St Mathurin

Shopping
There is plenty of shopping in Pléneuf and Val-André.There is a large supermarket, plenty of bakers, bars and other shops in Pléneuf which is 5 minutes drive away. There are also large supermarkets in Erquy and Lamballe.
Markets
There are lots of local markets which are large and very busy in the summer months, a little quieter out of peak season but there all year.








Bars and Restaurants
There are a great variety in and around Val André. All of them are good and some of our favourites are:
Restaurant du Centre – Not surprisingly, in the centre of Val André. Modern cuisine with new owners a couple of years ago. Really has developed into an excellent restaurant. Suggest booking.
La Croisette – The only restaurant on the sea front. Good general restaurant serving a mixture of dishes and a wide range of pizzas.
Le Val Joli – on the main street of Val André, serves very good mussels and is best known for excellent ice creams.
Breiz Izel – Bar in the centre of town, excellent to sit outside and watch the world go by. They have a wide range of beers, some of which come served in their own specific glasses.
La Moulerie de la Baie – Jospinet, which is on the coast just west of Dahouët. This restaurant only serves mussels in a variety of styles. They also serve steak. If the tides are right you can sit outside and eat the freshest seafood imaginable while watching the mussels being harvested in the bay. Truly excellent food, the restaurant is only open between Easter and September which is when the mussels are harvested. One not to miss!!
Relais Saint-Aubin – is just off of the road from Val André heading towards Erquy. It is signposted just past La Couture. This is a spectacular restaurant where they cook the meat and fish on an open fire. The menu Gourmand will keep you busy for several hours.
Restaurants in Dahouët
Le Zef – They serve wonderful galettes (savoury pancakes) and salads. The Entrecote steak and Frites is the best we have ever had. The Moules and the omlettes here are excellent. This really is our favourite haunt.
Le Tiwanee – This restaurant is only open during the Summer Season (June – September) It has a very varied menu and is highly recommended. They serve excellent barbequed fish, meat and the hot fruit kebab is not to be missed.
Le Giros – is next to the Tiwanee and is run by the same family, sharing a kitchen. Greek style menu, excellent dish called Assiete de Giros, which is a spicy kebab served with sald and frites.
The Best of Frites (TBOF) – is a small takeaway by the port. They do excellent Moules Frites and sandwiches. You can eat there if you wish or take your own pot to collect the Moules in.
Beaches
There are a variety of beaches to choose from. Generally along the Brittany coast the beaches are very big and if you prefer to be away from people it is possible to find places where you can be very isolated.
The nearest beach is called St Pabu about 1km away and really spectacular, turn right by the chapel and you can’t miss it. Parking is at the bottom of the hill. It is in walking distance but it is a pretty steep hill coming back.
The town beach in Val André is beautiful, there are great walks along the clifftops between the beaches but it is busy in the summer.
As you look out to sea in Val André at the far right is ‘Port du Piegu’. The island is called Verdelet and is a bird sanctuary. At very low tides you can walk across a causeway to the island. When this happens the island is flooded by people in search of a free meal, collecting mussels, shrimps and other shellfish.
Plage des Vallees is the next beach along east and you can drive to it by turning right at the first set of traffic lights in Val André and following the signs. Much quieter beach than the town beach and a five minute walk from the car park will give you lots of space.
Nantois beach is our favourite. From the house turn left by the chapel and turn right just before the Pléneuf Val André sign. There is no signpost here. Follow the road past the golf course and park at the end. The beach is a 5 minute walk down the track. This beach is quite quiet since it is a small walk. This is generally where we will be found.
Les Hopitaux - Excellent beach just north of Erquy with several bays and sand dunes. Turn left out of the house and left at the roundabout. Bear right at the traffic lights and then go straight over the roundabout at the Super U. Follow signs to Les Hopitaux. At low tide there is a small island that you can walk to with a chapel. Good swimming beach since the water gets quite deep very quickly.
Local Towns and Sights
Lamballe - A beautiful old town 14km from Val-André. There is a huge market here on Thursday mornings. Lamballe is also home to the Haras (the national equestrian centre). Guided tours are possible although opening times are limited. Check at the tourist office.
Erquy - Bigger than Val-André, Erquy is the next seaside town along the coast. Market on Wednesdays, lots of restaurants.
St Brieuc - Biggest town in the area. There is a very large Hypermarket and an interesting and diverse town centre.
Dinan - Stunning medieval city. Well worth a visit. Walk down the steep cobbled streets to the port area. Boat trips available up the River Rance.
Hosts a medieval festival in July. Check at tourist office for details.
Moncontour - Small medieval town, hosts a medieval festival in August.
Sables d’Or and Cap Frehel -Beautiful beaches, good for surfing and wind surfing. Large nature reserve. Bike hire available.
St Malo . Lovely walled city. Home to a state of the art Aquarium.
Events
There are lots of events all through the summer and are great fun. Generally there is good food, some sort of entertainment, and a great atmosphere. Normally you will have to pay a couple of euros to enter, this tends to be funding local activities.
Val André Jazz in the Park, every Tuesday at 9pm in the parc de l’Amiraute.
Fete de la Terre in Henensal. Festival of farming and the land. Takes over the whole town and is great fun.
Fete de la Mer in Dahouët – festival of the sea.
Fete de la Nuit in St Alban – festival of the night, good food and music.
There are others that are less predictable. Over the summer there is generally an event every week in St Alban. We have found ourselves caught up in a celebration of sea shanties, and a village fund raising evening that ended up in a long dancing session!
Activities
Golf – There is an excellent golf course close to the house. For entry to the course follow directions to Plage des Vallées beach.
Golf Blue Green Pléneuf-Val André
Rue de la plage des Vallées - 22370 Pléneuf-Val André
E-mail: Pléneuf-val-André@bluegreen.com
Web: www.bluegreen.com/Pléneuf
Tennis – There is a large tennis club open to the public in Val André. There are a variety of clay and asphalt courts. Bookings via the club house. Please note that there is a large international tennis tournament for the first ten days of August when it is generally not possible to play on the clay courts. Tel: 02 96 72 23 35 E-mail: tcamiraute@club-internet.fr
Sailing Centre – A large variety of craft can be hired from the sailing centre near to Port de Piègu. Tel: 02 96 72 95 28, www.cnpva.com
Land Yachts – We have not tried this ourselves but it is possible to hire or have lessons in sand yachting from the far end of St Pabu beach.
Quad Bikes – There are two centres for quad biking. The one we have tried in is Plangouenal and was very good. There is another closer to Lamballe that is well signposted.
Karting – There is a very good karting track in Lamballe that is well signposted. They cater for all ages and you can pretty much turn up and go. The track is quite good and the facilities/karts are excellent.
High ropes assault course – The Indian forest high ropes assault course is fantastic fun. It is built high in the trees and involved various crossings between tree platforms, slides and climbs. It is very safe, well supervised and great fun. There are three courses, yellow is introductory, blue is medium and red is extreme. One price gets you around all three if you wish but be aware that even the blue course does need a fair degree of fitness. The red course is quite tough.