Auray

I have to admit that the more we see of Brittany, the more we fall in love with it. After spending several days in Vannes we thought we had discovered a city that was just about perfect. Not too big and not too small and with a fantastic assortment of restaurants, tea houses, shops, parks, gardens and an amazing medieval city centre dating back to the 1500s. It was just the sort of place that we could imagine spending a year in if only we had the opportunity.

Although we were sorry to finally leave Vannes, our train tickets and hotel had already been booked for our next stop. We packed our bags once again (why do they always seem to be getting heavier ?) and wheeled them the 1.3 km back to the railway station. We were both relieved that we seem to have settled in to a prolonged period of fine and sunny weather, so the walk was more of a pleasure than a chore.

We arrived at the station just in time for a succession of announcements about train cancellations. It was just as well that our French has improved enough for us to now be able to understand quite a bit of what was being said. Dozens of passengers (most with luggage) started to file off the waiting train. This did not auger well for our trip. When we asked at the ticket office whether our train would be affected, we were met with a polite "je ne sais pas". We sat down in the station and waited.

The same passengers that had filed past us some time ago filed back in the opposite direction, and then once again for good measure back outside again. It was obvious that no one had any idea what was going on. As I have said many times before, life in France is NEVER boring.

When we finally boarded our train we were relieved to find that it was almost empty. We sat down with our luggage for the short trip to nearby Auray Le Loch. On arrival we caught a taxi to take us the 2.4 km to our hotel ( a little too far to walk with luggage). We were thrilled to find our hotel was situated right on the edge of town, in the middle of a forest. It was like being in a marvellous tree house. And that is one of the most delightful aspects of travel in Europe - you never know just what to expect of your next hotel until you are actually there.

After dropping off our luggage we walked through the forest to the old port. If we loved Vannes, we quickly adored Auray. It is a beautiful town with a lovely city centre and a beautiful port. The streets are quiet and clean and the many city bells are a regular reminder that we really are in France.

We had briefly visited here 4 years ago and had a rather traumatic experience when I accidentally drove our rental car right into the middle of the port (not knowing that I was driving the wrong way up a one way street). At that time I did not take much notice of the surroundings, I just wanted to escape with ourselves and the rental car intact. This time we have allowed 3 days to explore the town. We then catch the train back to Paris where we will be staying for 4 nights before the long flight back to Melbourne.
C'est la vie.Read more