A typically Autumnal morning – cold and bright with mist laying on the fields. We drove on minor roads heading for the coast at Cancale but I had spotted a ‘Temple of Mars’ on the excellent Michelin map and we decided to call in there on the way. It was well worth the stop, a Roman temple site with a ‘cella’ (cult centre of the site) nearly as impressive as the Temple de Vesone in Perigueux.
Arriving at Cancale, we parked at a car park at the top of the cliffs above the town. We walked down into the town and I was immediately reminded of Weston-Super-Mare in Somerset. This was due to the large area of mud stretching out to the sea at low-tide. However, that was where the similarity stopped as Cancale is definitely French. There are no amusement arcades, kiss-me-quick hats and deck chairs but there are a huge amount of huitres (oysters). We chose one of the more than twenty excellent restaurants all specialising in seafood and often also selling oysters to take away. I was determined to have mussels and we chose a restaurant with a set menu that allowed me to have ‘Moules a la Crème’ as a main course and Jane to have crepes (pancakes) for desert. It was an excellent meal and we set off for a walk whilst we digested it.
We had seen oyster beds before but not like this. It was on an industrial scale with beds stretching way out into the shallow bay. Tractors with trailers holding boats or sacks of oysters were driving down onto the beach and out into the beds. Further out the beds were still under water and these were serviced by the boats and the whole area bustled with smaller oysters being off-loaded and mature oysters harvested. Stalls above the beach sold oysters for as little as €2.50 (£2) for a dozen but as neither of us are great fans, we resisted the temptation.
We were heading for a campsite on the mainland opposite Mont Saint Michel but after passing some very pleasant-looking camperstops, we decided to stop at the one in Le Vivier-sur-Mer. The site, costing €4.50 (£3.60) per night, had wonderful views over the bay of Mont Saint Michel and even the island itself. We watched the oyster workers returning – here with a number of wheeled boats, looking most strange as they drove across the mud to the shore. Sun set over the scene as the last workers returned from the oyster beds and the sea came in behind them.
Photos: The Temple of Mars with the ‘cella’ standing in the background; “I’m sure that the sea was there when I parked it!”; The oyster beds at Cancale with Mont Saint Michel on the horizon; The oyster boat-lorries returning at Le Vivier-sur-Mer.
Arriving at Cancale, we parked at a car park at the top of the cliffs above the town. We walked down into the town and I was immediately reminded of Weston-Super-Mare in Somerset. This was due to the large area of mud stretching out to the sea at low-tide. However, that was where the similarity stopped as Cancale is definitely French. There are no amusement arcades, kiss-me-quick hats and deck chairs but there are a huge amount of huitres (oysters). We chose one of the more than twenty excellent restaurants all specialising in seafood and often also selling oysters to take away. I was determined to have mussels and we chose a restaurant with a set menu that allowed me to have ‘Moules a la Crème’ as a main course and Jane to have crepes (pancakes) for desert. It was an excellent meal and we set off for a walk whilst we digested it.
We had seen oyster beds before but not like this. It was on an industrial scale with beds stretching way out into the shallow bay. Tractors with trailers holding boats or sacks of oysters were driving down onto the beach and out into the beds. Further out the beds were still under water and these were serviced by the boats and the whole area bustled with smaller oysters being off-loaded and mature oysters harvested. Stalls above the beach sold oysters for as little as €2.50 (£2) for a dozen but as neither of us are great fans, we resisted the temptation.
We were heading for a campsite on the mainland opposite Mont Saint Michel but after passing some very pleasant-looking camperstops, we decided to stop at the one in Le Vivier-sur-Mer. The site, costing €4.50 (£3.60) per night, had wonderful views over the bay of Mont Saint Michel and even the island itself. We watched the oyster workers returning – here with a number of wheeled boats, looking most strange as they drove across the mud to the shore. Sun set over the scene as the last workers returned from the oyster beds and the sea came in behind them.
Photos: The Temple of Mars with the ‘cella’ standing in the background; “I’m sure that the sea was there when I parked it!”; The oyster beds at Cancale with Mont Saint Michel on the horizon; The oyster boat-lorries returning at Le Vivier-sur-Mer.
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