In November 2014, I started a long-term project of hiking the coast of Brittany. The trail goes by many names: sentier côtier, sentier or chemin des douaniers, sentier littoral and grande randonnée 34 ("GR34"). I decided to start my hike at the beginning of the GR34,...
My first book of 2016 was A Gift from Brittany, by Marjorie Price. It's a true story, the account of the young American's own life in southern Brittany in the early 1960s, back when modernity had not yet reached these rural communities and when there were no other...
We are looking for a housemate in Brittany! For those of you following this blog for a while now, you know how much I love Brittany. You can see all my posts on this beautiful region here. We have a four-bedroom house in the very center of an adorable town (Baden -...
In 1965, Eleanor Clark won the National Book Award for Nonfiction for her work, The Oysters of Locmariaquer, which paints a vivid picture of this small town and of its inhabitants whose lives revolve around the oyster cultivating industry. Please know that...
The small town of Clisson sits about 17 kilometers to the southeast of Nantes, in the department of Loire-Atlantique. It's technically part of Brittany, but with a very different feel. "Tuscany in Brittany" reads the Office of Tourism website. The historic center of...
Last month I became an oyster harvester. OK, maybe not quite. But I donned some waders and worked the oyster beds for about 15 minutes, enough to realize what back-breaking work it is! Au Rythme des marées is now offering a 2 ½ hour boat trip with oyster cultivator...
Last fall, I shared the news that I have embarked on a new project, hiking the 1,000-or-so mile coastline of Brittany. The first weekend in November, I hiked the first three days of the GR34, starting in Vitré, just east of Rennes, passing through Fougères, and...
Our home in the small town of Baden, a mile from the coast in the southern Brittany department of the Morbihan is available starting July 14th! It's a four-bedroom house that sleeps 6 adults (or up to 8 adults with an air mattress). There is also a room with a crib....
Anyone who reads my website regularly knows that I have a big soft spot for Brittany. For three years now, a friend and I have rented a house in the south of Brittany, in the department of the Morbihan. I have written a number of posts on the region, in particular on...
Never heard of Sark (or Sercq, as the French say)? You are probably not alone. Most people, even those living in France or the UK, have never heard of this small island in the English Channel off the Normandy coast. Although it boasts a status of 4th largest island in...
