Cancale (Monday 9.9.2013)

Cancale in all of it's gloomy glory.

Cancale is Heaven on the Brittany coast for those who dearly love oysters as much as Nita and I do(and Gary).

Just a 25 minute drive from the house, we scooted up in the early morning rain in order to beat any crowds that may tend to grab up all the free parking.  From time to time on the drive along scenic, tree lined roads, we could see the ocean sparkling between the trees and peeking around hills.  Coming over the top of the last hill, we could see all of the wide open bay of Mont-Saint-Michel with the abbey brooding in the foggy distance.  It is entirely possible Nita and I both squealed like small children, but I refuse to comment on that rumor.

The Abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel in the distance

On the up side, we got to Cancale in a reasonably short period of time.  On the down side, there is little to no free parking in Cancale anymore.  Luckily the paid parking is cheap and plentiful, only 5euro for a full day,

Steps from the parking lot where the famous Cancale oyster stalls.  6 or 8 vendors, all under blue and white striped awnings  hawking their wares.  Back in the U.S., we are used to paying amazing amounts of hard earned cash for oysters.  In Cancale, they were damn near free!  We split up and went for different stalls.  I picked up a dozen small oysters with a lemon for 5euro.  Nita opted for a dozen mediums for around 6euro.  Add in the up charges of opening the critters and lemons, they were still well below the 7euro range.  For world class oysters!

At the stalls, it is no restaurant experience, but rather one of the best eating experiences ever.  Oysters come opened on a small plastic tray with lemon and you eat them right on the sea wall, chucking the empty shells right back into the bay that they grew up in.  Go back as many times are you please, they are happy to shuck more!

2 giant raccoons rampaging the oyster beds.

Our artist in residence destroying his oysters.

 A couple of dozen oysters each dispatched, we gathered up the gang and headed down the promenade to see what else Cancale had to offer.  For the most part it is seafood eateries, souvenir shops, and clothing stores that at least 2 or us bought fine French woolen sweaters.  No berets or Breton stripey shirts yet, but give us time...


On our way back to the car park, we hiked up a large hill with a WWI memorial overlooking the bay to get some pictures. We noticed with some awe that the tide had roared out with amazing speed to reveal all the boats in the bay laying on their sides and the oyster farms themselves.  We had eaten just feet from an underwater treasure house of oysters and never had any clue.

Nita with the exposed oyster racks behind her.

We walked down the hill and right down into the beds to peek at the process, watching the workmen shirting bags of oysters from rack to rack.  Some bags held young oysters, some were stored in tubs for whatever mysterious reasons in large stone tanks.  This is aqua farming at it's ancient best!

Oyster farmers shifting sacks of product from rack to rack.

Nita planning her attack on the French strategic oyster reserve.

Harvest time!  These bags of oysters were at the stalls withing just a few minutes of the sea retreating.

Shellfish sleepy time...

Early afternoon had us back in the cars heading for Dinan.  We found a large market along the road, much like a Target or Walmart, that gave us an easier chance to stock up the kitchen on more of the little things we needed around the house using the cars.  Wine, a tart pan, wine, salad makings, wine, milk, wine, etc...

For dinner around the big farmhouse table in the kitchen we had roast loin or pork stuffed with wine macerated fruit and a mustard / herb crust, roast potatoes, a salad, my refrigerator pickles, and a bar of honey nougat for dessert.

And wine.

Every day is better than the last.  We may not survive our days in Brittany.