62. A Hydrangea-filled Summer in Bretagne, France
Fulfilling my coastal grandma dreams along the beautiful and quiet Atlantic coastline
Still learning the curves of Youtube, I know the video link in yesterday’s newsletter didn’t work - I am so sorry! You can check out the updated newsletter here and the video tour of the ELTE Füvészkert here.
If you’ve been reading my newsletter for the past couple years, you know I am a big Éric Rohmer fan and tend to coordinate our French travels around visiting the picturesque villages shown in his films. In August of this year, Nico and I headed South to France, to the cooler coastal region of Bretagne (Brittany). Jutting into the Atlantic ocean on France’s western coast, Brittany has some of the harshest weather in the country. It has a reputation for raining most of the year, and is home to some of the best seafood and hearty cuisine in general (think crêpes, galettes, caramel, butter, cider). Summer is the best time to visit, but we still had a few overcast rainy days - though the cool temperature was a welcome respite from the canicule we experienced in Annecy last summer. Dinard, a bougie Emerald Coast town is featured heavily in Rohmer’s Conte d'été and we stopped by on our drive down.
Nowadays it is more hangry tourists than the beautiful landscapes of undisturbed greenery that were shown in Conte d'été (filmed nearly 30 years ago), so we chose to stay in quieter towns closer to nature. St. Malo is also mentioned and one day I would like to visit but honestly we were burnt out from moving stress and had two anxious furbabies in the car so we chose to skip dealing with another ultra-touristy crowd.
Brittany’s rocky coast
Look at the clouds and lol myself trying to blend in with my Breton stripes but then blanking when anyone tries to converse with me
Blackberries grow along most hiking paths here (mainly because they are invasive but let’s be cup half full shall we and say they grow for hungry hikers)
We spent most days making morning coffee with a view and hiking until we felt hungry enough to cook up some seafood by the beach. Even though it was the height of summer tourism, we found so many hidden spots with almost nobody around. Something unheard of along European coasts in August.
Farmer’s market goodies
Nico braving the freezing waters
The iconic flowers of Bretagne are Les Hortensias a.k.a. Hydrangeas - the international coastal grandma symbol. Although I am still struggling to achieve the level of Nancy Meyers chic in which your hydrangea bouquets do not wilt within an hour of vase placement (sorry if I have mentioned that before and yes I have tried the boiling water trick) - I idolise the flower and fell in love with the bountiful amounts growing in this region. One day on our way to lunch we stumbled upon this farm with a view of the ocean…
how insane is this
Hydrangeas love the partly cloudy salty climate of Brittany and are planted in almost every garden visible as you explore the coast. Since it never gets Canadian cold and summers aren’t normally as unbearable as Southern France, hydrangeas thrive here, growing easily and making it a Breton gardener favourite.
Bretons are so proud of this flower, there is even a hike devoted to them called Circuit des Hortensia. Unfortunately I found this out while researching for this article otherwise I would have most certainly dragged Nico along for that walk. After trespassing for too long (sorry beautiful hydrangea farm!) we headed down the hill to a cute oyster farm by the beach for some lunch followed by a low-tide walk where Nico foraged some clams for dinner.
Nerding out - but I love the attention to detail in Conte d'été, where even the tables have easily foraged hydrangea bouquets placed atop.
I hope you enjoyed this virtual trip to Brittany! See you next time with some garden travel/nature video content from our adventures this past year, have a wonderful week! <3
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