By
Christian Bouzols
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It is a beautiful bay located among the rocks, surrounded by a white sandy beach. It is accessible by a small path at the enda rue du Port, in Saint-Briac. To the right a tavern, to the left a large villa by the sea. Around the golf course.
It smells like a vacation, but here, when you approach the water, it feels like something strange. It is not the usual bathers splashing in the sea, but well over twenty dogs playing with the waves, under the attentive and happy gaze of their swimsuit-clad owners.
The only beach in the region allowed for dogs
All over the Emerald Coast, Cancale to Fréhel via Saint-Malohowever, the summer season is synonymous with nightmares for animal lovers, banished from the sand and hunted by the police for those who dare approach the water.
Everywhere, except on this beach Tertre Pelé in Saint-Briac, the only one in the region that allows dogs all summer. An experiment attempted in 2023, which was renewed this year when the municipality received messages of thanks and encouragement, without imitating in the nearby seaside resorts.
“50 years of holiday in the region and finally happiness”
So when you have a dog, Tertre Pelé is the idea you can geta little paradise in the middle of the summer season.
“I have been coming to Saint-Cast for more than 50 years,” says Angelique, a German tourist from Munich, “the opening of this beach has changed my life,” she says, staring at her two dogs.
Parasol and beach mattress slung over their shoulders, same story for Ronny and Eeké, who also came from the other side of the Rhine to enjoy a 15-day holiday in Saint-Malo with their dog.
They only passed the dam to wade their little Kaya into the sea, but that’s it very angry about the bans which hits everywhere on the Emerald Coast.
“In Germany all beaches are allowed for dogs”
“I don’t understand this policy,” Ronnie protests, “in Germany you can take your dog to all the beaches. There are reserved spaces and it goes really well. Whereas here, as soon as we arrived, a police officer came over us at the foot of the ramparts.”
In this context, Tertre Pelé offers the bay a unique atmosphere. “It’s both funny and improbable,” laughs this mother, who especially comes from Rennes with her whole family.
There are almost only dogs in the water. People see them having fun and chatting with each other. I have never seen so many exchanges on a beach.
Another resident of Rennes agrees: she learned about the place on social networks: “It’s incredible the number of posts you can see on Instagram.” Since the beginning of summer, she has already been here about thirty times…
“There is a good atmosphere”
For Maïlys and her little Ultèce, however, it is a discovery. This resident of the Paris region has joined festival without logo and camp at Saint-Benoit-des-Ondesin the bay of Mont Saint-Michel.
She did not hesitate to do more 30 minutes drive to discover this beach and bathe your dog there. “It’s worth it, we have a great atmosphere between us.”
Summer visitors who do not have animals also enjoy this very special bay, but there are not many of them. It’s a bit like walking in a bathing suit on a nude beach. We wonder what we are doing here…
No fights and a clean beach
At the water’s edge, propped up on a rock, two children do not ask themselves the question and look without moving dogs snorting in the watercomment on races and behavior.
No fighting, no aggression and on the sand… not a poop in sight. “We’ve been here regularly for two years,” says this couple from Saint-Malo flanked by a handsome Australian shepherd. “The beach is always perfect. It is much cleaner than at Bon Secours or at Sillon. I don’t understand why we can’t have a place like that in Saint-Malo, there is no shortage of space.”
It’s still crazy that we have to drive half an hour to walk our dog when we have the sea everywhere!
Tertre Pelé bay thus generated new behavior: Malouiners now cross the Rance to come and swim in Saint-Briac!
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