DINAN : A hidden town of fairy tale in Bretagne

DINAN 

On the top of a hill in France, there is a small walled city called Dinan. It seems like you come into a Disney fairy tale.

RUE DU JERZUAL

To the top of the hills, you’ll pass by the Jerzual avenue(Rue du Jerzual), the most famous point that you can’t miss. While walking on this avenue to the top of hill you can see old wooden houses dating as far back as to 15th century.

MAISON À PORCHE

Dinan has nearly 115 half-timbered houses in old town and you’ll notice some houses with corbelled arches, porches resting on wooden pillars. The front porch is called ‘maison à porche’ in French and has been used for selling things when it rains.

LA FONTAINE DU JERZUAL

Along the Avenue of Jerzual, you’ll find this lovely restaurant, La Fontaine du Jerzual. They serve Garette which you would probably expect for Brittany since it’s the origin of Garette.

Address : 21 Rue du Jerzual, 22100 Dinan
Opening Hours : Mon-Sat 12:00-21:30, weekend 12:00-22:30
Price : 8-15euros

This wooden house, with light blue table and wide windows has a relaxing and friendly atmosphere.When it’s sunny it’d be even more nice to eat outside.

Did you know that Galette has an older history than crepe? When buckwheat arrived in Bretagne in the 12th century, it took to the harsh landscape right away. And Brittany has developed galette. The first crepes were made only with Buckwheat flour and then later on with wheat flour.

LA RUE DES GRANDS JARDINS

Topped with Camambert cheese icecream with tomato paste, the baked zucchines with Genovese source are softly wrapped in al dente galette. It’s the best moment to eat with the icecream fresh out of the kitchen. The Britain galette goes very well with cidre.

LE BASTION MERCOEUR 

After eating, take a walk to the top of the hill and go to see the city view. The air is refreshing and the rooftops are so lovely from this view. As in Paris, most of the ramparts in France were destroyed as modernization processed. Here in Dinan, you’d not miss the ramparts constituted of an enclosure with a perimeter of about 2,650 m.

Address : Rue Saint-Malo, 22100 Dinan
Opening Hours :  

Though this is not particular in Bretagne, each restaurants, shops, etc has its own pretty shop signs. They look like they are representing for each unique shops. Like this, you can find many original things in Dinan.

LA BELLE-ILOISE

One of the recommended souvenir is the canned food from ‘La belle-iloise’. Found in 1932 in Quiberon in South Bretagne, famous for its Sardine fishing, the family still success the traditional know-how of products. Since it can last long days, it’s the most suitable souvenir.

Another beautiful scenery is the Mercure Dinan Port. From the top of hill, you can see the beautiful view of Rance river and Dinan Port. Located at the mouth of river, this port used to be an important hub for the merchants and craftsmans to connect Dinan to outside the world.

O'BON PARIS' NOTE

Half a day would be enough to explore Dinan. It’d be better to bring comfortable shoes since most of the pedestories in Dinan are stove pavement. It takes 25 minutes from Dol-de-Bretagne by train() and 1 hour and 20 minutes from Rennes by bus.

Written and Photographed by : Leona Fujii