Day Four: Dinan Medieval Town | France Fully Loaded Cycle Tour 2019
Hot off the heels of my last Fully Loaded Cycle Tour in South Wales, and with barely a month just gone by, I was on to my next Cycle Tour in Brittany, North West France. As I didn’t have much time to plan & organise this trip I thought I would take a ‘go where the wind takes me‘ attitude as far as the camping bit goes and find sites along the way (I only had my last night’s campsite stay booked in so I didn’t miss my boat going back!) and after some research I found a great book which details the great ‘Green Ways‘ cycle routes around Brittany titled ‘Brittany’s Green Ways‘ published by Red Dog Books (see photo below) – I took the V2 cycle route from St-Malo to Rennes with a impromptu side trip going along the v4 route on the first day to see the abbey at Mont-Saint-Michel. Now I could chat away for ages about this trip, the weather was amazing, the overnight ferry, miles of off road cycle paths, the food… ahh.. it was like a holiday mixed in with cycle touring – just plain brilliant, but without further ado, here are the photos! 🙂
After a cosy nights sleep at Hallerais campground I made my way into Dinan town from Taden for the day, about a 3 mile ride passing through Port DinanThe Port of Dinan and the picturesque 'Viaduc de Dinan' - I went over this on my bike too!Chateau de Dinan - a medieval keep with a moat drawbridge'Le Donjon' or the keep - as seen in the next pictureTaking a pose in front of the keep at Chateau de DinanThe historic cobblestoned town of DinanInfo on the 'Keratry Mansion' as seen in the next photoL'hotel Keratry or 'Keratry Mansion' built in 1559 - and looking at the timbers you could see that straight away! great building thisI like this futuristic folk festival flyer I spotted in a shop window further down into the town of DinanInfo on the Clock Tower - seen in the next photoLa tour de L'Horloge or Clock Tower, built around the end of the 14th century the platform on the top of the tower was a watchtower in it's past daysSome of the lovely old buildings of the historic Dinan town - unfortunately I did see one that had been in a fire a few days before I was there, think that was beyond saving which was a shameWhen I ordered a American pizza I didn't think they meant it literally! chopped up burger & chips on a pizza - go figure! nice though ;)This grand building was opposite the outside spot in the restaurant I was eating atInfo on Jerzual Street - seen in the next photoLa rue du Jerzual or Jerzual street, this beautiful cobblestoned street goes all the way down to the Port of Dinan and has been around since as early as 1123!Tobacco/newsagent sign - I've always liked these iconic French signs!Info on "The Field" square - seen in next photoAs well as a market square since 1314, which still holds a market every Thursday, this spot was the scene of a dual between the Breton knight Bertrand du Guesclin, this statue, and English captain Thomas of Canterbury in 1357I climbed on top of a wall to get this view of the Viaduc de Dinan which goes over the Port of DinanPanoramic view of the Port of Dinan, notice the cute little restaurant just to the left side of the bridge - great view they have!Info on La rue do Petit-Fort - seen in the next photoThis street, La rue du Petit-Fort or Small Fort Street, links to Jerzual Street (a few photo's back) and dates back to the fifteenth century