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Visit Guérande, France


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To visit Guerande, France is to love it.

Not one person at the table full of women next to me is wearing a striped shirt.

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Everyone else in the restaurant except me, the waitress and one other customer are. Did this whole nautical, stripey, primary color manner of dressing originate here in Brittany, I wonder as I contemplate the more pressing matter of whether I would like the wood-fired pizza or the entrecote to accompany my glass of Margaux?

The Salt Flats near Guérande

I am in Guérande, France, a charming,  walled, medieval village near the Atlantic coast.  The town is the stuff of fairy tales, dreamlike, really. It is just the kind of beautiful French village I always hope I’ll luck into.

I found out when I returned home that the area is well-known not just for Fleur de sel, but for their giant carrots

Confession: I found Guérande by accident, not that I’m embarrassed or anything, but it was one of those travel experiments that sometimes works, and sometimes “doesn’t,” at least not in the way you expect.

I may as well have swiped my palm across the face of a globe, stopping it with an overextended pointer finger, which I kind of did really, except I was pointing to a map.

Never did verify that nautical clothing came from Brittany, but it definitely was for sale everywhere

Until a few days ago I still didn’t know where I was going or what I would be doing for the first three days of my trip.

I chose this region of France, the Loire Atlantic, where the Loire meets the sea and presses up against Brittany to the north, because I liked the rugged edge-of-the-world feel to it that I remembered from a hiking trip along this part of France’s Atlantic coast many years ago.

A familiar dreamlike quality that I adore about travel is going on, whereas in very good or bad dreams when you are in them, you feel like pinching yourself; with the former hoping it is real and the latter, hoping it is not.

When I return home after traveling, I often feel as if I may have been gone for six weeks, instead of two, because of all that compressed living.

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I woke up this morning to singing.

Opening the window I see these singing people, walking down the middle of the street in front of my hotel, La Guérandière. I wonder why they are doing this thing that they didn’t do yesterday.

I found it delightful, this early morning way of promenading. I am charmed in the same way I was at breakfast, over sugar cubes of different sizes and colors, yogurt, Nutella and honey in tiny, slightly varied mason jars; their harmonious lack of order is like a partially remembered dream.

Everywhere I look today I can’t help but be struck by the saturated colors of everything contrasting happily with the gray.

And now I wait for my pizza and wine. Since I have already been to this restaurant once, in this compressed way of living, I am, in my own mind and because the waitress remembers me, a regular.

So what else besides being somewhat dreamlike makes the French village of Guérande worth visiting? In one word: salt. La fleur de sel is known for its high magnesium content and grayish to pink coloring. Guérande, sitting on a hill overlooking Brittany’s famous salt flats towards the Atlantic has long played the role of  protector of the area’s mineral-rich marshes.

Depiction of a “Paludier” is one of many whimsical modern sculptures clustered around Guérande’s cathedral

Each year “paludiers,” or salt workers, harvest the sea salt revered by demanding chefs around the world, using the same technique that has been used since the middle ages. In addition to tours and museums that explain the process, the marshes, teeming with migratory birds, are fascinating to see, and particularly beautiful at sunset.

All that was interesting, but as I’ve already mentioned, I didn’t come here for that.

I came to find a nice place at the end of a train line; a place to start two weeks that feel now, in the best way possible way looking back on them, to have been more like six,  in a wonderful, scary, jumbled up, a dream of a place.

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Where to Stay:

La Guérandière,

5, Rue Vannetaise, just inside the Porte Vannetaise

Where to Eat:

Le Logis, Rue Vannetaise, restaurant I refer to above offering pizza and bistro fare

La Paludière, 2, place du Vieux Marché, crêperie

* All photos by Margo Millure © All rights reserved

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About the author

Margo Millure lives in Richmond, Virginia. She is a portrait photographer, writer and founder of Travel Belles. Learn more about her at www.MargoMillure.com.

19 thoughts on “Visit Guérande, France”

  1. I just love your photos, Margo! 🙂 The brooding sky ones are marvelous and make me wish for my own seat in a restaurant with a glass of wine. 🙂 I love discovering little towns like this and think you’re so brave heading into the unknown all by yourself. Brava!!

  2. The picture of the beautiful carrots is my favorite… there is something so incredibly satisfying knowing that you are buying locally. This place sounds like a dream!

  3. Beautiful post Margo and the photos really tell the story of this little village – I haven’t been anywhere outside of Paris in France so you’ve really sold me on a visit to the smaller towns and villages. What a lovely discovery and I know precisely what you mean – sometimes you discover a great spot and other times it’s not quite what you were expecting – but always an adventure 🙂

  4. Looks like you really scored with your “travel experiment”! My favorite part of this article is the excellent description of how those bright colors stand out against the gray of the sky. Really makes for a perfect picture of a fairytale French village & somewhere I’d be more than happy to get lost – great piece Margo!

  5. Beautifully written. I love it when you say that two weeks feels like 6 weeks. I feel like that when travelling. Time slows down, it feels that months have passed in just a few weeks. and you captured the reason why perfectly, “compressed living” When we are away, we pack so much life into one day. It is a great lesson to follow when we come home. You made me want to go to Guerande and spend a couple of weeks.

  6. Isn’t it great when a place you did not really expect to be too much of an excitement brings out unexpected sensations? Towns like these are all about stepping out and exploring our world.

  7. Many times the best places are the ones you don’t plan on. Beautiful descriptions of a town that sounds absolutely amazing. It’s funny … I was traveling for an extended period of time and wow, did it feel like years … not months. It really becomes your way of life when you are on the road and it is hard to imagine a time when you weren’t seeing new sights, tasting new foods, stumbling upon charming towns you never expected. Great photos, too!

  8. Margo,
    You’ve got me intrigued by the sugar at breakfast… I’d be excited by that too.

    I know what you mean by that dreaming feeling. It’s like, how could we be so lucky to stumble onto such a place by accident? But again and again, I find that we do! Happy more travels in France!

  9. Lovely writing. Everything is so clean-the carrots, the blue shutter, the storefront. Your photos and writing make it all very inviting. I want to go too. 🙂

  10. Thank you all so much for the lovely comments! I’m getting ready to make dinner now, and my carrots don’t look nearly that good. I’m glad I got a pic of the Guerande carrots so I would know for sure I didn’t dream them! 🙂

  11. You’ve got me dreaming of peaceful sunsets over quiet villages. I’m a bit jealous :P.

    Can’t wait to read more updates 🙂

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