In 2020 we did not go to Saint-Malo (SM) France.  Since 2010, the only other year we did go to SM was in 2015.  The COVID situation kept us from going in 2020.  In 2021 we came to SM for 3 months.  However the blog continued to be dormant.  A mix of extreme laptop problems and a general malaise kept the blog inactive.

But we are back this year, 2022!

So, we are here in Saint-Malo.  This is how we got here this year.

• in April we went to Chicago to get our long stay visas because we are going to stay 4 months this year
• in April, Sandy did all the travel planning for the flights including the arrangements for the cat, Sophie
• May 12 we rented a car and drove from Holland Michigan to Detroit Metro Aiirport, DTW – that was a 3 hour drive
• we checked our bag and got Sophie through TSA without problems, then the ground crew took Sophie so she could be loaded onto the plane – she was traveling in the climate controlled hold for the flight
• our flight left on time and arrived at Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) in Paris
• we stayed that night, Friday the 13th, at the Ibis Styles hotel at the airport
• early on the 14th we got our rental car and headed out for Saint-Malo (SM)
• we took it easy on the drive and arrived mid-afternoon in SM and checked into our Hôtel Quic-en-Groigne
• Sandy and I went to the apartment to start to get things organized, while Sophie stayed at the hotel
• the apartment was in good shape and the hot-water boiler worked the first time we tried it! – every other year it had given us a problem
• By the end of the day on Sunday May 15 we were settled in the apartment and most everything was going smoothly.

We still had the rental car, so on Monday May 16 we went to the Carrefour Hypermarché to do some shopping.  With the car it would be easier to get the purchases home, rather than taking the bus.

Tuesday the 17th we took the rental car to the gas station to fill it up before returning the vehicle.  This was only the second time I had pumped gas in SM and it took me a few minutes to understand the process.  A little different than in the US, just enough to throw me off.

After returning the rental car, we walked to the new Intermarché Super, which just opened last week.  It replaces a smaller Intermarché which was 300 meters closer to our apartment.  The new store is a bit farther away, but it is much bigger and very up to date.  We did a bit of shopping and then headed home.  It is about a 40 minute walk back to the apartment.

We got to see our friend Jean-Louis J the other day.  We have known Jean-Louis for about 10 years now.  We always stop by his shop to say hello and to take a picture of Sandy and him.  We’ll stop by and have a coffee with him in the next weeks.

Here is a small gallery of photos for our week in Saint-Malo. Clicking on a photo will open up a larger view of the photo.

So this is the end of our first whole week in Saint-Malo for 2022. Hopefully this post will be fairly viewable and of some interst to you.

Have a good week and we’ll post again next Sunday. Au revoir.