring day, but on foot (à pied), no driving the car anywhere! It’s the beautifully preserved medieval town of Dinan for us, which fortunately escaped any damage at all in World War II. Because we are staying at the port, right on the River Rance, our exploring day means walking out of our front door, turning left and walking 2 minutes along Rue du Four, turning left and crossing over little bridge, followed by a (very) steep walk up Rue de Jerzual, directly opposite (en face du pont) .

Toute à l’heure!