Day 9 Dinan and Dinard

Today we exchange timetables, maps, and travel guides for a local who is willing to give us guided tours via secret back roads and hidden car parking spots. Diane promises us a medieval village in the morning and a harbourside town in the afternoon.

We park below the village of Dinan and walk up and up and up the hill to find a 16^th century town bustling with 21^st tourists and locals. We discover a local pastry delicacy called Kouign Amman, which is tasty, crisp, light, not too sweet, and rather filling. We find the resting place of a medieval knight whose body is buried on the side of the street. The stone box in which he lies is topped by a horizontal statue. Sadly the statue lost its head, at the same time that the nobility where losing theirs, at the height of the French revolution. We would never have noticed, or understood, this detail had Diane not been there to point it out to us.

In the afternoon we again access free local parking and walk along the seaside to explore the town of Dinard. The weather warms up and occasionally the sun bursts through the clouds. From Dinard we look back to St Malo and see the old city standing proudly across a glorious bay. Sailboat enthusiasts are enjoying the good weather and we enjoy watching a race between high schoolers, which ends quickly, when one of the Hobie Cats decides the breeze is too strong to remain upright and dramatically flips over into the sea. Wendy enjoys the pungent delights of a famous local teashop, Lindfield, while Richard braves the 13 degree ocean, not for a swim, but an ankle deep paddle.Dinner is another home cooked meal around the family table. 

Wendy is given a lesson in cooking French vegetable soup using a variety of vegetables including celery leaves. Buckwheat gallette with egg, ham, cheese and accompanied by onions and mushrooms completes our feast, not to mention cheese, cake and of course bread.