Dinan, France — the place to visit
co-auther — SHREEJA POTDAR
Dinan is the Medieval Town in France located in the region of Bretagne. As soon as I entered into this town, I stepped back into that era of time. First, strong walls also called ramparts surround this entire town. As I walked in, I found many small lanes. I did not know initially which way to take. I just started strolling and started discovering this beautiful town.
I felt like I was playing escape game. There were many small lanes around and I just randomly chose those lanes. At every corner, I found those beautiful half-timbered houses. Just by looking at that wooden structure, I can sense its age. Still that structure holding those houses strong creates a very warm feeling in my heart.
Inside the town, there are not just houses, but also many small shops for us to discover. The best thing is that, all shops owners have persevered towns core essence despite they are selling comparatively new modern stuff. To our surprise, we found one such shop at the center of this town, which is nothing but a book library. We immediately got in. I always like to see and discover literature of such places. Moreover, this shop was actually at the spot for what I was looking for.
Next to this bookshop, we found an arts museum. Again, this was an opportunity for us to discover this town from an artistic angle. First, the entry to this museum was free and the setup of it was very informal. We saw many artists in the middle seating, chatting and eating. Moreover, around them there was a pathway to discover all their artwork. We even saw their colour materials, brushes and all accessories laying around on some tables. I cannot explain the art in my limited English vocabulary of words. But it is outstanding, awesome, and way beyond my imagination.
When we came out of that museum, Crepes is the one thing you should not miss out. And you will never. Because almost all hotels were selling this specialty. Again, we chose a restaurant on the street with great ambiance under the cozy wooden structure. Of course, those crepes were delicious, but more importantly it gave you this taste of that old time food culture. Isn’t that awesome?
Discovering this amazing place along with it’s literature, art, food we thought back of our home. But one thing kept bothering me and my mind was constantly telling me to visit this place. Whenever I searched about Dinan on the internet, I was always getting this particular image of a place called Ramparts of Dinan. I convinced my kids and wife this will be our last spot and then we will be heading towards our house . It is a bit difficult to follow google maps, but we found this wonderful place just behind an enormous and pleasent church. The view from the ramparts was of the base town city and river flowing around it with touch of modernity. It is incredible and mesmerizing. We felt so grateful to be here to discover this amazing view.
Heading back to home we felt more relaxed and rejunevated by visiting such beautiful place Dinan. Vive la France !
