Rental Home ‘Maison Bleue’ in Josselin, Brittany

We had a lovely rental home in Josselin. It is the one at the end of the lane with the blue door, hence the name ‘Maison Bleue’. It is a typical Brenton stone cottage, and is fully renovated and well equipped.

Maison Bleue in Josselin, Brittany

The first thing I did, after we arrived from Cancale, was to water the flower boxes in front of the house. A neighbor lady observed me doing this, gave me a thumbs up, and called across the lane ‘C’est très gentil!’

We had 30C (86F) almost every day during that week, and so watering the plants in front and back became a daily thing to do, which I like doing. I also enjoyed sitting in this little courtyard in the back on most mornings and evenings.

Over the years, we have also learned to bring an electric fan on every trip.

Flowers and Insect Hotels in Josselin

This Hôtel à Insectes is down by the canal in Josselin. This is a very inspiring construction in regards to  sustainability. I wish we had one like this in Oberursel, so I plan on spreading the word in the right places.

Insect Hotel in Josselin

Along the canal, my husband and I stopped for a cold beer at a restaurant’s garden terrace. We got to meet the owner’s cat coming around our table and she let us pet her. Halfway into our beer, the cat came back with a rat in her mouth! We tried to keep up our conversation, but got sidetracked by the ‘cat and mouse game’ going on in the hedge…

Hydrangea is dotting the landscape around Josselin.

We took a nice long walk around the remaining parts of the city wall.

The Day Before the Josselin Medieval Festival

The town was getting ready for the big day – the Josselin Medieval Festival on Saturday, 14 July. Booths were getting set up on Friday and the task was finished by evening, so there was already some buzzing in the air. We took a stroll through town, and ate at the best restaurant in town, ‘Le Prieure de Clisson‘, a Tapas restaurant (they also serve Paella).

Josselin is a quaint little town or better yet, a village, with a population of close to 2500 residents.

This was one of the seven dinners I had. This was at ‘Le Guéthenoc’, and I would call their selection and taste average fare.

Salade du Berger

The Breton version of the crêpe is a galette, a pancake made with buckwheat flour, and usually with a savory filling.

galette

When I saw this worn out mailbox, it reminded me of Germany’s red gumball machines, which, if any left, are in the same condition. I wonder if people still use this mailbox…

Mailbox in Josselin

We left town the next morning, the day of the festival, to head back to Germany.

One Week in Josselin, France

After having spent our first holiday week in the coastal town of Cancale, we drove on to our next rental home in Josselin (about a two-hour drive from the coast).

Josselin is closer to the Atlantic coast, so during that week, we also took a day trip to Carnac (about 1:20 hr).

The highlight of Josselin is the castle, but there are also many other attractions: restaurants, the canal, bike rental, pubs where we watched a couple of the World cup games, you hear a lot of English (due to the many British tourists), etc.

Unfortunately, some of the town center stores are no longer occupied. There are quite a few ‘For Sale’ signs in the windows of both shops and real estate agencies.

Josselin Castle and the Aust River

We took a tour of the castle (available only in French), and also got extra tickets for its puppet museum. That was quite interesting.

Josselin Castle – the garden front

Almost every day, we walked along the canal. We saw plenty of fish in the water, dragon flies hovering, birds trying to catch fish, boats passing by, and … not so many tourists (we were there from 7 – 14 July).

Canal promenade

We also watched a canal worker work the dam manually. She had to use quite a bit of muscle strength to work this machinery, and also had to take quite a few trips back and forth –  to let two boats up the canal.

Wherever we walked, the streets and walk ways were clean and decorated with flowers.

When we booked the place for a week, the rental owner suggested to stay an extra day to enjoy their annual Medieval Festival on 14 July. No thanks. When the crowds move in, I move out.

We saw some of the early activities on Friday evening, and we enjoyed the preparations they had taken, such stringing flag lines across, etc. We pulled out Saturday morning just in time before the masses of tourists would arrive.

I like Josselin, when it is a quiet little town.

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