Reset search
Normandie & Bretagne, France
  • Gina Steiner
  • Gina Steiner

Normandie & Bretagne, France

A 16-day adventure by Gina Read more
FollowInsightsInsightsCalendarCalendarPhotosPhotosShareShareBucket list
Newest first
  • Gina SteinerNormandie & Bretagne, FranceTraveler

    La Criée Marché Central

    May 30, 2024 in France ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    First things first... when I arrived in Rennes - yeah, arrived in Brittany - I went straight to the central market to buy some great local food.

    The central halls are a commercial building, designed by the architect Emmanuel Le Ray between 1912 and 1926.

    Since 1986, the Municipal Criée has hosted a contemporary art center: La Criée.

    So I found some good looking local specialties and now I will start looking for a nice coffee in the sun 🌞.    Read more

  • Gina SteinerNormandie & Bretagne, FranceTraveler

    Rennes

    May 30, 2024 in France ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Rennes (Breton: Roazhon) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. In 2017, the urban area had a population of 358 327 inhabitants.

    It has a nice little historic center but also some quite interesting new architecture.

    Rennes's history goes back more than 2 000 years to a time when it was a small Gallic village named Condate. Together with Vannes and Nantes, it was one of the major cities of the ancient Duchy of Brittany. From the early sixteenth century until the French Revolution, Rennes was a parliamentary, administrative and garrison city of the historic province of Brittany in the Kingdom of France.

    After the destructive fire of 1720, the medieval wooden center of the city was partially rebuilt in stone. Remaining mostly rural until the Second World War, Rennes underwent significant development in the twentieth century.

    In 2018, L'Express named Rennes as "the most liveable city in France" and I can definitely understand that.    Read more

  • Gina SteinerNormandie & Bretagne, FranceTraveler

    Art déco Piscine Saint-Georges

    May 30, 2024 in France ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    The Saint-Georges swimming pool is a municipal swimming pool built between 1923 and 1926 in Rennes. Emmanuel Le Ray, the city's architect, designed the project in 1911. He designed the exterior elements which were executed by the Parisian ceramists Gentil and Bourdet.

    The decoration of the swimming pool and public baths was carried out during construction by Isidore Odorico (son) in Briare enamels. The decorative program created (pool, promenades, footbaths, bottom of the tanks), represents one of the major achievements of Art Deco in France.

    Designed by Jean Janvier then Alfred Daniel, it was created by Mayor Carle Bahon between 1923 and 1926.    Read more

  • Gina SteinerNormandie & Bretagne, FranceTraveler

    Gare de Rennes

    May 30, 2024 in France ⋅ 🌬 17 °C

    Rennes station is a French railway station on the Paris-Montparnasse line in Brest, located south of Rennes city centre and a pretty interesting modern building.

    The station at Rennes was opened in 1857 and was situated a significant walking distance from the city centre. However, since that date the town has expanded and now the station lies in the central part of the city. It has access to Paris on the TGV, a two-hour trip; and serves Brittany with regular trains to Brest, Lannion, Nantes, Quimper and Saint-Malo. The station also has a direct train service to Brussels-South railway station once every day.Read more

  • Gina SteinerNormandie & Bretagne, FranceTraveler

    Dinan

    May 30, 2024 in France ⋅ 🌬 16 °C

    Dinan is a town in western France with 14 675 inhabitants. This Breton town is surrounded by an impressive ring of city walls.

    Strategically located for traffic between Normandy and the northern coast of Brittany, Dinan was built mostly on a hill. The old town lies about 75 m above the River Rance, which flows north and flows into the English Channel between Saint-Malo and Dinard. For a long time, Dinan was the northernmost point for crossing the Rance and its wide estuary delta. The construction of the Canal d'Ille-et-Rance created a navigable connection with the capital, Rennes.

    It's definitely a touristic city but it's anyways big enough that you can still feel a lot of local life. The old town is quite impressive and although I had my croissant and my café au lait in the middle of the historical center it was only 3,60.    Read more

  • Gina SteinerNormandie & Bretagne, FranceTraveler

    The summer is back

    May 30, 2024 in France ⋅ 🌬 16 °C

    Time for my hammock ❤️!

    And today it was my turn to cook 🧑‍🍳, so I prepared my lentil soup 🍜. The recipe? Here you go (for 4 people):

    1 onion
    1 garlic
    Fry in olive oil
    1/2 heaped teaspoon of turmeric
    1 heaped teaspoon of garam masala
    1 heaped teaspoon of cumin
    1/2 heaped teaspoon of chili powder
    Mix in a bowl and add to the onions and fry
    2 cans of water
    1 can of coconut milk
    1 can of peeled tomatoes (same size)
    1 stock cube
    250g red lentils
    Juice of 1/2 lemon 🍋
    Bring to the boil and add salt (pepper if necessary)
    Let it simmer on a low heat for 20 minutes
    Add fresh coriander.    Read more

  • Gina SteinerNormandie & Bretagne, FranceTraveler

    Saint-Malo

    May 31, 2024 in France ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    Saint-Malo is a city with around 50 000 inhabitants and is located on the Côte d'Émeraude in the north of Brittany at the mouth of the River Rance, opposite the seaside resort of Dinard.

    The city is the most important port on the north coast of Brittany and one of the most visited places in France thanks to its faithfully reconstructed historic town centre and its fortifications.

    The town centre wasn't of so much interest to me, as it is almost exclusively made up of clothing and tourist shops. I was mainly interested in the outside of the city walls, the tidal islands, the Atlantic Ocean and the beach.

    The Bay of Saint-Malo has one of the largest tidal differences in Europe, with a difference of up to twelve metres between low tide and high tide. Three of the offshore islands, Grand Bé and Petit Bé, as well as the Fort National (fortress built by Vauban in 1689) can therefore be reached on foot at low tide.

    The Usine marémotrice de la Rance, the world's first tidal power station, has been located in the mouth of the Rance since 1966 and was the largest in the world until 2011.

    The historic town centre intra muros (within the city walls) makes up around 20% of the city's total area and is surrounded by water on three sides.

    Atlantic pure! ❤️❤️❤️    Read more

  • Gina SteinerNormandie & Bretagne, FranceTraveler

    Tourony & Ploumanac'h

    May 31, 2024 in France ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    Today we arrived in Tourony and we will stay on the same campside for 3 nights. The moment we arrived I jumped out of the truck and went straight to the Atlantic. It was low tides and with almost 12 meters tidal range, I had to walk quite a bit through the wassen until I reached the water but finally I went swimming in the Atlantic ❤️🌊.

    The Tourony beach in Trégastel is the easternmost beach of the seaside resort, very close to the Ploumanach beach. This beautiful sandy cove faces the Coastérès castle. There are numerous rocks with rounded shapes on the beach and in the water, typical of the Pink Granite Coast in the vicinity of Ploumanach. Huge round rocks are scattered all over the place, blending into the gardens and the landscape, many of them are only visible at low tide, a rocky chaos of megalithic monuments.

    Ploumanac'h itself is a village port in a natural harbour in the Côtes-d'Armor department of the Brittany. In 2015 it was voted "the village most preferred by the French". It lies 3 kilometres north-west of the town Perros-Guirec.    Read more

  • Gina SteinerNormandie & Bretagne, FranceTraveler

    Postcard production

    June 1, 2024 in France ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    Today I stayed on the campside, did my laundry, went swimming in the Atlantic, drunk a bottle of cidre, finished the drawing of the postcard (finally!), printed them out (there is a Super U around the corner), drew the backside and stamped them with the Daltus stamp.

    Now I need to address them, find stamps and a postbox - but that's no big problem in France - finding a printer for printing the postcards was much more complicated - fortunately I found one in Super U.

    Next time I will finish them beforehand, like usually, it's way less hassle 🤪.

    So "usual suspects" this time you will get one!    Read more

  • Gina SteinerNormandie & Bretagne, FranceTraveler

    Le Gouffre und Pointe du Château

    June 2, 2024 in France ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Today I went hiking around le gouffre de Plougrescant for 3-4 hours.

    Plougrescant is a commune in the Côtes-d’Armor department, in Brittany. Hiking trails along the coast allow you to go around the point and discover several unusual places.

    The Gouffre de Plougrescant is a large fault between two rocks, of dizzying height. Formed several million years ago following intense magmatic activity, the rock was then extensively sculpted by erosion. It is possible to deviate from the path to carefully climb the rocks in order to have a front-row seat to the waves crashing on the stone blocks. Also nicknamed “the abyss of the bay of hell”, it seems that on stormy days the spectacle is particularly impressive!

    I went along the cost, crossed the headland and walked the other side of the coast back to the starting point. Fortunately it was a bit cloudy in the beginning, else it would have been too sunny...    Read more

  • Gina SteinerNormandie & Bretagne, FranceTraveler

    Pointe de Corsen

    June 3, 2024 in France ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Today I went hiking around Point de Corsen - a wonderful coastline with white sandy beaches.

    The pointe de Corsen is a cape located in the commune of Plouarzel, in Finistère. The point is the westernmost point of mainland metropolitan France, while some most often attribute this feature to the Pointe du Raz. Due to its extreme geographical position, this point is considered the theoretical border between the English Channel and the Atlantic Ocean.Read more

  • Gina SteinerNormandie & Bretagne, FranceTraveler

    Plage de Kerhornou

    June 3, 2024 in France ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    After today's hike I went swimming at Porsmoguer-Kerhornou beach.

    It's is located between the tip of Brenterc’h and that of Corsen further north. It faces southwest on the coastline of the Atlantic Ocean.

    Porsmoguer-Kerhornou beach is a sandy beach 400 m long and around 50 m wide. It is framed by two rocky points which give way to a large dune massif in the background. The southern end of the beach is topped with riprap. Several trails line the dunes before arriving in the central part of the beach.

    😍 *W*O*N*D*E*R*F*U*L* 😍    Read more

  • Gina SteinerNormandie & Bretagne, FranceTraveler

    Quimper

    June 3, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    Quimper, or Kemper in Breton, is the capital of the historic region of Cornouaille. The city has around 64 000 inhabitants, called Quimpérois in French and Kemperiz in Breton. Its original Breton name Kemper means confluence, as it was built at the confluence of the Jet, Steïr and Frout rivers with the Odet river.

    The city is famous for its porcelain factory. In its workshops, faience has been shaped and decorated entirely by hand according to ancient traditions for four centuries.

    I did not find anything "special" here - hmmmm - seems like I suffer an inflation of historic cities 🤣.    Read more

  • Gina SteinerNormandie & Bretagne, FranceTraveler

    Memhirs, Dolmen & Tumulus

    June 4, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Carnac is famous as the site of more than 10 000 Neolithic standing stones, also known as menhirs. The stones were hewn from local rock and erected by the pre-Celtic people of Brittany. Local tradition claims that the reason they stand in such perfectly straight lines is that they are a Roman legion turned to stone by Pope Cornelius.

    Since we are staying in Carnac, I rented an ebike and explored the area. Amongst other things I visited some Memhirs, Dolmen & Tumulus.

    The Carnac stones were erected during the Neolithic period which lasted from around 4500 BC until 2000 BC. The precise date of the stones is difficult to ascertain as little dateable material has been found beneath them, but the site's main phase of activity is commonly attributed to c. 3300 BC. One interpretation of the site is that successive generations visited the site to erect a stone in honour of their ancestors. A recent suggestion, proposed by Santiago Sevilla, posits that the megaliths were set as protecting shields for an army of defenders of Carnac as a pre-erected burg against attacking enemies.

    In any case it is impressive.    Read more

  • Gina SteinerNormandie & Bretagne, FranceTraveler

    Collecting cockles

    June 4, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    When I explored the area with my ebike today, I spotted some people at the beach looking for things in the shallow water.

    It turned out that they were looking for cockles.

    In France, anyone can harvest the fruits of the sea, from oysters to razor clams. "Fishing on foot" is the name of a popular Breton sport that allows you to feast for free. At low tide, the shores are transformed into a kind of self-service paradise. The receding water exposes rocks, mudflats and algae, the habitats of numerous shellfish and seafood, from oysters to lobsters and crayfish to razor clams and clams.

    If you follow a few rules, you can legally pick these delicacies from the sand and rocks. The sea is a public space in France and anyone can collect mussels from its shores for their own use. Only the quantity of each edible seafood that may be harvested and its minimum size are laid down - like the fish for anglers - in accordance with the guidelines on land use and sea fishing.

    Ohm nom nom 😋.    Read more

  • Gina SteinerNormandie & Bretagne, FranceTraveler

    Quiberon

    June 4, 2024 in France ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Today I discovered that an ebike is a great thing for special cases. For example, to visit menhirs, beaches *and* Quiberon even though you have to cycle 60km to get everywhere.

    Quiberon (Breton: Kiberen) is a French port town on the peninsula of the same name. Fishing once played a major role in Quiberon's economy. The town's population of around 5 000 now live mainly from the up to 60,000 tourists who visit during the summer.

    Quiberon and Saint-Pierre-Quiberon were once one island until around the 11th century, when deforestation released sand that was carried by wind and ocean currents to form a land bridge. The north-south facing peninsula is around 14 kilometres long.

    The area has a long prehistory, as evidenced by the dolmen of Porz Guen (also called Port-Blanc) and a number of menhirs, some of which date back to around 4000 BC. There is a gap between the Stone Age and Celtic island cultures in terms of settlement and monuments.

    The special thing about the Quiberon peninsula is its diversity, which is due to the fact that one side of the island faces the mainland (Quiberon Bay) and the other faces the Atlantic. The sea is calm on the land side, in contrast to the Wild Coast (Côte sauvage) on the Atlantic side with small sandy beaches between the rocky bays of Port Blanc and Port Bara, where swimming is strictly prohibited.

    The coast has been severely damaged by tourism, so protective fences and similar measures are being used to preserve the vegetation.

    At the moment there are not many tourists yet, so it's quite nice but I can imagine how this develops in summer 😱.    Read more

  • Gina SteinerNormandie & Bretagne, FranceTraveler

    Carnac

    June 4, 2024 in France ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Today my ebike took me 60km around Quiberon and if it had been a normal bike, I would no longer have wanted to explore the beaches and small streets of Carnac, but with an ebike...

    Carnac (Breton: Karnag) is a French commune with around 4,200 inhabitants. It belongs to the arrondissement of Lorient and the municipal association of Auray Quiberon Terre Atlantique.

    The climatically stable south coast of Brittany with its many bays and sandy beaches has been popular with the French since the 1920s. Since the 1960s, visitors from other European countries have also been coming to see the many prehistoric sights in Carnac and the surrounding area.

    Plouharnel - Carnac station on the Auray–Quiberon railway line is served by excursion trains in the summer. Until 1935 there was a tram that connected the station, town and beach with each other and with the neighboring towns of La Trinité-sur-Mer and Étel.

    The center of the town is a typical tourist town by the sea, so I gave it a wide berth. However, the houses and the beaches are definitely worth several looks.    Read more

  • Gina SteinerNormandie & Bretagne, FranceTraveler

    Le marché de Vannes

    June 5, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    The market in Vannes is huge. It stretches through almost the entire old town.

    The part opposite the post office building is the vegetable market. What a pity that I don't live in an apartment here with Rainer, could empty the market and prepare 1000 delicious dishes 😋.

    The market stretches down to the harbor, where you can find all kinds of local delicacies like sausage and cheese, but also lots of clothing and jewelry.

    That was my first stroll in Brittany and the croissant 🥐, the pain au chocolat and the café au lait ☕ were excellent!    Read more

  • Gina SteinerNormandie & Bretagne, FranceTraveler

    Vannes

    June 5, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Today I did something very strange: a city tour 🚂.

    I can't remember when I've done anything like that before. But now the time had come and I sat on a white train and listened to the nice lady's voice in my headphones - now I know!

    Vannes (Breton: Gwened) is a French city with 54 000 inhabitants. It dates back to the Gallo-Roman city of Darioritum. In 560, Clothar I defeated the army of the Breton Konomor, under whose protection Clothar's son Chram had placed himself. Nominoë, Count of Vannes in the first half of the 9th century, is considered by some Bretons to be the first king of Brittany.

    The independence of the Duchy of Brittany ended in Vannes in 1532 with the meeting of the French King Francis I with the Breton estates. From 1675, Vannes was the seat of the Breton parliament. The city has also been the seat of a bishopric since the 5th century.

    From 1790, the city was the capital of an electoral district (canton) of the same name. In 1982, it was divided into three electoral districts: Chef-lieu of Vannes Centre, Vannes Ouest and Vannes Est.

    And now *you* know 🤣.    Read more

  • 2025© FindPenguins
  • Home
  • About us
  • Group Tracking
  • Press
  • Terms
  • Privacy Policy & Cookies
  • Help Center
  • Legal notice