Beatiful Brittany and Pre-Olympics Paris
Apr 28th, 2024, 08:33 PM
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Beatiful Brittany and Pre-Olympics Paris
Hello Fodorites,
We recently returned from spending 2 weeks in Brittany region and Paris in April. This was our first time in Brittany but have been to Paris a few times. Our itinerary:
3 nights in Rennes (day trip to Saint Malo)
3 nights in Dinan
3 nights in Vannes
4 nights in Paris
We flew out of the SeaTac Airport on a direct flight on Delta Airlines to Paris CDG. A couple of years ago, we signed up for Spot Saver and took advantage of how speedy Security is after checking our luggage. I'm always amazed as we have never encountered any lines using this Spot Saver app.
It was a 9 1/2 hr direct flight and we arrived in the afternoon. Took a taxi from CDG airport and was surprise there was no line as we walked over to the taxi line. For those who are traveling for the first time, there are a few drivers who approach you after coming out of Customs/baggage area but they may not follow the flat fee into the city. You need to go outside and get in the official taxi line. The flat fee is $56 eu to the left bank hotels and $65 eu to the Right bank hotels. We spent the first night at our hotel in the Le Marais district. The previous times we have been in Paris we have stayed on the right bank near Opera House, other two times were in the Latin Quarter on the left bank so this time I wanted to stay in the Le Marais area. It had lots of shops and restaurants near our hotel (next to Place des Vosge) but it was further then other arrondissements we have stayed at.
Next day, we took a taxi to the train station to head for Rennes (Capitol of the Brittany region). What I didn't know is that when you ask your hotel to call a taxi that is an adds a $7eu fee to your fare as it's considered "advance booking” I haven't used taxis in a long time so it took almost to end of the trip when I noticed that they have this listed in French and English on the window. Just wanted to point that out for those who may be traveling for the first time to Paris.
We loved the Brittany region as it uses French and Celtic languages and seems to be off the beaten track. There weren't too many Americans that we encounter and few locals spoke English. On a few occasions, when we need help in communicating, a kind French person would come to our aid and translate for us. The history and architecture is amazing here. We had reserved in advance all our train seats in First Class except for one local train where it wasn't offer. I often think we could go 2nd class but when leaving Paris for Rennes, the toilet wasn't working in our car so my husband had to go downstairs and he was amazed that a few people had no seats and were standing or sitting on the stairs in the second class car.
One sunny and warm day, we took a day trip to Saint Malo, which was about 2 hours away by train. A lovely French woman (who lives now in US) explained why the train we were on, left without us. It appears we needed to be in the first class car in the front of the train not in the back. Somehow this train detaches itself and heads in different direction on the platform. The back of the train was going a different location at a later time so we got off with others and we caught the next train to Saint Malo. Once we got to Saint Malo train station, there are buses outside that takes you to the old town. Otherwise, it's about 30 min. walk and we didn't want to waste time. Saint Malo is stunning and it is right along the sea. It was recently captured in a good Netflix series called "All the Light You Cannot See". The amazing discovery while in Brittany was that it stays light till about 9:30pm. The weather was warm enough that many were swimming and playing on the beach. We were originally going to stay here for two nights but decided to cut down the number of hotels we were staying at. I would have prefer staying in Saint Malo just because it was by the water.
Our next stop was Dinan and it was a lovely village that we could walk from the train station to our 15th century B&B which is next to the Basilique Saint-Sauveur. Beautiful cathedral in the middle of old town and right across from our B&B. Brittany is known for their hard cider, crepes, mussels and oysters and we enjoyed them while here. The old town sits at top of a steep hill that leads you down to the Rance river. There are some hotels and restaurants along the river but I found staying in the old town to be more convenient to places. The walk up the steep hill from the river wasn't bad but I did feel sorry for families pushing strollers or carrying their young children up this hill.
There is a lovely walk through the country at the bottom of this hill, after you cross the bridge over the river, you can walk over to the next little town called Lehon. It has amazing 13th century Abbey there. There isn't much in this little town besides the Abbey but worth the peaceful walk enjoying the scenery along the river. It was one of my favorite things we did in Dinan. During our trip in Brittany, I did not know that European mistletoe grows in trees. They look like huge birds nest from the train but later I learned it was mistletoe.
After this visit, our next and final stop was Vannes. We thought we could walk from the train station to our B&B but it was more like 30 minutes and we had to walk up a very long steep hill rolling our suitcases after us. Definitely, needed to take a taxi. We used Goggle Maps and it was very good when working right but once in a while, I felt there was probably shorter ways to get to places. Also, I didn't realize how much using this app runs down your cell phone battery. We discovered this while in Paris when by 2 or 3pm my cell phone was out of juice.
Our favorite old town was in Vanne. It has the most preserved walled fort from 2000 years ago. Our B&B was only 5 minutes from the walkway to the fortified bridge into the old town. It looks over the gardens and cobbled lanes through the half-timbered building that Brittany is known for.
We were there when they had a huge Farmers Market. It had clothing, arts, jewelry vendors and then a section for produce and another for their cheese/meats/seafood. I love going to Farmers Markets and this was one of the best. We had pretty nice weather with at least 1-2 days out of the stay in each locations where the sun was out. It did get chilly in the evenings so good we packed well.
Now when I made the decision we were going to France last year, I didn't realize that the Summer Olympics was taken place this summer. I was surprised that many of the tourist sites were already fenced off and lots of construction in preparing for the Olympics. This will be the first time in the Olympics history where many of the events will be outdoors. They will be showing off their beautiful city but it also called for the highest security alert. In some parts of Paris and at train stations, there were soldiers patrolling the area.
They are expecting 15 million more tourists during this summer so I could not imagine coming during this time. I had not been to Trocadaro site on previous trips as it is another 20 minute walk from the Eiffel Tower. The welcoming ceremony is from the Trocadero site and the volleyball event will take place at the Eiffel Tower area. They had it already fenced around the Eiffel Tower. You could still go through but navigating though the fences.
Another amazing thing, is the Summer Olympics will have all the athletes from around the world come down in more than 150 boats come down the Seine River. They plan to have the Olympics swimming event actually takes place in the Seine River. Paris has banned swimming in the Seine River since 1924 so we took quite the interest in looking at the city attempts to clean the river. Some days, the water did not look so good but if they are able to pull this off in time, we will be overwhelmed with joy.
The weather had turned cold, windy and rainy while in Paris on this visit. There was a couple of days where the weather was changing all the time and we did have pockets of sunshine. It made walking not as much fun so each day we took a taxi to the furthest landmark and really the taxi fare wasn't that expensive. The fare to the Trocadero site from Places des Vosges was $22 euro (otherwise an 1 1/2 hr walk), another day we took a taxi to Sacre Coeur side steps and fare was $15 euro and the last day was to the Arc De Triomphe $21.50 euro. You can also take the metro which would cost less but I'm sharing this info as we have never taken taxis before to sites in previous visits but IMO, it wasn't that expensive. It was worth it because walking back to see all the other sites along the way took 5-7 hours each day.
A fun thing we did while in Paris was we had dinner at Le Grand Colbert. I had made reservations a month in advance, as it's a popular place made famous because it was in the movie "Something Gotta Give" with Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson. One of my favorite movies. Of course, the restaurant takes advantage of that. The food was good and the restaurant is beautiful and we had great service. Lots of tourists from all over came to dine and it is fun people watching as well. I didn't tell my husband why we had to walk in the rain to get to this particular restaurant until we sat down. We both enjoyed our evening here. I rewatched the movie on the flight back home which was great.
It was another fabulous trip to France.
In Rennes, half timber buildings.
Saint Malo
People wading out to see the Old National fort.
Diving and swimming in the sea.
Dinan - Old town
Dinan along the Rance river
Walk to next little village Lehon from Dinan
Vanne, Old walled fortress
Vanne
Vanne
Vanne
Vanne - inside the old fort
Notre Dame - they are hoping it will be open by Olympics
Swimming event starts at the Alexander bridge
Seine River
Hotel De Ville
We recently returned from spending 2 weeks in Brittany region and Paris in April. This was our first time in Brittany but have been to Paris a few times. Our itinerary:
3 nights in Rennes (day trip to Saint Malo)
3 nights in Dinan
3 nights in Vannes
4 nights in Paris
We flew out of the SeaTac Airport on a direct flight on Delta Airlines to Paris CDG. A couple of years ago, we signed up for Spot Saver and took advantage of how speedy Security is after checking our luggage. I'm always amazed as we have never encountered any lines using this Spot Saver app.
It was a 9 1/2 hr direct flight and we arrived in the afternoon. Took a taxi from CDG airport and was surprise there was no line as we walked over to the taxi line. For those who are traveling for the first time, there are a few drivers who approach you after coming out of Customs/baggage area but they may not follow the flat fee into the city. You need to go outside and get in the official taxi line. The flat fee is $56 eu to the left bank hotels and $65 eu to the Right bank hotels. We spent the first night at our hotel in the Le Marais district. The previous times we have been in Paris we have stayed on the right bank near Opera House, other two times were in the Latin Quarter on the left bank so this time I wanted to stay in the Le Marais area. It had lots of shops and restaurants near our hotel (next to Place des Vosge) but it was further then other arrondissements we have stayed at.
Next day, we took a taxi to the train station to head for Rennes (Capitol of the Brittany region). What I didn't know is that when you ask your hotel to call a taxi that is an adds a $7eu fee to your fare as it's considered "advance booking” I haven't used taxis in a long time so it took almost to end of the trip when I noticed that they have this listed in French and English on the window. Just wanted to point that out for those who may be traveling for the first time to Paris.
We loved the Brittany region as it uses French and Celtic languages and seems to be off the beaten track. There weren't too many Americans that we encounter and few locals spoke English. On a few occasions, when we need help in communicating, a kind French person would come to our aid and translate for us. The history and architecture is amazing here. We had reserved in advance all our train seats in First Class except for one local train where it wasn't offer. I often think we could go 2nd class but when leaving Paris for Rennes, the toilet wasn't working in our car so my husband had to go downstairs and he was amazed that a few people had no seats and were standing or sitting on the stairs in the second class car.
One sunny and warm day, we took a day trip to Saint Malo, which was about 2 hours away by train. A lovely French woman (who lives now in US) explained why the train we were on, left without us. It appears we needed to be in the first class car in the front of the train not in the back. Somehow this train detaches itself and heads in different direction on the platform. The back of the train was going a different location at a later time so we got off with others and we caught the next train to Saint Malo. Once we got to Saint Malo train station, there are buses outside that takes you to the old town. Otherwise, it's about 30 min. walk and we didn't want to waste time. Saint Malo is stunning and it is right along the sea. It was recently captured in a good Netflix series called "All the Light You Cannot See". The amazing discovery while in Brittany was that it stays light till about 9:30pm. The weather was warm enough that many were swimming and playing on the beach. We were originally going to stay here for two nights but decided to cut down the number of hotels we were staying at. I would have prefer staying in Saint Malo just because it was by the water.
Our next stop was Dinan and it was a lovely village that we could walk from the train station to our 15th century B&B which is next to the Basilique Saint-Sauveur. Beautiful cathedral in the middle of old town and right across from our B&B. Brittany is known for their hard cider, crepes, mussels and oysters and we enjoyed them while here. The old town sits at top of a steep hill that leads you down to the Rance river. There are some hotels and restaurants along the river but I found staying in the old town to be more convenient to places. The walk up the steep hill from the river wasn't bad but I did feel sorry for families pushing strollers or carrying their young children up this hill.
There is a lovely walk through the country at the bottom of this hill, after you cross the bridge over the river, you can walk over to the next little town called Lehon. It has amazing 13th century Abbey there. There isn't much in this little town besides the Abbey but worth the peaceful walk enjoying the scenery along the river. It was one of my favorite things we did in Dinan. During our trip in Brittany, I did not know that European mistletoe grows in trees. They look like huge birds nest from the train but later I learned it was mistletoe.
After this visit, our next and final stop was Vannes. We thought we could walk from the train station to our B&B but it was more like 30 minutes and we had to walk up a very long steep hill rolling our suitcases after us. Definitely, needed to take a taxi. We used Goggle Maps and it was very good when working right but once in a while, I felt there was probably shorter ways to get to places. Also, I didn't realize how much using this app runs down your cell phone battery. We discovered this while in Paris when by 2 or 3pm my cell phone was out of juice.
Our favorite old town was in Vanne. It has the most preserved walled fort from 2000 years ago. Our B&B was only 5 minutes from the walkway to the fortified bridge into the old town. It looks over the gardens and cobbled lanes through the half-timbered building that Brittany is known for.
We were there when they had a huge Farmers Market. It had clothing, arts, jewelry vendors and then a section for produce and another for their cheese/meats/seafood. I love going to Farmers Markets and this was one of the best. We had pretty nice weather with at least 1-2 days out of the stay in each locations where the sun was out. It did get chilly in the evenings so good we packed well.
Now when I made the decision we were going to France last year, I didn't realize that the Summer Olympics was taken place this summer. I was surprised that many of the tourist sites were already fenced off and lots of construction in preparing for the Olympics. This will be the first time in the Olympics history where many of the events will be outdoors. They will be showing off their beautiful city but it also called for the highest security alert. In some parts of Paris and at train stations, there were soldiers patrolling the area.
They are expecting 15 million more tourists during this summer so I could not imagine coming during this time. I had not been to Trocadaro site on previous trips as it is another 20 minute walk from the Eiffel Tower. The welcoming ceremony is from the Trocadero site and the volleyball event will take place at the Eiffel Tower area. They had it already fenced around the Eiffel Tower. You could still go through but navigating though the fences.
Another amazing thing, is the Summer Olympics will have all the athletes from around the world come down in more than 150 boats come down the Seine River. They plan to have the Olympics swimming event actually takes place in the Seine River. Paris has banned swimming in the Seine River since 1924 so we took quite the interest in looking at the city attempts to clean the river. Some days, the water did not look so good but if they are able to pull this off in time, we will be overwhelmed with joy.
The weather had turned cold, windy and rainy while in Paris on this visit. There was a couple of days where the weather was changing all the time and we did have pockets of sunshine. It made walking not as much fun so each day we took a taxi to the furthest landmark and really the taxi fare wasn't that expensive. The fare to the Trocadero site from Places des Vosges was $22 euro (otherwise an 1 1/2 hr walk), another day we took a taxi to Sacre Coeur side steps and fare was $15 euro and the last day was to the Arc De Triomphe $21.50 euro. You can also take the metro which would cost less but I'm sharing this info as we have never taken taxis before to sites in previous visits but IMO, it wasn't that expensive. It was worth it because walking back to see all the other sites along the way took 5-7 hours each day.
A fun thing we did while in Paris was we had dinner at Le Grand Colbert. I had made reservations a month in advance, as it's a popular place made famous because it was in the movie "Something Gotta Give" with Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson. One of my favorite movies. Of course, the restaurant takes advantage of that. The food was good and the restaurant is beautiful and we had great service. Lots of tourists from all over came to dine and it is fun people watching as well. I didn't tell my husband why we had to walk in the rain to get to this particular restaurant until we sat down. We both enjoyed our evening here. I rewatched the movie on the flight back home which was great.
It was another fabulous trip to France.
In Rennes, half timber buildings.
Saint Malo
People wading out to see the Old National fort.
Diving and swimming in the sea.
Dinan - Old town
Dinan along the Rance river
Walk to next little village Lehon from Dinan
Vanne, Old walled fortress
Vanne
Vanne
Vanne
Vanne - inside the old fort
Notre Dame - they are hoping it will be open by Olympics
Swimming event starts at the Alexander bridge
Seine River
Hotel De Ville
Last edited by IBkatherine; Apr 29th, 2024 at 11:32 AM.
Apr 29th, 2024, 12:52 PM
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Awesome trip report. My older daughter spent several summers at Pont Aven in Brittany for as a student and then an intern and then employee for a collegiate summer art program. I was sorry we never could get to visit her or when we did a trip to Bayeux and Mont St Michel we didn't continue on to explore more of Brittany before heading to Paris which is of course wonderful any time you go there.
Apr 30th, 2024, 06:24 PM
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Gosh, I am embarrassed to see so many typos in my trip report. I could not figure out how to edit on this portal. My apologies.
Thanks everyone for your encouraging responses!! I do like reading other trip reports so I hope this was helpful.
Someone asked about the hotels we stayed in Brittany so I'm happy to share this information.
Rennes - Le Saint Antoine Resort and Spa (5 minute walk from the Rennes train station)
It is next door to 3 good restaurants. Old town is about 10-15 min walk. There is an elevator.
Dinan - La Maison Pavie (15th century building). This was our favorite lodging during our trip. We stayed in the Angkor room (large room) on top floor. Maybe 20 minute walk from Train Station to B&B. Small public laundry facility close to train station - pretty easy to use compared to past times we had to do laundry in France) No Elevator.
Vannes- Maison de la Garenne & Spa. This building was built in 1898. Hotels are not in the old town but this was the closest lodging we found. Only a 5 min. walk down the stairs, cross the street to entrance of fortress/old town. No elevator.
Paris - Hotel Les Tournelles (just in case anyone is interested) Small rooms and very small elevator.
Thanks everyone for your encouraging responses!! I do like reading other trip reports so I hope this was helpful.
Someone asked about the hotels we stayed in Brittany so I'm happy to share this information.
Rennes - Le Saint Antoine Resort and Spa (5 minute walk from the Rennes train station)
It is next door to 3 good restaurants. Old town is about 10-15 min walk. There is an elevator.
Dinan - La Maison Pavie (15th century building). This was our favorite lodging during our trip. We stayed in the Angkor room (large room) on top floor. Maybe 20 minute walk from Train Station to B&B. Small public laundry facility close to train station - pretty easy to use compared to past times we had to do laundry in France) No Elevator.
Vannes- Maison de la Garenne & Spa. This building was built in 1898. Hotels are not in the old town but this was the closest lodging we found. Only a 5 min. walk down the stairs, cross the street to entrance of fortress/old town. No elevator.
Paris - Hotel Les Tournelles (just in case anyone is interested) Small rooms and very small elevator.
May 1st, 2024, 04:20 AM
#11
Brittany is a part of France we have yet to visit. Your trip report is very inviting. Lovely photos.
Ahhhh Paris! Our favorite city. Definitely looking forward to the Olympics opening down the Seine. Can’t imagine the crowds though.
Le Grand Colbert is a favorite of ours. Thanks for the reminder of the movie. Those scenes at the end of the movie in the restaurant always bring a smile to my face.
Ahhhh Paris! Our favorite city. Definitely looking forward to the Olympics opening down the Seine. Can’t imagine the crowds though.
Le Grand Colbert is a favorite of ours. Thanks for the reminder of the movie. Those scenes at the end of the movie in the restaurant always bring a smile to my face.
May 2nd, 2024, 11:57 AM
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HappyTrvr: You are very welcome. What a coincidence you were planning to stay at the same B&B and room. I do hope that you will be able to visit Brittany.
TPAYT: That movie always brings me smiling at the end, too. We will always remember our time here.
Thank you to all Fodorites who take time to leave such nice comments.
TPAYT: That movie always brings me smiling at the end, too. We will always remember our time here.
Thank you to all Fodorites who take time to leave such nice comments.
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