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I like to show you wonderful Dinard, plenty in my blog on it but this was sort of an introduction to the town, and some new pictures found in my vault, Hope you enjoy as I.

Dinard  is in the department 35 of Ille et Vilaine in the lovely region of Bretagne ; it is a beach town and well visited by British and Americans for its wonderful villas of the belle époque period and the British Film Festival held here since 1990. The official name of the city change from been Saint Enogat until 1879 to Dinard-Saint Enogat until 1921 and finally Dinard since then. It is located in the Côte d’Emeraude on the limits with the department 22 Côtes-d’Armor and the city of Saint Malo where the Rance river makes the separation. Not far, you have the Anglo Normand islands that can be reach in one hour fast speed from Saint Malo or in a few minutes by plane from the Dinard-Pleurtuit-Saint Malo airport (which had British friends visiting me here going this route by plane).

Some of the things to see (already with separate posts) are : The coffins of knights Olivier and Geoffroy de Montfort dating from the 14C now in the Chapelle of the old priory near the beach or plage du Prieuré; the house known as the Prince Noir or black prince built in the 14C; the manoir de la Baronnais ,renaissance style mansion with French gardens built in 1647; The fortress in the island or Ïle Harbour fortified from 1689; The Villa Les Roches Brunes built in 1893 and the Villa Greystones built in 1938; also, the Tennis club is one of the first built in France dating from 1879.  Notre Dame Church and St Enogat Church. The beaches are great and many smaller creeks; but the main four are plage du Prieuré, plage de l’Écluse, plage de Saint-Énogat, and plage du Port-Blanc.

A bit of brief history I like. Dinard is link to the legend of king Arthur as it is told he landed here in 513 to built a fort ,and the name of the town comes from a etymology of Fort d’Arthur.  One of the first discoverers of the city was William Faber an American aristocrat that had visited the city and felled in love with it so decided to stayed and built the mansion on the pointe du Moulinet, with small terraces that were shown to his Anglophone friends of Dinan and become the origins of the British community of Dinard, after his passing his wife Lyona Faber continue the work. In 1858, the first sea villa was built by James Erhart Coppinger in the same pointe du Moulinet, it is known as the Château du Bec de la Vallée, or the  Villa Castel Mond (as it belong for a time to the couple  Sir Robert  Mond and his wife Lady Mond). (See my post on the villas) ,From the 1880’s it was the first beach town in France and had its golden age known as the Dinard of the hundred hotels or the pearl of the emerald coast ; with many notables coming and staying here such as Albert Ier, Raymond Poincaré, Agatha Christie, Victor Hugo, Edward VII, George V, Winston Churchill , Judith Gautier, Jacqueline Kennedy, Lawrence of Arabia (in his childhood), Edmond Rostand, and Paul Valéry. Pablo Picasso painted the portrait of the swimmers in Dinard or the Les Baigneuses à Dinard on a series inspired by the nudity of the beaches. The firm L’Ecluse tried to restored many of these mansions and the first and only that could be done was in 1927 ,the Gallic Hotel on the foot of the big beach or Grande Plage at  2  boulevard Féart done in a Art Déco style where Pablo Picasso stayed two times. Starting in the 1930’s Dinard saw its decline as the British  stop coming and later followed by the rest.

The city of Dinard on its heritage: https://www.ville-dinard.fr/listes/ville-dart-dhistoire/

The Dinard Emeraude area tourist office on Dinard: https://www.dinardemeraudetourisme.com/en/explore/9-emerald-paradise/dinard-a-seaside-paradise/

The Ille et Vilaine dept 35 tourist board on Dinard: https://www.ille-et-vilaine-tourism.com/discover-ille-et-vilaine/the-loveliest-places/dinard/

There you go folks, this is beautiful Dinard, worth the detour me think. Again, hope you enjoy the post as I, and read my many other posts on the city as well.

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!

I bring you back once again, to tell you again about the pretty sights of Dinan, in the Côtes d’Armor dept 22 of my lovely Bretagne. I found me again some photos in my vault not in my blog yet so they should. We have visited Dinan,several times and each time a new adventure with good memories unfold. We go always by car of course. Let me tell you again  more pretty sights of Dinan , Hope you enjoy it as I.

The local regional government of the Côtes d’Armor dept 22 is the Sous Préfecture of Dinan located at 17 Rue Michel,  This historically was the Chateau-Ganne built at the end of the 19C in tufa stone in the Second Empire style by Henri Flaud, industrialist and deputy mayor of Dinan at the time. It was acquired by the department in 1947 in order to install the Sub-Prefecture there. In the 1970s, a new building was built to accommodate the majority of administrative services. Château-Ganne remains the residence of the Sub-Prefect. Somehow they all like the old and beautiful still.

This Château-Ganne, a name given by its creator, Henri Flaud, in honor of one of the first castellans of Dinan, Ganna. Mayor of Dinan under the Second Empire, Henri Flaud had money and tastes. It is the only building in Dinan made of tuffaud, this limestone from the banks of the Loire, which he had transported by the Rance river, Once inside, you reach the first floor by a solid spiral staircase, The dining room is adorned with an Aubusson tapestry from the 1650s. The adjoining room is a small living room embellished by the paneling of a bookcase built into the wall. A large living room, decorated with a Pleyel piano, high mirrors and textile hangings dating from Napoleon III. As in the small living room, daylight enters easily thanks to the large windows that cover the fireplaces. It is outside that you find the greatest wonder of the place: the breathtaking view of the Rance valley from a small turret, at the bottom of the garden.

The Sub Préfecture of Dinan, hours, schedules just for info : https://www.cotes-darmor.gouv.fr/Outils/Horaires-et-coordonnees/Horaires-et-coordonnees-Sous-prefecture-de-Dinan

The Maison d’Auguste Pavie is located at 10 place Saint-Sauveur, in the historic center of Dinan, It is a half-timbered house where Auguste Pavie was born, this magnificent 15C residence where Auguste Pavie, explorer and diplomat in Indochina in the 19C was born. We are welcomed in an elegant and cozy living room with dark blue woodwork, inhabited by sofas draped in white linen. Elegance again at breakfast time for the carmine red dining room which fits perfectly with the Asian atmosphere. Objects brought back from Vietnam, carefully chosen, and magnificent statues populate the residence like this female representation of Buddha The rooms bear the name of the places where Auguste Pavie stayed: “Champassack” with vanilla-coloured walls, “Kampot” in beige tones and chestnut, “Angkor”, enhanced with plum… Nothing outdated though. In the “Luang-Prabang” room, a very contemporary blue canopy sits majestically under the age-old beams. A nod to Laos with these rice paddy hats but a designer bathtub for the bathroom. Auguste Pavie also stopped at Vinh-Long on the shores of the Mekong Delta, a small Vietnamese port made famous by Marguerite Duras’ novel “L’ Amant” or The Lover. The room of the same name has a magnificent gray wall fresco with elephants.

It is today a rental house or chambre d’hôtes in City center Dinan, so you can rent it and we just saw it, Webpage : https://www.lamaisonpavie.com/fr/chambre-hotes-charme-dinan/

The Dinan Cap Fréhel tourist office on Dinan: https://www.dinan-capfrehel.com/en/our-essentials/dinan-medieval-city-brittany/

There you go folks, another dandy pretty sights in Dinan. Again, hope you enjoy the post on more pretty sights of Dinan as I. And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!