St Malo Church in Dinan

Whilst in Dinan, if you have a spare half an hour, I would advise you to visit St Malo Church. This magnificent Gothic church is open to public most days and is free to visit.

In Dinan, you will find plenty to do and visit. See my other posts about "Dinan"!

Dinan is about 10 minutes from our gite in Brittany.

Jardin du Val Cocherel in Dinan

Dinan has a lot to offer (clock tower, cobbled streets, chateau, museum, etc). See my previous posts!

The play area is hidden but is worth a visit if you have children.

You will find all sorts of birds and animals (dears, peacocks, etc), a rose garden, a play ground for children and a crazy golf.

Everything is free to use apart from the crazy golf.

The play area is on the Promenade des Petits Fossés, Jardin du Val Cocherel.
About 15 minutes from our gite in Brittany.

Evran play area

The village of Evran has its own play area for children near the lock.

There are also a boule pitch and picnic areas.

You can pick up a take-away pizza from the van on Tuesday or Friday night or ask the Vieux Chien Noir for a take-away and enjoy it whilst the children are having fun playing!

Tracteur Pulling

Tracteur Pulling!
An unusual day out in Sens de Bretagne, near Combourg in Brittany.
It is taking place on Sunday 4th July from 10.30am.

Sens de Bretagne is between Rennes and Le Mont St Michel, about 45 minutes from our gite in Brittany.

Saint-Cast-Le-Guildo evening market

Saint-Cast-Le-Guildo organise evening markets in July and August from 5 to 11.30pm in the main street (Rue Jacques Cartier) Thursday nights.

You will find there art and craft, local produces, and organic food.

Saint-Cast-Le Guildo is a seaside resort with 7 beautiful sandy beaches. It is about 45 minutes from our gite in Brittany.

Rennes airport

Rennes airport is a handy airport in Brittany. It offers direct flights to and from the UK and Ireland with 2 good value airlines:

With Flybe you can fly direct to Birmingham, Southampton, Exeter, Edinborough and Manchester and Aerlingus to Dublin.

See this link here for Rennes airport web site.

You can hire a car from Rennes airport. It will take you about 45 minutes to drive to our gite in Brittany.

Yvignac-La-Tour Church

Yvignac-La-Tour is a small village near Dinan in Brittany. You can spot its beautiful granite church miles away!
Building work started in the 11th century and finished in the 15th century.

Yvignac-La-Tour is about 15-20 minutes from our gite in Brittany.

Le Tour de Bretagne

Over 1500 old cars drove round Brittany on 22nd, 23rd and 24th May 2010. Cars, vans, motorbikes, etc.

Le Tour de Bretagne des véhicules anciens crossed Dinan and Evran on 24th May just before finishing their round in Rennes.

It was quite impressive to see so many vehicles at once!

Dinan clock tower

The clock tower used to be Dinan town hall up until the Revolution.

It is now open to tourists. You can go right to the top after climbing 158 steps. It is definitely worth it. You will enjoy the splendid view and on a clear day you can even see the Mont Saint Michel.

Fishing area at Betineuc - work in progress

The summer has definitely arrived in Brittany. It was still 27 degrees at 7pm last night!
Chris and I went for a bike ride round Betineuc lake and checked on the fishing area which is nearly finished and ready to use! The diggers started work last Thursday and have worked hard on it.

The fishing area is along the Etang de la Grenouillère at Betineuc lake. Turn left before the crazy golf course.

In the pond you will find carps, perches, pikes, roaches, etc.

In the main lake, (20 hectares), you will find the same fishes but also tanches, senders, and other white fishes.

You will need of course a permit to fish. See my other post about how to get a fishing permits.

Betineuc lake is in Saint André-des-Eaux / Evran in Brittany, about 1 mile away from our gite in Brittany.

Saint Malo beaches

St Malo in on the emerald coast in Brittany. The sea and the sandy beaches are beautiful. It is very clean and safe for children.

On the photo, you can see the swimming pool. It gets filled when it is high tide and stay full all day even when it is low tide.

Whilst there you can walk round the old part of St Malo. You will find plenty of restaurants, cafés, ice cream places, souvenir shops, boutiques, etc.

St Malo beaches are about 35 minutes from our gite in Brittany.

Sandy beach in Betineuc

Betineuc lake has so much to offer!

A sandy beach, circuit training, water sport activities in July, a café open 7 days per week in the summer, fishing area, picnic areas...

You can easily walk or cycle round it. No other vehicles are allowed there.

The lake is about 1 mile away from our gite in Brittany.

Registering your gite with the local mairie in France

Although a new law passed a few months ago in France for gîte owners, nobody seems to know about it!

As my local mairie didn’t know about it, I’ve managed to find a link – see here, where you can download the form. Print it, fill it and take it to your local mairie before 30^th June. You can get fined if you don’t do it!

It is a simple form where you write your name and address of the gite, number of beds, etc.

If you need assistance with forms and paperwork, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

The Ille-et-Rance canal

The Ille-et-Rance canal is about 80 km long between Rennes and St Malo.

Our gite in Brittany is close to the canal where you can safely walk or cycle.

Cycling to Dinan port will take about one hour. You will deserve a drink or an ice cream when you get there! Cycling along the canal is fairly easy as the ground is completely flat.

On the way you will pass several locks and discover the pretty village of Léhon.

There are several picnic areas all along the canal.

11 locks in Hédé

If you cycle or walk along the canal ‘Ille-et-Rance’ from Evran towards Rennes, you will get to a village called Hédé.

Hédé is famous for its 11 locks (écluses). It is unusual to see so many locks within 1.2 miles!

Hédé is about 20 minutes drive from our gite in Brittany.

On the way, you could visit Tinténiac church, and the pretty village of Bécherel.

Tinténiac impressive church!

Although we have lived in Evran for over 7 years now, I'd never noticed how impressive Tinténiac church “Notre-Dame, Sainte-Trinité” was. We spotted it last Saturday when we went to Tinténiac music festival.

The church was built between 1900-1908.

Churches in France are usually open during the day and are free to visit.

Tinténiac is about 15 / 20 minutes from our gite in Brittany.

Tinténiac music festival - 19th June 2010

Another good night out being entertained by several local groups for free!

Tinténiac music festival took place on 19th June 2010.


Don't miss Tinté'Art'Rue on 24th and 25th July. Free entertainment for 2 days. Face painting, jugglers, concerts, medieval market, etc. It was really fun last year.

Tinténiac is about 20 min from our gite in Brittany.

Plouasne music festival

Plouasne music festival took place last night (18th June 2010). It started around 6pm and carried on until ... late!

About 10 different bands offered us, once more this year, a great selection of music. Don't miss it next year!

Tonight, we will be going to Tinténiac music festival. Tinténiac is a lot bigger than Plouasne, so no doubt, it will be even better!

Plouasne is about 20 minutes South of Dinan, 10 minutes from our gite in Brittany.

Betineuc lake

Betineuc is a hamlet part of the village of Evran in Brittany. There is also a man-made lake with a sandy beach where children can build sand castles and swim.



There is a café serving drinks and snacks in the summer. You will also find picnic areas and plenty benches to enjoy the beautiful sceneries.



For the fit ones, there is a circuit training free to use all around the lake.
Betineuc lake is about 1 mile away from our gite in Brittany.

Can I install a mobile-home in my back garden in France?

I often get asked this question by my clients who undertake renovations in their property in France.

Here is the answer:

Under French law, you are not allowed to live in a mobile home unless it is for a holiday purpose or a temporary measure.

If you wish to live in a mobile home whilst your property is being renovated, you will need an authorization from your local mairie. So write a letter to the maire giving of course your name and address and the length of time you need it. Wait for their answer!

You may need a planning permission depending on the size of the mobile home. Don’t worry, the mairie will inform you of the requirement.

If you need any assistance with any paperwork or drafting a letter to the maire, please contact me and I will help you.

The village of Léhon

If you are coming to Dinan in Brittany, I’d advise you to visit Léhon at the same time!

Léhon is a pretty village on the river Rance. You will find a castle, an abbey and a swimming pool there.

If you enjoy walking, follow the river on your left and you will get to Dinan port.

Just outside the heart of Léhon, you will find a remembrance museum. It's worth a visit!

Léhon is 10 minutes away from our gite in Brittany.