Misadventures in France 2010 – Part 4

We woke up gently, packed our things, and headed out to the coast for a gentle journey to our next destination, Le Chateau Richeux in Saint-Méloir-des-Ondes (near Mont St. Michel and Cancale). The idea was that driving down the coast would allow us to eat a seafood lunch at the seaside.

We drove to Coutances to grab the coast and then drove south to Granville keeping an eye out for restaurants. Given that it was Sunday we knew that many places would be closed. We were getting nervous as the prospects weren’t looking good but caught a break when we reached Granville and saw restaurants on the beach…or so we thought.

We parked and walked to where we saw people eating on the terrace along the way passing pizza, kebab, and fast food places. When we arrived at the place we spotted we realized it was a restaurant that fashioned itself after an American steak and burger house!

It is so unfortunate to have restaurants on the beach, none of them serving anything out of the sea! The lunch hour was nearing an end so in desperation we ate there, but selected conservatively to avoid getting sick. We were cognizant of the fact that we would be eating at the chateau that evening and did want to ruin our appetite.

And thank goodness because we would have missed out on an experience!

But first the pre-dinner exploits.

We arrived at the chateau and checked into our beautiful room that included a terrace facing out over the park and the sea.

The chateau grounds are amazing, charming, and serene, and something to be experienced with all your senses.

The grounds include a bakery, a farm, orchards, gardens, mini-parks, and places to enjoy the sun, the ocean, and the wind. It is a total escape and you can truly forget all your cares.

I have written an additional post on the chateau grounds that will appear soon on Haven in Paris so look out for that (and I will provide a link).

Back to dinner. Being the gourmands that we are, we chose a menu that was called “Seaside Snacking” which was basically small bites of the entire restaurant menu (minus the plateau de fruits de mer – seafood platter) served in two courses, cold then hot. Each plate is just enough to have a lovely taste without being too full (seriously!).

After those two courses, you are offered the standard cheese service (we passed) and then the real fun begins…the “roulante des gourmandizes” or what I call the dessert fantasy cart!

The chateau's owner Olivier Roellinger believes that you should appease your inner child, so why should you be forced to choose just one dessert? With the cart, you can have one of everything if you like, although you might go into sugar overload or not be able to sleep for several hours!

The weather was absolutely amazing and we kept the terrace windows open nearly non-stop, it was amazing to sleep with the roar of the massive waves and the sea breeze rustling the bed covers.

Château Richeux: 1 rue du Guesclin, 35260 Cancale, France.