Photos of Dinan

Dinan is an old, picturesque town in Brittany, and it’s pronounced Dee-non, with only a hint at that last n. Every year we go to Brittany for a 2-week extended family vacation, and every year we have a date in St Malo.

This year we thought we would venture further and go to Dinan, though we had already been there years ago to get the famous Breton bowls that are rimmed in blue and are personalised for everyone in the family. These.

But when we went back this summer, we realised that we completely missed the entire beautiful, interesting part of Dinan. So I’m going to give you a picture tour.

Let’s start with my initials! Cool, huh?

Okay, no seriously. Let’s start with the medieval buildings that are so similar to Tours.

They’re everywhere.

They’re gorgeous.

Now let’s examine the cobblestone streets

and all the pedestrian walkways hosting shops and restaurants

and the tiny wooden doors for delinquent teens to sneak home?

There are tons of artists and artisans.

With completely unique designs.

And there are chocolate shops.

Chocolate flip-flops are all the rage this summer.

We ate at a charming little place that set our meat on fire from a little contraption called the pontence. It means “the gallows.”

Cute factor aside, the food in this restaurant wasn’t very good though.

There’s a nearly 2-mile walkway around the city walls

(called “remparts” – pronounced rom-par (and then you spit in your throat).

On the path leading to it is an overgrown garden.

And an overgrown house

with vines imprisoning the shutters.

France has a rule that if the latest successor on record can no longer be found, the town hall cannot take possession of the land until 25 years have passed. Good stone houses get ruined that way. Although the law makes perfect sense.

When you climb the steps, before you’re on the remparts, there are lots of charming little places.

This one has a private garden

and a garden stone chimney that the owners let remain when the neighbouring house was torn down.

And when you finally get there – on the wall …  there’s the view.

Despite the not-so-great food, we were so glad that we explored Dinan a little further. We were supposed to go to a movie too – to really take advantage of our date night out.

But I was exhausted, and so we went home.

The end. 🙂

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