Waking up to a new sunny day – I decide to go for a walk in Saint-Malo and then head for lunch in Cancale. As my hotel ”Ambassadeurs” is also a Creperie, I start my day with some crepes, coffee and a view of the incoming sea. Perfect start looking at the waves splashing at the promenade wall.
My positive opinion of Saint-Malo does not change seeing it in full daylight. It is truly a beautiful city. It boasts to have the most visitors in Bretagne and the population quadruples in the summer. I walk the streets and walk out on the pier. It has a lot of history and there are small signs telling stories about Saint-Malo everywhere so the walk takes its time.
First stop of the day is Cancale – home of the oysters I tasted yesterday and claiming to be the oyster capital in Bretagne. After a short winding road after the coast, I reach this small town and park my car at the town center. Time for some exploration! I love this feeling when you come to a new town and you have no clue where to go or what you are going to experience. Cancale feels like a nice calm little city. On the main square, there are a nice statue of two women with oysters. I find the tourist information and ask if there is some oyster museum or alike in town and get told that there is a tour at two. Fits good into my plans so I head down to the port where you can buy oysters on a small seafood market and if you want, they open oysters for you and serve them with lemon. I take a plate of large oysters (no 2) and get a dozen served on a plate for eight euros. Unbeatable. This is really a nice lunch, sitting in the sun on the pier with some oyster beds beneath and Mont Saint-Michel in the distance over the bay. I decide to go online, book me a hotel room and find Le Querrien on the Quai that looks like a nice hotel with a nice restaurant.
From my hotel, there is a kilometer walk into the forest to reach the place where the tour should be. Ferme Marine is a oyster farm and they have a display of oysters as you wait for the tour to start. We are a very small group so you can ask questions without ruining the tour for everybody. A very informative walk through the different stages of their farming from breeding, harvesting, preparation for transport and packaging. A well spent afternoon.
At the afternoon, the rain starts falling so I take a digital afternoon and take care of this blog. It is pretty nice to sit in the hotel restaurant looking out on the sea and the rain is falling on the street. After an evening walk, I decide to have the dinner in the hotel restaurant – and yes – I had local oysters….