Sunday July 10

Sunday July 10 is a cloudy day with a forecast high of 23 C.  We took the bus to Paramé to see the closing ceremonies and exhibition of the Folklore du Monde.  We were fortunate to watch and listen to the group from L’Ukraine or Kazakhstan.  They were our favorite from watching the parades earlier this week. The group following them were from Brittany.  The clothing of the Bretagne group was black and white.  The music was primarily bagpipes.  Much different than other nations.

Folklores du Monde at Parc des Chênes

Monday July 11

Monday July 11 a fire truck and ambulance arrived on our street.  Sandy watched as men used the “cherry  picker” from the elevated firetruck to bring a man out of the building across from us on a stretcher.  It was quite a feat!

Firemen evacuating an elderly person from a 2nd floor apartment.

We took care of some shopping after breakfast.  In the afternoon, we made a few stops Intra-Muros and then we walked to the harbor.  As we watched boats come and go, a seagull  (Goeland) flew on the side of us.  It was low enough that both of us spotted it and looked because it had something large and yellow in it’s beak.  Usually they are flying with shells in their beaks.  They fly straight up, then drop the shell to crack it and enjoy their meal.  Today, we watched the gull fly straight up and drop the yellow item.  It turned out to be an apple.  It was really funny to see the bird flying with something as big as an apple in it’s mouth.  We didn’t think they’d eat apples, but sure enough, two or three birds arrived to help the “apple carrier” finish the meal.

Tuesday July 12

Tuesday July 12 was our regular tutoring session with Christine.  Sandy got her two-hour lesson and also a bouquet of roses from Christine.

Sandy and her bouquet of roses from Christine.

About 16:00 we heard a loud “beeping” coming down the street.  Usually that means a delivery truck is backing up.  This afternoon it was the return of the fire truck cherry picker.  Two firemen were “practicing” using the equipment to go as high as the top or 4th floor of another neighboring building. There are few apartment building with elevators here, so they need to be prepared.

Wednesday July 13

Wednesday July 13 started out partly sunny.  As we waited for the bus to take us to E.LeClerc to look for “camping/folding” chairs, it started to pour.  Good thing we were standing next to the bus shelter!  It only rained for about 5 minutes.  The bus arrived and the sun came out.  We were fortunate to find two chairs at the hardware store Bricorama, next door to Leclerc.  They were hidden behind several other chairs and were all that remained of the lightweight variety.  We took them and headed home.

One of the two chairs we scrounged for at Bricorama.

After lunch, we took our new chairs to the beach to try them out.  We sat at the edge of the water with our feet in the ocean.  The waves were definitely cool.  We moved our chairs because the tide was going out.  It was a gorgeous day with lots of fresh air, sun, and wind.  A lovely way to spend part of the afternoon.

Thursday July 14

Today is the Fête Nationale – National day.  It is not referred to as Bastille Day here in France.

At 10:30 in the evening we walked out to watch the fireworks.  We walked to the Esplanade Saint-Vincent area right by the Office du Tourisme.  We were just outside of the huge crowd, but could see the fireworks very well.  It was 30 minutes of ground fireworks and aerial fireworks accompanied to music.  Very nice.  As the fireworks ended we made a hasty retreat back to our apartment to avoid the crowd.

Fireworks on 14th July on the Saint-Malo beach.

This was the same evening in which the tragedy in Nice occurred.  Any place in France celebrating the Fête Nationale could have been a target.

Friday July 15

Today we went for our French lesson at Christine’s house in Paramé.

In the afternoon we had Denise and Jean over for an aperitif. Denise is learning some English and brought a little book she had purchased.  It was a tourist phrase book and she had some questions for Sandy about pronounciation.

Saturday July 16

Today we went to the boules court which is outside the Intra-Muros area, right next to the Port Dinan.  Our friend Alain was participating in a boules match. We’re still not clear on all the rules, but it did look like fun.  There were two teams with five people on each team. Each person got to roll two balls.  They seemed to be having a really nice time, competitive, but in a good natured manner.

Boules game – our friend Alain in the center wearing a white shirt.

Boules game outside the Intra-Muros right by the Port Dinan

Later in the afternoon we headed to the beach.  Today we arrived when the tide was coming in.  So, we set up our chairs and enjoyed the waves.  With the tide coming in, every 5 or 10 minutes we had to pick up our chairs and move them back a little, away from the ocean.  The chairs have really worked out nicely.  After about 30 minutes we headed back to the apartment.  Phil had forgotten his cap so it was time to get out of the sun. Even after 4:00 pm, he was sunburnt in only 30 minutes.  The sun is very intense here.

Sunday July 17

The big thing today is the braderie in the Mouchoir Vert (Green Handkerchief) area of Saint-Servan.  The braderie was quite crowded with vendors and shoppers.  It seemed like it was bigger than we remembered from 2014.  We made a small purchase at a stand supporting the local animal shelter.  We also made a purchase of a small shade umbrella which hopefully will work with the new chairs.

As we approached the half way point in the braderie, there was an announcement that a 30 second moment of silence would be held in honor of those killed in Nice on July 14. The flags at the government buildings have been flying at half-staff in remembrance.

Just as we got to the next to last stand in the braderie, we saw our friend Jean-Louis J.  We had last seen him at a braderie in May.  We have known him for 4 or 5 years, when he had a shop here in Saint-Malo and when he had a shop in Quimper.  Now he is slowly moving back to Saint-Malo.  It was very nice to see him.  As usual, we made a small purchase, this time it was two cups and saucers from the HB Henriot factory in Quimper.

On the way back from the braderie, we stopped at the Rosarie Sainte-Anne to look at the roses.   A lot of beautiful blooms and a lot of flowers needing to be dead-headed.

Rosarie Saint-Anne