The corsair Saint-Malo with its amazing tides

The landing place of this luminous voyage can be the lantern of Saint-Malo, which sports a square tower at the centre of a U-shaped construction. On the Petit Donjon of the castle, as well as on the ramparts designed by the military architect Vauban, one witnesses the waltz of the sea, which looks and falls continuously as if they were dancing. Entirely fortified and gathered around its cathedral, this fortified city located on the extreme eastern tip of Brittany is linked to the history of piracy and precisely to the subtleties of the sea: the ocean in front of the granite walls recedes, leaving the seabed completely free to be searched by tireless and romantic shell seekers. Other destinations are the tomb of the viscount, diplomat and writer Chateaubriand on the rock du Grand Be, the Fort National, the Fort de la Conchée, the Fort du Petit Bé. After the canonical six hours, the water slowly returns. So there's nothing left to do but go and have lunch at Le Corps de Garde, the guards' outpost now converted into a renowned creperie, or wander the narrow streets beyond Porte Saint Vincent, before dispersing into the narrow intra-muros alleyways, admiring the palaces of Rue Mahé de las Bourdonnais and the Escaliers de la Grille, which still bear the faces of the couples who once lived there on their wooden gables. The fishing village of Cancale, famous for its market on Rue de parcs at the foot of the lighthouse where oysters are shucked (excellent at Chez Mario), sent daily to the court of Versailles for the banquets of Louis XIV, and especially to please Queen Marie Antoinette, is also famous for its tides. Just as beautiful as Dinan is for its half-timbered houses erected with wood, mortar and straw, like authentic stilts on the cobbled road to the bizarre basilica of Saint-Sauveur with its Romanesque façade, 18th-century bell tower and flamboyant Gothic nave. Here you can happily conclude a journey of radiant lights and genuine flavours.