The Brinsons invaded France in search of oysters, wine and cheese and we found them all! We had a plan, a man and an ancestral quest, to guide us through Brittany, the Loire Valley and Paris.

Our first plan: to eat as many oysters and seafood plateaus as possible in the week we had in Brittany. The man: my French brother-in-law Mickael from the Loire Valley, who said I quote ” we should get the bigger van for cases of wine and buckets of oysters!” That is the sign of a good travel partner. And the ancestral quest: I am a great decendant of William the Conquer (probably a bastard child, but I’ll take it) of Normandy, just on the northern tip of Brittany.

We stayed in the town of Quimpar just a little south of Breast, a great middle ground between north and south Brittany. Everyday guided by episodes of Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations, various welcomed suggestions from friends and a few guide books, we set out to explore the coast.

Finding oysters was no problem, but two spots you must stop at are Belon and Cancale. It was a oyster lovers right of passage to go and seek out the famous Belon oyster. This is truly the only place to have this oyster, and if you see it anywhere else, it does not taste the same! Although we arrived after the restaurant high season, that didn’t stop us! We found that the locals could still buy oysters, so we sought them out. Luckily the place we went also sold oyster knives, otherwise I would have gotten creative with a car bumper or something. I have to say this was the first picnic I have ever had with fresh oysters, and it was so good!

The next stop is Cancale. It was amazing to see all the oyster farms out one minute and later that day they were all underwater. From Cancale you just see Mont St Michael in the diastase, sitting out in the water. Also there are more restaurants here or if you choose you can buy fresh oyster and they will shuck them for you and you can sit by the water. What could be more fun than that!! 

This is truly a sight to see and explore for yourself.