Another boring of packing up before we headed to our third location of our trip, this time in Saint Malo on the Brittany coast. It was quite sad to finally say goodbye to the river Loire that we have followed along the valley when visiting various Châteaus. We were able to drive alongside for quite some way before we had to head inland. We needed a place to stop to swap over driving and get some lunch. Options on the main roads are limited but I managed to find a ‘U’ supermarket just a minute or so off the main road to avoid driving ‘off piste’! It was well stocked (although not as good as our new favourite D l’Clerc. It had plenty of safe parking, toilets and lunch options if nit a cafe so we dined in the car.
Back on the road again and we headed to the town of Dinan first as we were not able to check into our accommodation until after 5.00pm. I had seen a photo taken by a friend on Facebook and after some research I thought it would be worth a visit whilst in Saint Malo and it made sense to visit on our way as we had the time. It really is a fascinating medieval town with steep cobbled streets but the crowds of tourists made it challenge to get any decent photos! It was very interesting but just too busy after the relative peace of the Loire Valley. We did manage to try another crêpe here though- beurre salé again for me! We headed on towards Saint Malo and with only one wrong turn reached it in good time. I had already been contacted by the owner to apologise in advance as the blind ni the bedroom has broken (will not go up). Rozenn spoke a little English but then I only speak a little French! The apartment has good, very safe parking protected by a gate. The appartment had a big terrace which will be good for outside meals but a rather unusual interior in that the rooms are all accessed by going around in a circle and Colin had to ask where the toilet actually was - answer - by the front door nowhere near the bathroom!
We headed out around 7.30pm only to discover that many restaurants were closed and those that were not were full. Oh well, off to the local Carrefour as before and a good far cheaper meal on our balcony this evening together with head torches as the lighting is not very good!
