Crepes are totally French and are a great way to experience local cuisine. However this fast food has become a mass-market item, and people do try to find short cuts to speed up the process. A good walk-up creperie stand is very likely to have a long line waiting for its goodness-rain or shine, tourist season or not.

A savory crepe is made with buckweat in the shape of a rectangle or square, is served with vegetables and/or meat in the center, and is not folded. A sweet crepe--more likely to be found on the street--is round , made of white flower, and is filled with fruit (juice or preserved), sugar, and/or chocolate.

My first crepe was from a stand on the street in Paris. We gave up looking for the recommended pastry place and stopped at the nearest stand. This turned out to be a not-so-hot proposition. The crepes had been pre-made. To reheat them, the cook placed a tablespoon of butter on the grill. Then, he layered tons of Nutella and folded the crepe prettily. The final result was, in short, a greasy mess and chocolate-hazelnut overload. I don't believe we even finished it.

A good creperie will make your dish when you order it. At the beginning of the entrance to the Chambord Chateau, I watched as a lady prepared the thinest pastry I'd ever seen and spread melted dark chocolate perfectly over half and folded it in a pie-shape. Thinking about it now, I'd give anything to be back in that moment again.

We had three galette experiences. In Chartre, Paul and Dad ordered a vegetarian galette. It was a plate-sized, triangular pancake with lettuce, tomato, French-cut green beans, baby white asparagus, sweet corn, and an artichoke heart. We were pretty sure the galette had not been made to order because it was a bit cold and greasy and fell apart very easily. Paul thought the greasiness could have been from the olive oil salad dressing, too. The next galette experience was far less enjoyable.

Dinan had the best galettes and second-best crepes of the trip. We were more than lucky to tag along with my in-laws for this meal because the three restaurants I had picked out didn't work. The restaurant was Routard reviewed (similar to Zagat) for 2009, and the staff was amazing. Clearly our waitress was the owner. She spoke English to us even when we ordered in French. She made an exception to a menu item by holding out the meat for on my father-in-law's galette and gave us all three of her English menus to share in deciding our dining choices. For a little bitty town, this restaurant was consistently busy and was more than half full when we turned in for the night. We enjoyed watching the large hot stone being brought to neighboring tables for people to cook their fish on at the table. That was quite an interesting experience for a bunch of vegetarians.

I had yet to have a really good sweet crepe and decided I was gonna splurge at dinner after devouring my ratatouille galette and ordered an apple-pie on my crepe. Paul had ordered a carmelized onion galette, which was good but a bit heavy and a dark chocolate and banana crepe. My galette was far superior--absolutely divine to be quite frank, but I wasn't totally sure which crepe I thought was best. That was an amazing night of true French dining. It's the type of restaurant that would make me go back to a town just for dinner.

Creperie Ahna

7, rue de la poissonnerie
22100 Dinan
http://creperie-ahna.blogspirit.com
We paid 21 euros for a mixed green salad, two galettes, and 2 crepes.