First glimpses of Brittany

 Brittany, like all of France that I have seen so far, is beautiful.  There are hardly any vineyards here, however, but there are lots of cows.  Lots and lots of cows.  The picture above is taken from the upstairs window in the gite at which we are now staying in a little village called Saint Juvat.  It is about 15 minutes from Dinan (more later) and about one hour from Saint Malo.   The owners have about 65 acres and lots of cows.  And so there is a certain 'perfume' to the air, but it isn't too bad.  (What I don't especially enjoy are the flies, but hey....does anybody really enjoy flies?)

 This is also taken just down the way from the gite.  It's all so very pastoral and just my kind of countryside.

 The day after we got to Brittany we took a drive into Dinan, a medieval city with a well preserved architectural heritage.  Apparently a monastery was established here in the 9th century and work on the ramparts began in 1283.  This is a picture of the 15th century clock tower that gave its name to the Rue de l'Horlage.

 We walked through the Porte du Jerzual  to access the Rue du Petit Fort.  We did a lot of walking down (which meant that it would be followed by a lot of walking up, sigh).

 The street is lovely and picturesque and we had gone fairly early in the morning so it wasn't too hot.

 And here is what is at the bottom of the hill:  the lovely Port of Dinan on the River Rance.  So very sweet, and well worth the walk (and even the subsequent climb!).

 This is the other side of the Porte du Jerzual, almost at the end of the climb back up.  We climbed up onto the ramparts as well to have a look at the city from that angle.  It was pretty amazing as well.

And then we went for a drive at the end of the day, just before sunset.  How lovely is that???!!! This is a field about a 5-minute drive away from where we are staying.  We drove past it again the next day, at noon, and it wasn't nearly so dramatic.  Isn't light the most amazing thing???
So, that was our first full day in Brittany.  I must confess we have been having some lazy days since we arrived.  Going flat out for 9 weeks would be nothing if not exhausting and so there is no guilt involved in the resting part of our programme.  My guy has been struggling a bit with allergies (the 'perfume' maybe??) but I confess, the quiet days have suited me just fine as well.
But we did get to Cap Frehel and Saint Malo yesterday, so I'll show you that soon.
I'll be back.....
(wow, on a side note, this is my 100th post!! Who would have thought.....)