The whole world is burning, and France is no exception. Our first week’s temperatures in Rennes made it impossible to explore the city after about noon. The only consolation came from checking temperatures elsewhere in France, where they were even higher with more humidity. We lucked out this time, it appeared.

So we sprung for a car rental and hit the famous Brittany coast. We can reach the coast in about an hour from Rennes, but we wanted to go further so one day we went along the Emerald Coast to Cap Fréhel in the north and the next to Carnac and the Golfe de Morbihan in the south.

These places deserve their vaunted reputations. Gorgeous beaches, picturesque hamlets and a laid back vibe gave me fantasies of settling in for the summer months. Also: crispy buckwheat galettes and aromatic cider (I returned to Rennes with a case bought from an apple farm)! We were surprised to see so much heather.

The thick morning mist, ocean breezes and more moderate heat made for a delightful respite as well. Too bad car rentals are so expensive in Europe as we’d have liked to explore these areas for longer.

So, yeah, if we do settle in Nice, we probably escape the terrible summer heat there with a summer rental somewhere on the Breton coast.