Things to do in Vannes, France this fall
September 2, 2015 9:33 AM Subscribe
What should I do/see during my two month stay in Vannes, France (Brittany)?
I'm going to be spending October and November in Vannes for work. Anyone have any advice for can't miss things to do/see/eat? Places I shouldn't miss a weekend trip to?
Any words of wisdom for staying that long in a relatively small French town? Or anything that is going to cause me culture shock? My French is so-so.
I live in Austin so it's going to be a change going from urban to small town living, but I grew up in a tiny town in Indiana, so hopefully that's not too much of an issue.
I'd love to hear any thoughts y'all might have :)
I'm going to be spending October and November in Vannes for work. Anyone have any advice for can't miss things to do/see/eat? Places I shouldn't miss a weekend trip to?
Any words of wisdom for staying that long in a relatively small French town? Or anything that is going to cause me culture shock? My French is so-so.
I live in Austin so it's going to be a change going from urban to small town living, but I grew up in a tiny town in Indiana, so hopefully that's not too much of an issue.
I'd love to hear any thoughts y'all might have :)
Best answer: If you can speak a bit of French it will help a lot. Get a French-English dictionary. If by so-so you mean not really at all, get a phrase book. Most people won't really speak English.
As for culture shock, you're going to have to get used to the French eating schedule. Especially if you're going to be eating out a lot. Most places have really specific times when they serve food. If you have a kitchen, go to the local farmers markets.
Will you have a car? There are some great things within driving distance.
There are tons of megalithic monuments all over the countryside and some of them are really impressive. Down in the Gulfe du Morbihan there are islands that you can reach by ferry, including Gavrinis which has an amazing passage grave that you can actually go in and touch the wall carvings.
The oysters of Locmariaquer are world famous.
Although a bit of a hike, the oysters in Cancale are also really really great. If you wind up going up there you can also check out St. Malo, a pretty impressive re-built walled city. If you do go up there I recommend finding your way to La ferme des Nielles-Ostrea, which is this little shack restaurant where you pick the seafood you want from a giant spread and they cook it and bring it to you. There are long wooden tables and I think just one kind of wine, Muscadet, and bread and butter.
Enjoy the hell out of the butter while you are in Brittany, it's super special and salted with grey fleur de sel.
There are quite a few places in Vannes that have galettes and cider. Some of the cider is really farm-y. If you drink alcohol, it's worth trying.
One last thing is after a while of being in France, I sometimes get a little sick of French food. There are two great non-french food places I went to:
Restaurant Afghan Cafe - Rue de la Fontaine
The other is a Moroccan place right down the street: La Rose des Sables
posted by degoao at 11:05 AM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
As for culture shock, you're going to have to get used to the French eating schedule. Especially if you're going to be eating out a lot. Most places have really specific times when they serve food. If you have a kitchen, go to the local farmers markets.
Will you have a car? There are some great things within driving distance.
There are tons of megalithic monuments all over the countryside and some of them are really impressive. Down in the Gulfe du Morbihan there are islands that you can reach by ferry, including Gavrinis which has an amazing passage grave that you can actually go in and touch the wall carvings.
The oysters of Locmariaquer are world famous.
Although a bit of a hike, the oysters in Cancale are also really really great. If you wind up going up there you can also check out St. Malo, a pretty impressive re-built walled city. If you do go up there I recommend finding your way to La ferme des Nielles-Ostrea, which is this little shack restaurant where you pick the seafood you want from a giant spread and they cook it and bring it to you. There are long wooden tables and I think just one kind of wine, Muscadet, and bread and butter.
Enjoy the hell out of the butter while you are in Brittany, it's super special and salted with grey fleur de sel.
There are quite a few places in Vannes that have galettes and cider. Some of the cider is really farm-y. If you drink alcohol, it's worth trying.
One last thing is after a while of being in France, I sometimes get a little sick of French food. There are two great non-french food places I went to:
Restaurant Afghan Cafe - Rue de la Fontaine
The other is a Moroccan place right down the street: La Rose des Sables
posted by degoao at 11:05 AM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: That elephant is amazing! Added to the list!
And no, I will not have a car. I suppose I could rent one for trips if I needed. But for whatever reason driving in a foreign country seems terrifying.
I took French in high school and college, but that was a decade ago. I've been using Duolingo and Mango Languages to brush up. I'll def be bringing my dictionary with me everywhere.
Thanks for the oyster recs! Oysters are my favorite.
posted by theRussian at 11:57 AM on September 2, 2015
And no, I will not have a car. I suppose I could rent one for trips if I needed. But for whatever reason driving in a foreign country seems terrifying.
I took French in high school and college, but that was a decade ago. I've been using Duolingo and Mango Languages to brush up. I'll def be bringing my dictionary with me everywhere.
Thanks for the oyster recs! Oysters are my favorite.
posted by theRussian at 11:57 AM on September 2, 2015
Best answer: I love Brittany--it's one of my favourite of the regions in France that I've visited. I have been there twice and would go back again in a minute.
I'd recommend that you do rent a car once or twice so you can drive around and explore. Driving around Brittany is not at all like the horrific scary scenes you see of people whizzing around the Arc de Triomphe in Paris! It's pretty sedate. My partner was the one who did the driving while we were there, but now that I know what it's like, even I would be willing to drive there, and I'm a scaredy cat who isn't fond of driving in general.
-We saw the standing stones (megaliths) at Carnac, which were really cool. You will be very close to Carnac if you are in Vannes.
-Cider and galettes are delicious!
-Far/Phare Breton is my favourite regional dessert.
-Kouign-amann (means literally butter cake in Breton) is delicious but rich. You won't eat it that often, but it's very tasty.
-Roscoff (approx. a 2 hour drive from Vannes) is touristy but lovely. I recommend taking the little ferry over to Il de Batz while you are there. There is an excellent restaurant in Roscoff called La Moule au Pot which is very good, reasonably priced, and has excellent mussels (moules).
-It's a few hours' drive from Vannes, but Finistere (the departement Roscoff is in) is a beautiful part of Brittany and it has lots of gorgeous little coastal towns with amazing seafood. If you could get up there for a weekend and explore, I think you'd love it.
Take note of the Breton language you see on signs--official signage has both French and Breton on it. Breton shares more similarities with other Celtic languages than with French, which is interesting. I really enjoyed finding out more about Breton language and culture while I was there--people have a lot of regional pride and are generally pretty willing to talk about their culture. There's a cool museum of Breton culture in Quimper (approx. a one hour drive).
Have fun! I envy you!
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 5:06 PM on September 2, 2015
I'd recommend that you do rent a car once or twice so you can drive around and explore. Driving around Brittany is not at all like the horrific scary scenes you see of people whizzing around the Arc de Triomphe in Paris! It's pretty sedate. My partner was the one who did the driving while we were there, but now that I know what it's like, even I would be willing to drive there, and I'm a scaredy cat who isn't fond of driving in general.
-We saw the standing stones (megaliths) at Carnac, which were really cool. You will be very close to Carnac if you are in Vannes.
-Cider and galettes are delicious!
-Far/Phare Breton is my favourite regional dessert.
-Kouign-amann (means literally butter cake in Breton) is delicious but rich. You won't eat it that often, but it's very tasty.
-Roscoff (approx. a 2 hour drive from Vannes) is touristy but lovely. I recommend taking the little ferry over to Il de Batz while you are there. There is an excellent restaurant in Roscoff called La Moule au Pot which is very good, reasonably priced, and has excellent mussels (moules).
-It's a few hours' drive from Vannes, but Finistere (the departement Roscoff is in) is a beautiful part of Brittany and it has lots of gorgeous little coastal towns with amazing seafood. If you could get up there for a weekend and explore, I think you'd love it.
Take note of the Breton language you see on signs--official signage has both French and Breton on it. Breton shares more similarities with other Celtic languages than with French, which is interesting. I really enjoyed finding out more about Breton language and culture while I was there--people have a lot of regional pride and are generally pretty willing to talk about their culture. There's a cool museum of Breton culture in Quimper (approx. a one hour drive).
Have fun! I envy you!
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 5:06 PM on September 2, 2015
I've done numerous trips by myself in Brittany using just buses and trains. I went from Vannes to Carnac by bus (or a train/bus combo - it's been a while, so I don't remember for sure), so that's certainly an option if you don't want to rent a car. Your French is better than mine, and I have no problem taking public transportation in Brittany. More info here: http://www.rome2rio.com/s/Vannes/Carnac
Building on degoao's comment and your response: If you love oysters, you may want to read the book The Oysters of Locmariaquer.
posted by jeri at 11:27 PM on September 21, 2015
Building on degoao's comment and your response: If you love oysters, you may want to read the book The Oysters of Locmariaquer.
posted by jeri at 11:27 PM on September 21, 2015
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posted by humboldt32 at 9:41 AM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]