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GR34: Saint-Malo and Pays de Dol

(vero;2024-May-15)

We have two galleries so far:

The first one includes pictures taken during several stays in Saint-Malo and Roz-Landrieux (where we stayed for one week in January 2018). Roz-Landrieux is located in the Pays de Dol, not far from the Mont Saint Michel (one of our favourite places in France) and we are lucky to have family in Saint-Malo, which means we are often there.
We have a dedicated gallery for Saint-Malo and its neighbours Saint-Servan and Dinard, with more pictures to be added as time will pass.

Many pictures have been taken in winter and are proof that the weather can be very nice in this season with the added bonus of hardly a soul around. Of course, we had also cloudy and rainy skies but those are the days when we take the time to visit towns and the hinterland. Brittany in winter? Highly recommended!

Saint-Malo and Roz-Landrieux

Setting the scene… This gallery includes many pictures taken between Pointe du Meinga and Pointe du Grouin, a particularly delightful stretch of the coastal path. Unfortunately, although we do have a gallery dedicated to Saint-Malo below this one, we do not have pictures of our walks from Saint-Malo to Dinard and beyond but rest assured that they are really worth the effort. Also do not miss our photo section dedicated to the Mont Saint Michel (Map data ©2019 Google).

View of the Pointe du Chatry from the coastal path between Cancale and the Pointe du Grouin.

The lighthouse of the Pierre-de-Herpin seen from the Pointe du Grouin.

The semaphore of Pointe du Grouin seen from the west.

The coast on the way to Pointe du Grouin (approaching from the west).

The beach of la Saussaye, between Pointe du Meinga and Pointe du Grouin.

Winter colours on the way between Pointe du Meinga and Pointe du Grouin.

Somewhere between Pointe du Meinga and Pointe du Grouin.

One of the beaches around the Havre de Rothéneuf between Rothéneuf and the Pointe du Meinga.

Another bright winter day between Pointe du Meinga and Pointe du Grouin: the beach of La Saussaye in the foreground and the beach of Le Verger in the background.

The island Du Guesclin between Pointe du Meinga and Pointe du Grouin is cut from the mainland at high tide. It got its name from the old French noble family Du Guesclin who built a fortified castle on its ground in 1026 and was once the residence of the French singer Léo Ferré.

Pointe after pointe, the coast between Pointe du Meinga and Pointe du Grouin.

Saint-Malo and its neighbours Saint-Servan and Dinard

The beach of the Môle below the city walls.

View from the Pointe de la Vicomté, on the other side of the Rance estuary. Saint-Servan and the Tour Solidor are on the right, the island right of the middle is the rock de Bizeux with a statue of the Virgin on top. The seaside resort of Dinard is on the left of the picture.

The Tour Solidor in Saint-Servan. Its name comes from the Breton words steir and dor which mean gate of the river. The keep was built between 1369 and 1382 to control the river Rance and was the place where taxes were levied on traded goods.

The fort of Petit-Bé on the eponymous island is located a few hundred metres off the city walls of Saint-Malo and only accessible by foot at low tide.

The tomb of François René de Chateaubriand, precursor of the French Romantic literature school and one of the great French writers of the 19th century. It is located on the island of Grand-Bé off Saint-Malo, which is only accessible by foot at low tide. The epitaph on the tomb reads: "A great French writer wanted to rest here to hear only the sea and the wind. Passer-by, respect his last wish". The fort in the background is the fort of Petit-Bé (see previous picture).

Breakwaters protecting the seawall of the long beach of Sillon linking Saint-Malo and Paramé: 3000 oak trunks regularly maintained and replaced over the years. The very first breakwaters are said to have been installed at the end of the 17th century. Chateaubriand who spent his childhood in Brittany and whose tomb is on the island of Grand-Bé off Saint-Malo mentioned them in his book "Memoirs from Beyond the Grave".

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Want to read more? Go on to GR34: Pays de Saint-Brieuc or go back up to Along Brittany's Coastal Path