How to get lost in… Cancale

I'm very fond of Cancale. This port at the far end of the Mont-Saint-Michel bay has managed to preserve the beauty of its architecture and the distinct character of its setting in the Clos Poulet, a natural region bordered by the Rance estuary to the west and the marshes of Dol. But it’s also a port that has managed to open itself to the world, without turning into a rich people’s ghetto like some of its neighbours along the Côte d’Émeraude, where faded pink shorts and long floral dresses seem to have become a mandatory uniform. In Cancale, there are still bars, there are still tourist traps, there is still that certain something that makes up the character of a place firmly set on keeping its own identity.

It’s impossible to talk about Cancale without talking about the Roellinger family. In 1982, Jane and Olivier Roellinger opened their first restaurant, Le Bricourt, in the family house where Olivier grew up. The restaurant earned its first star in 1984, a second in 1988, then a third in 2006. Along the way, the family expanded the estate with the Les Rimains hotel, then Château Richeux, home to a second table, Le Coquillage. In 2008, Olivier stepped away from the kitchen for health reasons, closed Le Bricourt and turned his kitchen into a spice lab. Alongside his wife Marine, Hugo Roellinger, the son, took over the kitchen at Le Coquillage in 2014 and, in 2025, went on to earn three stars of his own, on the back of a fiercely committed cuisine unanimously praised by critics. His sister, Mathilde, for her part, left her life as a lawyer in Paris to take over Épices Roellinger, founded by their father, and to grow this branch of what is known today as Les Maisons de Bricourt. I’ve met several cooks who worked for this family, and everyone praises the quality of the environment as much as the huge inspirational impact their time with the Roellingers had on them. This family’s investment runs so deep that it naturally shows in the addresses I’m suggesting in this itinerary. I didn’t have the snobbery to try to find competing addresses, for one simple and good reason, the Roellingers are the best.

If I haven’t turned my back on the Roellinger success story, I’ve nonetheless found other addresses more in keeping with the ridiculously thin depth of a young dad’s wallet, as well as with the goal of being outside as much as possible, wandering the port, watching the boats sway, and wondering whether that’s really Mont-Saint-Michel you can make out in the distance. This is how I ended up with a eight-address itinerary for a long weekend in Cancale, covering where to drink well, eat well and sleep well.