Chemin de Saint-Malo

The Chemin côtier de Haute-Bretagne starts from Saint-Malo, an extraordinary fortified city, set between land and sea, a major economic centre and a tourist centre for the quality of its site and heritage. The links between this part of the bay and the Abbey of Le Mont have always been important over the centuries, particularly as a result of the former Montois possessions in the dioceses of Saint-Malo and Dol, which the walker will encounter as he makes his way to Le Mont. To the west of the famous corsair town, the influence of the Abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel has been less marked over the centuries, both because of the smaller number of donations of land to the abbey and because of the lesser influence of the Mont pilgrimage throughout Lower Brittany.

Today, the route follows the customs path (GR ®  34), which offers new views of the coast, the Saint-Malo region, its beaches, its points and coves and the natural areas it crosses. However, this superb contemporary route along the Emerald Coast is exclusively coastal and does not pass through villages inland from the coast. It is understood that travellers and pilgrims did not follow the coastal route with its uneven terrain and indented coves and creeks. The route went inland, but the quality of the coastal route and its proximity to the historic route meant that the coastal route was chosen. Some of the sites, such as the Pointe du Grouin, are unforgettable, with a view from Cap Fréhel to Granville; as the miquelot makes its way along the route, it will come across Le Mont at the end of its vast bay on several occasions.

In the Middle Ages, Cancale, dominating the landscape of the Bay of Mont at its foot, and the entire area formed a single spiritual and economic community with the Abbey of Mont, due to the importance of Mont's possessions in the area. At Mont-Dol, the site is full of mystery and is still strongly marked by the cult of the archangel. The final leg leaves from the medieval town of Dol, with its cathedral and medieval houses, and is more original, as the miquelot follows the ancient cliffs that once dominated the dry marshes of Dol, opening up a very wide perspective, before joining the dyke and the coastal path to the Couesnon, gateway to Mont-Saint-Michel.