Traveling in France: Saint-Malo and Rennes

During June, we joined Marie-Chantal's sister Sally and her husband Rob for a road trip through Brittany and the Loire Valley.  We had a wonderful time.  

The next few blog posts are a pictorial scrapbook of the road trip.  Enjoy!

First stop--Saint-Malo.  

The animal pictured above is a white ermine.

We walked along the ramparts of the town and then along the beach.  Fortunately, we visited at low tide.  Otherwise, oh la la.  

Rob and Sally, with Saint-Malo in the background

Below, you can see Saint-Malo's square man-made tidal pool, which fills with sea water so bathers don't have to walk so far to reach a swimming spot at low tide.

We also visited the cathedral, the Cathédrale Saint-Vincent-de-Saragosse de Saint-Malo.

The marker below gives a short history of the cathedral.

Inside the cathedral, we admired the stained-glass windows and the modern altar and bishop's chair. Note that the four corners of the altar feature the symbols of the four evangelists, Gospel writers Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

You can read more about the modern alter and chair below.

Saint-Malo has a strong connection to North America.  On the floor of the cathedral is a plaque commemorating the 1535 departure of Jacques Cartier to explore North America.

Who knew?

While riding the train to Saint-Malo, we spotted an amusing sign about "worries guaranteed".

Thanks for visiting Saint-Malo with us.  

Next stop, Rennes.  Our visit to Rennes was brief but enjoyable.  We walked through the town and visited the cathedral.

The interior was beautifully decorated, especially the barrel-vaulted roof of the nave.  We also spotted more modern pieces on the altar, possibly by the same artists as in Saint-Malo.

The cathedral is home to the remains of Saint Amand, the bishop of Rennes in the 500's.

While strolling in Rennes, we saw many half-timbered buildings from the middle ages.

We also noticed that street signs were in French and also in Breton, a Celtic language that originated in Britain.  There are about 200,000 Breton speakers in the region.

Thanks for visiting Rennes with us.

Next stop, Nantes.