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Reasons That I Love France, numbers 37 and 38.
July 12th, 2009
After two jam-packed-with-activity days in Paris, we drove to Damgan, a cute little beach town in Bretagne. Bretagne (Brittany) is a region of France south of the English Channel. The apartment we rented was right on the beach, and since it was low tide when we arrived, all of the fishing boats sat on the sand among beds of dry seaweed.
Like any beach town, Damgan wasn’t exactly teeming with sight-seeing opportunities. The neighboring towns had a few fun activities, but for the most part, we relaxed on the beach. I enjoyed walking along the shore, eating a lot of seafood, shopping, kayaking out to the little islands off the coast, and digging for clams (we didn’t find any, but it was really fun anyway, because the tide pools were full of little sea creatures). One of the days we took a ferry out to Ile D’Arz, a charming island with beaches perfect for swimming, with the temperature of the water just right and not too many rocks underfoot.
Before we left, we visited a museum about Neolithic rock formations, then went to actually see them! I’m well aware of how utterly dull that sounds, but in truth, it was an awesome experience. The museum had tons of tools used by early human species and diagrams of how they were probably used in everyday life. Out in the fields, there were over a hundred huge boulders propped up in straight lines. There was even a little man-made tunnel. If you close your eyes and picture early humans walking around right where you’re standing, moving these huge rocks into perfect rows… it’s just mind-boggling. If you’re ever near Carnac, I highly suggest you go.
On the way back to Divonne, we stopped overnight in Angers. If you’re ever there for as a brief a time as we were, I would recommend just seeing the Château D’Angers. It’s an actual defensive castle built in the 13th century. It looks over the Loire River, has a huge waterless moat around it, it contains several colorful gardens, and it has a 600-year-old tapestry of the Apocolypse inside. Woo!
Stay tuned for more French adventures back in Divonnes les Bains! Tuesday is the French Independence Day, and the sixth Harry Potter movie comes out Wednesday, I believe. Anybody as pumped as I am?
