Places to go and things to eat around Guérande (Brittany) You might know Guérande (Pho

Places to go and things to eat around Guérande (Brittany) You might know Guérande (Photo 1) for its sea salt. It is collected in the Marais Salants (photo 2) through a long process that involves waiting for the seawater to evaporate. If you’re asked for more than €5 for a five kilo bag, at the market or at one of the shack on the side of the roads, you’re being had. I know Guérande because aged one to five, I holidayed there every summer, at my grandparents’ house. I have limited memories of the place, although during the week I just spent there, I kept being struck by justified feelings of déjà-vu. We stayed at Le Croisic (photo 3 and 10), a nice enough village at the end of a peninsula. I wouldn’t recommend it for a long term stay; you’d probably get claustrophobic as almost any journey requires going through the village of Batz-sur-Mer. Alternatives would be Piriac (photo 5), a typical Brittany village or La Turballe (photo 4), a port which is busy all year round. Local specialty: the sardines, which you can see being unloaded from the boats every day. You, and the dozens of seagulls waiting for their goodies. O Jardin Secret, 10 quai du Port Ciguet, 44 490 Le Croisic One of the best value-for-money restaurants on Le Croisic wharf, O Jardin Secret serves fresh products straight from the Criée (fish market) standing opposite. The basic, three-dish menu costs €16.90, and includes a choice of fish soup or home-smoked salmon for starter followed by the fish of the day with a beurre blanc sauce and mashed potatoes or meat. Dessert is a floating island, sorbet or the local Far Breton, a cooked custard with plums. Crêperies Holidaying in Brittany without eating a single crêpe should be a sin. They are the local pizza, best served with a bolée de cidre, a bowl of cider. Crêpes can be cheap since the ingredients involved aren’t costly – you shouldn’t pay more than €6 for a basic savoury galette de froment with ham and cheese, and no more than €4 for a basic sweet crepe with sugar and butter. Fleur de Sel, Village de Kervalet, 44740 Batz-sur-Mer The best crêperie we tried was the restaurant Fleur de Sel, located in the cute and typical village of Kervalet (photo 7). Aside from the traditional ham, cheese, mushrooms galettes, the place offers specials ranging from La Turballaise, spread with a sardine-butter-shallots concoction, to La Paludier, with eggs, onions, pancetta and cheese. I had La Bretonne with a leek fondue, pancetta, crème fraiche and cheese, which was the perfect balance of tastes. My dessert was La Pimms, which had nothing to do with the alcohol and was instead filled with orange marmalade, hot chocolate sauce and topped with an orange sorbet. My dad had La Gourmande, topped with salted caramel ice-cream and a warm chocolate sauce while my mum chose La Normande with stewed apples, vanilla ice cream and salted caramel (photo 6). The bill added up to €54, including a bottle of local cider. We left stuffed and content. Le Commerce, 1 rue des Viviers, 56760 Penestin Le Commerce, in the Morbihan county (insider tip: to figure out when you have crossed the border from one French county to the next, watch out for a sudden tarmac change), is a fast-served crêperie with an imaginative menu. I had a complète with ham, cheese, mushrooms and eggs, which was moist and filling. My dad had one with Andouille de Guéméné, a local sausage delicacy made with smoked pork large intestine, another must-taste from the region. My mum had one with ham and tomatoes that was a bit dry. For dessert, you can’t go wrong with another local specialty, the salted caramel spread. Mine, the decadent Angélique, came with whipped cream, toasted almonds and vanilla ice cream. Local products La Belle Iloise (photos 8 and 9) sells yummy tinned fish, three words you might not read together very often. The chain has stores all along the Brittany coast selling tuna, sardines, fish and lobster soups as well as mackerel sandwich fillings at factory prices. Take an empty suitcase: all products are sold by lots of at least three. Prices start around €5 for three salmon and tarragon spread tins. It’s also a great place for presents, since all stores offer assortments. Driving through Brittany, you’ll keep seeing biscuiteries and fabriques de biscuits on the side of the road. Park by any of them and you’re guaranteed to find a wealth of butter-based desserts: palets and galettes, gateaux Bretons, crepes, Kouign amann… La Trinitaine, a semi-industrial chain, sells the cheapest salted caramels of the lot at €17 per kilo.  And I’d know, since we visited about 10 to compare. The salted caramel spread is a nice alternative, perfect on brioche, also produced locally. For a more upmarket and semi-artisan version, local son and “meilleur ouvrier de France” (‘best artisan in France’) George Larnicol has opened stores all over the region, selling for instance a little Kouign Amann, the Kouignette and Petit Ruilh, a melted biscuit filled with homemade jam. Noirmoutier new potatoes. Like Jersey’s, but from a more local island. Can be found in any worth supermarket or from markets. | Secret Bichonné du couvent.  A tome-like cheese with the cutest name (and considering France is rumoured to count 300 types of cheese, there was competition) since it means Beloved secret from the convent. | La Fraiseraie. A local artisan ice-cream chain that started in the 70s, growing strawberries around Pornic. You can still buy the locally picked strawberries, as well strawberry syrups and jams in their 10 stores but the real treat is their ice-cream: a rainbow of tastes. I recommend praline as well as poire-chocolat (pear and chocolate) made with actual pieces of pears. All prices accurate as of 30 June 2014. Photos courtesy of Pierre Goulet. -- source link

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