Cancale

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Coordinates: 48°40′37″N 1°51′02″W / 48.67694, -1.85056

Commune of Cancale

Kankaven

The fishing port of Cancale

Location

Coordinates

48°40′37″N 1°51′02″W / 48.67694, -1.85056

Administration

Saint-Malo Agglomération

Mayor

Maurice Jannin

Statistics

Elevation

0 m–56 m
(avg. 45 m)

Land area^¹

13 km²

Population^²
(1999)

5,203

- Density

413/km² (1999)

Miscellaneous

INSEE/Postal code

35049/ 35260

¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

² Population sans doubles comptes: residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel) only counted once.

Harvesting oysters in Cancale

Cancale (Breton: Kankaven; Gallo: Cauncall) is a commune of the Ille-et-Vilaine département, in France.

1 Demographics
2 Tourism
3 Oysters
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Demographics

Inhabitants of Cancale are called Cancalais.

As of the census of 1999, the town had a population of 5,203.
The estimation for 2007 was 5,293.

[edit] Tourism

Cancale lies along the coast to the east of Saint-Malo. It is a picturesque fishing village popular with visitors many of whom are drawn by its reputation as the «oyster capital» of Brittany. Though a small town it is well served by a large number of restaurants, many specialising in seafood. When not eating one can sit and watch the bustle of this busy little town with many stalls selling crustaceans of all types.

There is a pleasant coastal path which permits a circular walk from the town to the Pointe du Grouin with views across the bay towards Mont Saint Michel. Eugène Feyen painted Cancale and the inhabitants with the oyster-picking Cancalaises for several decades around 1865–1908.Vincent van Gogh wrote that "Eugène Feyen is one of the few painters who pictures intimate modern life as it is really, and does not turn it into fashion plates".

[edit] Oysters

History has it that Louis XIV had his oysters brought to Versailles from Cancale. Centuries later, the farming of oysters is still a major activity in the port and there are oyster beds covering about 7.3 square kilometres easily seen from the pier at the harbour. These beds harvest about 25,000 tons of oysters each year.