Beautiful Bretagne

Four days of eating and adventuring along France’s rocky coast

Steve and I take fairly frequent trips to Paris, and for a few years now, we’ve mused about tacking on a side trip to Brittany. But the truth is, I didn’t know very much about the area, and it was never the right time. Until this summer. 

We had two weeks to travel while our house was rented to tenants, so it felt like the perfect window for a real vacation. 

We first went to Paris for a week, which was a little different than our usual trips: we stayed fairly close to our arrondissement as the city geared up for the Olympics. Because of the possibility of transportation delays and crowds, we never took a taxi or metro — we walked everywhere. We were sure we wanted to clear out before the games started, but now I am slightly regretful, because I really enjoyed these Olympics, and I would have loved to sit in that stadium with the Eiffel Tower in the background. 

The weather in Paris was fairly temperate, and my fears of a long heat wave were not realized. We did have two days that were above 90℉, but it wasn’t so bad. Thankfully, the nights were cooler, because there was no AC where we were staying. It was a nice relief though, to go to Brittany, where it is cloudy and cool most of the time. 

The grey skies and cool climate of Brittany were a welcome relief after a few hot days in Paris. It didn’t take long to realize that the tides here change dramatically in a very short amount of time. It never ceased to amaze me.

We stayed in Saint-Méloir-des-Ondes, which is really close to Cancale. While we were there, the sun occasionally peeked out for a few hours, but I loved the relaxing moodiness that comes with this kind of weather. The rugged, rocky coast has some beautiful beaches, and there were a few hardy beachgoers around, but it wasn’t really beach weather as we know it, and that was just fine. 

Before this trip, I didn’t realize how large Brittany was. It’s France’s largest peninsula, and represents a third of the country’s total coastline. For context, it’s roughly twice the size of New Jersey. Previously, I thought of Brittany as a place we could get to by train (and you can), but I learned that you really need a car once you're there. 

This photo is from an afternoon visit to Dinan, a medieval walled city that is slightly inland along the river Rance. It’s a little touristy here (as you can see!), but we went off the beaten path to the nearby commune of Léhon and walked back along the canal, which was beautiful. We love a nature walk!

It can take hours to get from one part of Brittany to another, but given the short time we had for our stay, everywhere we went was about a 30-minute drive. That wasn’t a problem, because driving from town to town and beach to beach is half the fun. The landscape is beautifully unspoiled with farms and hay bales everywhere you look, and roads that are too narrow for two cars to pass. 

We took another short drive to the port of Cancale to see the famous oyster beds at low tide. Each day, when the tide goes out, trucks rush out to harvest the oysters. It is really something to see boats lying on their sides. Back at the port, there are multiple stands where you can get oysters and eat them nearby at big picnic tables. They aren't served on the half-shell as we are used to here; they are just slightly pried open and not released from the shell, so they are as fresh and alive as possible.

When I was scouting around for places to stay, I asked my friend David Lebovitz for some recommendations, and one of them (secondhand through another friend) was the Ferme Du Vent. His friends said it was “magic,” which instantly caught my attention. Click the link to see what I mean!

This is the view from our kled at the Ferme Du Vent. We had the smallest room, and the only one without full views of the water, a fireplace, or an outdoor terrace. But we didn’t feel deprived at all, and we loved our cozy space. Next time, we’d love to stay in the room right next door, which we peeked into. It had a sunken living room, two side by side bathtubs in the main room, and panoramic views.

Now that I’ve stayed there too, I can confirm that it is indeed magical. The Roellinger family runs this six-room hotel, as well as the nearby Château Richeux which has 11 more rooms. Between the two properties lies a beautiful farm which grows much of what’s served at Le Coquillage, the family’s Michelin-starred restaurant. 

We took a long walk on our first morning at the property, first on the long beach at low tide, and then to the nearby Château Richeux. We then crossed back through the potager gardens and small farm. Some of the herbs which are used at Épices Roellinger are grown here.

The Roellinger family is deeply involved in the local food scene. Olivier Roellinger is a legendary chef who now runs Épices Roellinger, a beautiful spice shop with nearby locations in Cancale and St. Malo, as well as one in Paris. The shops are known for their many varieties of vanilla beans and myriad spice blends. Olivier’s son, Hugo Roellinger, is a renowned chef as well; he runs the kitchen at Le Coquillage. In addition, the family has a patisserie in Cancale called Grain de Vanille that makes great use of the famous Breton butter.

In a less touristy and more residential neighborhood of Cancale, you’ll find Grain de Vanille, the patisserie and tearoom run by the Roellinger family. This was a Kouign-Amann (the best we had on the trip) and a cake with rhubarb in the center, topped with the ubiquitous toasted buckwheat that’s so popular in the area. Both pastries were every bit as good as they looked. Maybe better? Check out David Lebovitz’s latest post for a deep dive into the distinctive desserts of Brittany.

Given all this, you’d expect the food to be amazing, but one of the more surprising highlights of the Ferme du Vent are its spa-like offerings. On one perfect afternoon, we enjoyed a one-hour reflexology session, then headed to the Celtic baths. You reserve the entire room for an hour, where you sauna, steam, swim, and soak. The pool is indoor/outdoor. Once you’re outside, you have an unobstructed view down to the water, with Mont-Saint-Michel in the distance. 

Later that evening, we indulged in a multicourse meal at Le Coquillage.