Le Boat Boating Holiday

My first trip to Brittany was as a shy awkward 13-year-old on a school exchange trip. Having only been studying French for less than a year it seems a little crazy now but I found my Welsh was also useful in filling in some of the blanks with the maman, who spoke Breton a Celtic language that is still spoken by around 20% of the population in Brittany. We explored the region around Quimper to the West and I have fond memories of my first trip away from home and still have the bowl that I used for my first ever hot chocolate and clearly remember the decadence of dipping my baguette in the sweet steaming liquid. This was the start of my passion for travel and being immersed in new culture, foods and history. Over the last 10 years I have been fortunate to have visited Brittany multiple times a year to visit my in-laws who retired from the UK to a beautiful area near St Malo. There is no shortage of options to get here with Le Shuttle to Calais and a slightly longer drive once in France or ferry to Caen and a manageable 2-hour drive or ferry from both Portsmouth and Bournemouth into St Malo.

I adore exploring this area with its stunning coastline and the region is known as Côtes D’Armor from the French côtes meaning "coasts" and ar mor is "the sea" in Breton (Mor being the same in Welsh incidentally). Over the years we have walked numerous of the incredible beaches in all seasons and never tire of revisiting some of our favourites, Saint Lunaire, Lancieux, Saint Bruiac sur mer, Saint Cast de Guildo and the most local to our house is the wonderful Saint Jacut de la mer a quaint village with 7 beautiful sandy coves. St Malo is definitely up there as a favourite too, a wonderful walled city where you can walk the ramparts and mooch around the boutique shops and cafes lining the cobbled streets and surrounded by lovely coves and marinas. Dinard is also great to visit especially on market day when the old market hall is buzzing and a fabulous place to take in the sights and smells of the tantalising local produce. The long promenade lining the beach here is a great place to grab a café grande and gaze at some of the 407 listed villas and imagine Pablo Picasso here painting his Baigneuse in 1928. Dinan is also a must for wonderful medieval architecture and narrow cobbled streets, and it is worth the meander down the steep hill to the harbour area and imagine the effort it took to bring the supplies up the hill from the boats arriving up the River Rance from the sea and from further inland along its 100 kilometre span. The harbour is a great place to chill day or night to enjoy one of the many cafes lining both sides of the river and you can join a boat trip or hire your own electric boat or canoe to have fun on the water, a regular pastime for us.

To indulge our love of water and to take some time out after a tough nine months caring for my elderly in-laws in June we booked a trip with Le Boat to explore being on the french waterways a little further. At the Le Boat base in Messac just south of Rennes we met the fabulous Francois and Laetitia and the team who got us settled in on our home for the next 3 nights on board our 2 cabin Courvette. At midday off we set on the river Vilaine with Francois joining us to the first lock 10 minutes away to show us the ropes literally and figuratively. This stretch of water is particularly quiet, and we barely encountered other crafts except passing the other Le Boaters (they only have 32 boats based here so be quick to book) so if you are new to boating this is the perfect place to navigate easily and our short trip up to La Gacilly and back only has 6 locks all of which are either automatic or manned by super friendly lock keepers. Whiling away the hours watching bird life and the verdant banks and the lily pads floating on the water was utter bliss and a much-needed time to reconnect and our evenings spent on deck playing card games in the yellow glow of the lamps and candles we just what we needed to switch off from the world.

La Gacilly is our stop for our second night and our turn around point having stopped off at Redon en route and this is truly a delightful town at the end of the River Aft literally bursting with flowers and studios and workshops of the many craftsmen who have had this their home. Painters, sculptors, glass workers, jewellers and more display their wares along the streets. We were lucky enough to be there to explore France’s biggest photography festival that takes place from June- September each year. Created in 2004, the La Gacilly Photo Festival offers an immersive and ambulatory photographic experience, presenting the best of contemporary photo creation that questions our relationship with the world and nature. The 800 or so photographs adorn the streets, gardens and alleys of La Gacilly and for this the 20th anniversary the theme was Nature’s Legacy with photographers from around the globe, Australia to United States, Iran to Ivory Coast telling incredible stories through their lenses. La Gacilly is also the headquarters of the famous perfume maker, Yves Rocher and you can visit the museum to learn more about the founder and wander the beautiful botanical garden with over 1,100 species of plants. La Gacilly and this trip will always hold special memories me for entirely a more personal reason as this is where I was proposed to on this magical boating holiday, where we thanks to Le Boat found a connection to nature and deepened our connection to each other. We laughed through sunshine and rain and my many mishaps with my prowess as a deck hand being a little lacking, I mean who jumps off the boat without taking the rope with them and overpowers their jump to almost land in the water the other side of the pontoon and fails to save the boat hook falling off the deck.

This is a holiday that I would recommend to anyone who wants to recharge away from the daily grind be out in nature and enjoy time as a couple, group of friends or as a family and there are 7 different itineraries in Brittany from Messac to choose from ranging from 3 – 14 nights and we might pass you on our next voyage which we cannot wait to book !!