The decision to head north from Paris and spend three weeks meandering from Brittany south along the West Coast to Bordeaux, all by train, was largely spontaneous. I met someone while cycling along Paris’s canals who patriotically mentioned the beauty and history of the northwestern corner of the country. A few days later I hopped aboard a train at Gare du Nord in Paris. Over the next three weeks, I barely spoke a word of English and hopped between several delightful Airbnb hosts as I slowly pieced together a trip between some of France’s most charming, beautiful, and under-explored towns along the beautiful, whimsical West Coast.
There’s a stately charm to the Brittany capital unlike any other city in France. Though Rennes’s more regal buildings might blend in with those of Paris or Bordeaux, it’s the rickety appearance of the half-timber houses in the old town that give this city an absorbing edge.