From the owner: La principale entrée de la ville Construites vers 1440, elles constituaient la principale entrée de…read morela ville qui en comptait dix. Elles comportent deux tours symétriques rehaussées de mâchicoulis avec double pont-levis. La face latérale de ces tours comportait deux rangées de canons, permettant ainsi de doubler le tir, ce qui était exceptionnel pour l'époque. Avant de se faire couronner à la cathédrale St-Pierre, les ducs de Bretagne franchissaient les portes Mordelaises après avoir prêté serment de défendre l'indépendance de la Bretagne et de préserver les droits royaux du duché.

From the owner: Un des édifices les plus prestigieux du patrimoine breton - Classé au titre des Monuments…read moreHistoriques La construction du Parlement de Bretagne a duré plus d'un demi-siècle et c'est sans doute pour cela qu'il est devenu l'un des plus beaux monuments de France. Créé en 1554, il se fixe définitivement à Rennes en 1561. Le 15 septembre 1618, la première pierre est posée. Le chantier démarre sous les ordres de Salomon de Brosse, architecte royal. Pendant les années qui vont suivre, le Parlement va connaître d'autres maîtres d'oeuvre et subir plusieurs transformations. Dans la nuit du 4 au 5 février 1994, il brûle. Les dégâts matériels sont considérables et rien ne subsiste de la couverture de l'édifice. La plus grande partie des oeuvres d'art et des tapisseries a pu être sauvée. Après plus de cinq ans de travaux, le Parlement est à nouveau visible depuis octobre 1999. Il est possible de le visiter en appelant le 02 99 67 11 66, en s'inscrivant. Un guide conférencier informera le public

From the owner: Le coeur de Dinan Le Port est considéré comme le berceau de la ville. C'est là que furent…read moreconstruites les premières demeures. Aujourd'hui, c'est devenu un port de plaisance. De nombreux restaurants se sont implantés sur la Rance, ce qui permet d'avoir une très jolie vue panoramique. Le paysage est charmant et idéal comme point de départ pour une balade.

From the owner: La plus grande abbaye de Rennes Saint-Georges fut l'une des plus grandes abbayes de Rennes. C'est…read morele duc de Bretagne, en 1032, qui fit construire ce monastère pour sa soeur qui voulait entrer dans les ordres. L'église de cette abbaye était dédiée à Saint-Georges. L'abbaye fut reprise en main en 1663 par l'abbesse Magdelaine de Lafayette, après avoir connu une période de décadence. En 1670, elle fit construire par Pierre Corbineau le grand et magnifique bâtiment que l'on peut admirer maintenant. Il porte d'ailleurs le nom de l'abbesse sur toute sa longueur. Comme de nombreux autres couvents, celui-ci fut transformé en caserne après la Révolution. Cet édifice abrite aujourd'hui des services administratifs.

This place is just WOW! I have no words. You have to make sure this is on your list while visiting…read moreNormandy. It's like beauty and the beast. And the history is fascinating. There is plenty of parking. You can walk to the castle or they have complimentary shuttles that run all day. If you have time, I also recommend a walking tour at low time. We saw the tidal bore come in and it was breathtaking.

UNESCO World Heritage Site in the northern edge of France…read more.. I didn't understand why my pregnant friend wanted to go to Mont Saint-Michel before she gave birth. This was decades ago - way before Yelp. I was just being a supportive friend. I cannot remember the details of that vacation. I think it was crowded, rather far, and involved an uphill climb. This time, I did some research and found out that there are about 350 steps up during the Staircase Climb. Ouch! An important improvement is the Free Shuttle from the parking lots to the base of Mont Saint-Michel and back. It runs every 12 minutes until 11pm. We weren't able to do the Abbey Tour because we visited on May 1st, which is a major holiday and the Abbey was closed. That's why there were so many school children around! We did go early when it was less crowded! We stayed overnight in a hotel and walked about 40 minutes to Mont Saint-Michel after breakfast. The sheep along the way were so cute, playing and eating in the green pastures! The architecture is awesome! The historical walkways were charming! The views were amazing! The restroom at the bottom of the hill was 1€, while the "WC" (water closet) right outside of St. Peter Church was free. There was a long line for this unisex single-stall facility. There were many shops and restaurants along the way. We stopped in at the bookstore and got some great gifts as well as a good tip from the cashier. She said that there was a noon mass at The Abbey. We waited outside of the Abbey with a group of Asian students and got counted in for the free admission! Yay! Mass was all in French language. We enjoyed the a cappella singing and wonderful acoustics! For me, this was a workout! I took a couple of water breaks to catch my breath. I appreciate my souvenirs from the bookstore even more now! We returned after dinner to catch the sunset at 9:20pm. It was a peaceful walk back to the hotel, along the wooden pathway that ran along the bridge over the water. It was cool to take photos at the dam, and at low tide vs high tide. If you're in France, make it a point to visit "The Wonder of the West". It is a fantastic tribute to the Archangel Saint Michael! Look for him as a golden figure on the top of the Abbey!

This place specializes in pastries from Breton, especially the kouign amanns, which are a delicious…read moreoverdose of butter and sugar. They have a 3 flavors of kouign amanns: - Nature (Plain) - Pomme (Apple) - Framboise (Raspberry) They also sell madelines, Breton Far (kind of like a cross between flan and fluffy cheesecake, but more flan and more eggy), gateau breton, flan, sables bretons, salted caramel, and other pastries. Pretty much everything here is sweet. The kouign amanns are 2,80€ for the flavored ones, and 2,50€ for the nature/plain ones which is reasonable, given that the size of these are pretty large and fresh. The ones with fruit aren't super fruity; we got the pomme and it was just a small amount of apple compote in between the layers. Just a hint of apple and not very overpowering. The kouign amanns are super buttery and rich - not an everyday treat, but if you're in Brittany you should definitely try one, and this place seems to focus on Breton pastries. We also got a slice of the Breton Far (you can buy it by the weight), which has prunes at the bottom. This was good, not too sweet and kind of a cross between a cheesecake and flan. I would recommend this if you've never had it before, at least to try it. If you're in Dinan, come find this patisserie - it's a 10 min walk or so from the main part of town, but there's a cute canal/river right by there, and the houses and town that lead to the patisserie is super quaint. I would definitely come back here again and would recommend it if you're in Dinan.