My Brittany

Kirsten’s life “en Bretagne”

Posted by Kirsten On May - 24 - 2009

The Cap Fréhel is situated near the town of Matignon and is the most stunning cliff in this part of Brittany (Haute Bretagne) and therefore extremely popular amongst both tourists and locals on a sunny day and over the weekened. You have the possibility to go there by boat from Saint Malo or simply drive up to the Cap by car. Parking cost 2 Euros, so rather reasonable and in the end nothing is for free ;)

You would then start your walk along the Cap and have really stunning views over the Côte Emeraude over to Saint Malo and in the opposite direction to another (less famous but as beautiful) Cap, the Cap Erquy. If you want more than just a walk it’s also a good area for some more serious hiking.

The cliffs are about 70 meters high and what makes it particularly attractive is the color of the stone itself. As you may know, Granit is THE stone of Brittany and it exists in many different colors: the most widely known grey but also yellow and blue. The Granit color on the Cap Fréhel is pink, although it’s not officially a part of the pink granit coast (Côte Granit Rose, visit it when you come to Brittany).
Cap Fréhel is also a natural reserve and many people come for bird watching or picture taking.
I’m not particularly an expert but you can see all kinds of Seagulls but also Cormorants and Boobies.
It’s said that already in Roman times there was a lighthouse on the cap and nowadays you can see 3 different one from differents epochs.  If you go up to the top of  the one that is open to the public you’ll have a magnificent view over the region.

The final fight on the roof of Fort La Latte

The final fight on the roof of Fort La Latte

Near the Cap Fréhel is the Fort la Latte, a mediaval fortress by the sea and filmset of several Hollywood productions. The film, The Vikings from 1958 with Kirk Douglas and Tony Curtis is widely known. As Cap Fréhel itself Fort la Latte is a tourist magnet but it’s worth visiting.

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