The Medieval Town of Dinan

July 17, 2015
Kevin
Dinan is wonderful! It's a small town de les moyenne ages [middle ages], with stone buildings, sidewalks, and streets, and everything looks so beautiful! I arrived yesterday in the evening and walked from the inside of the walled city about 20 minutes to the Allain house. I'll have to take lots of photos, because this is all so incredible: there's a pool, a lot of art (by Evelyne!), and I not only have my own bed, but my own room! These are my best accommodations so far by far, and I'm very happy about it all.

Merrill
Here is a map of Dinan, France. It's on the northern coast of Brittany, the arm of France that extends west into the Atlantic Ocean. Above the Rance River, 22 km south of the coast, Dinan contains many medieval timbered houses, 18th-century granite buildings, a Gothic bridge, a 15th-century Tour de l’Horloge (clock tower) and 11th century town walls. The granite Château (castle) de la Duchesse Anne dates from the 1300-1400's. Kevin is visiting the cousins of my brother-in-law Bob Allain, whose parents were born in France.

Kevin

Last night, I went for a swim in the pool (after which, for the first time, I actually felt clean!), ate dinner with the family, and slept for 12 hours. After spending time with the GBN crew [French students from Kevin's high school] (and seeing more things per day than I'd ever imagined), it was very nice to sleep for an incredibly long time. Even when I woke up, I could tell my body still wanted more sleep.

This morning, I woke up, showered, and found Marilyne at the first floor. To my surprise, she had our entire day planned out--all I had to do was come for the ride! We started off driving to a bakery in Dinan, where we tried some traditional Bretagne foods (various combinations of dough, butter, and sugar); then, we drove to St. Malo, a coastal city, where we had a food of which I'm still not sure the title, but I took a photo, and it was amazing; afterwards, we drove to Dinard, another coastal city, and just walked around the city and the beaches without eating anything. (While Dinan, somewhat, and St. Malo, more, are tourist cities for British people, Parisians flood Dinard in the summer, and the prices skyrocket.) After our three-city adventure, she took me to her apartment in a nearby town, where we ate crepes, and, while she took a sieste [afternoon nap], I watched a French movie (with French subtitles), and slept a little as well.

Later, we arrived back at her parents' house, where I met Cyril and his girlfriend, and we ate lots of grilled meat and toast with various sea foods, and drank lots of wine and cider.

It's been a lot!

About my French: now, especially since the Allains nearly exclusively speak French (I think the only English I heard was when Marilyne mentioned Little Miss Sunshine, and she said the name of the movie.), I can understand about 75% of the conversations. (With the subtitles in French, I have a very good understanding of the movie I watched, if that's a better litmus test.) When there's lots of wine at dinner, though, I generally just stop listening then, and give myself a break.

Soon, I'll publish more photos on Facebook, especially of Dinan. I didn't take many more of Paris, since there's only so much in Paris that's new at every repetition, but Dinan is beautiful! Outside of my bedroom window, for example, I can see the expansive backyard, the neighborhood houses, several hills, farms, and lots of trees! It's a healthy mixture of history, "suburban" life, and the countryside, and it's all so aesthetically incredible.