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30 julliet 2017 à Saint-Malo – July 30, 2017 in Saint-Malo

30 Sunday Jul 2017

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Monday July 24 – Saint-Malo, France

Monday July 24, 2017 – The day started out gray, cloudy, and overcast. We walked down the main street to window shop. The stores are still holding sales as July is one of the “sale months” in France. Phil wanted a pair of slip on shoes, not for hiking, just for walking close in town. He had good luck a few years ago at the Bessec store. Again, he was lucky to find a pair at half off the regular price.

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blue but not suede

Sandy stopped in the Carrefour city for

Une bouteille de pineau des Charentes.

Une bouteille de pineau des Charentes.

Pineau des Charentes, butter, and salad dressing. Next we walked to the harbor. Last night, this morning, and tomorrow are the days for the grand maree this month. We could see where the tide had been very high up on the ramp where the Corsair Ferry docks. Stopped at La Fournee la Malouine for a fresh baguette to enjoy at lunch. Then to Bar Charley’s for a coffee. The waitress greets us with “deux cafes and deux verres d’eau” as we find a seat.

After lunch we again walked to the harbor to see if Alain was playing boules. He was not, but a bench was open in the sun. This was the nicest and warmest day so far since we arrived. After 20 minutes in the sun, to avoid becoming burnt, we returned to our apartment.

Tuesday July 25, 2017

Sandy shopped for melon, peaches, green beans, strawberries, and tomatoes at the Intra-Muros marché. We were on the 8:55 bus to LeClerc. We wanted chili beans but they were not available. We purchased things such as laundry detergent, coffee, spot remover (comparable to “Shout”), and Couscous. The next stop was at Bricorama for another 3M Command picture hanging kit. We were back on the bus within the 90 minutes allowed to use the same ticket.

Spent some time at the harbor watching the Condor ferry dock, Corsair ferries come and go, and the harbor pilot boat escort a Dutch cargo ship out of the locks.

Coffee at Bar 36048935961_f269a22d98_zCharly’s then home for lunch.

Housekeeping chores then took garbage and recycling to poubelle area before stopping at the post. Enjoyed an Orangina and the (low tide) view at the former Bar de Soleil now called L’Embraque.

We heard a noise in the kitchen all day coming from the vent to the roof. After dinner, Phil opened the window, closed the door from the kitchen to the hallway, and opened the vent. Did not hear anything after that.

Wednesday July 26, 2017.

Phil awoke with a raspy throat. It’s hair cut day. The lady coiffure told us that yesterday, there was a snake going down the road outside her shop. Rainy and cool today.

After haircuts bought a baguette, 2 croissants, and raspberry macaroon at Cathedral boulangerie. Enjoyed coffee and our croissant at Bar Charly’s.

Charly’s Bar

Two sparrows were inside the bar eating croissant crumbs. They panicked and were trying to get out a window. Phil and another customer helped them escape.  The bar has French doors and they are always open, so birds come and go.

Phil had to repair the curtain rod on one of our kitchen windows.

Thursday July 27, 2017

Sandy walked into  La Fournee la Malouine to buy a baguette for breakfast. The lady that waited on her last year, short, petite, blond, straight hair recognized her right away and greeted her warmly. When she asked for a baguette “tradition” the lady said “no, Festival” which is the kind of bread she ordered everyday last year. Funny, how the lady remembered her, but very nice too.

We rode the bus to Intermarche grocery store for the ingredients to make chili (neither LeClerc or Intermarché carries chili beans this time of year so we substituted red beans) and dried split peas to make soup. Then walked to the Rocabey marché for meat, potatoes, carrots, and garlic. We were on the bus back to Intra-Muros within an hour. Not bad for our one euro bus ticket. Sandy made the chili in the afternoon. Phil still has a sore throat.

Finally got a couple of pictures hung on the walls in the master bedroom.  We had purchased them last year but did not get around to hanging them until this week with the 3M hangers.

Friday July 28, 2017

Sandy shopped for our croissants and after breakfast shopped at the Intra-Muros marché for a melon, yellow pepper, two pears, and a small eggplant. Phil made a double batch of meatballs.  Yesterday at the butcher he had made a mistake in converting a recipe from pounds to kilograms and had ordered twice the amount of ground beef required.  So a double recipe. They turned out delicious!

After lunch we walked to the Médiathèque to renew our library card and check out books. Cool and cloudy with both of us wearing a light jacket. Phil wore shorts but Sandy a light pair of slacks. Lovely weather! Not successful. They require a tax or utility bill to prove you haven’t moved since last year. So we had a nice walk, one mile there and one mile back. We’ll return tomorrow. Phil had a terrible night coughing. He is sick!

Saturday July 29, 2017

Sandy ate breakfast alone and tried to stay quiet so Phil could rest. She woke him up at 10 am and took his temperature – normal, but he is sick! Very bad productive cough. She went to Carrefour City for Popsicles and ice cream treats. It is warm today, 26 C and breezy. The sun came out in the afternoon. Lots of people enjoying the beach.

Sunday July 30, 2017

A quiet Sunday with Phil still under the weather and planning on going to the doctor tomorrow.

Sandy saw the “lobster” and the “octopus” being set up by Bar Charly’s in the Place du Marché aux Légumes.  They are very popular with the little kids.  A great picture taking opportunity for families. 35344988704_5ef162f8b6_z

Sandy went out to see if our friend Alain was playing boules in front of the ramparts, but there was no game today.  We will try again on Wednesday to meet up with him.

16 julliet 2017 à Saint-Malo – July 16, 2017 in Saint-Malo

23 Sunday Jul 2017

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Hi, this is the start of the blog for 2017.  It will be published weekly on Sunday.  Hope you enjoy our little adventure.

Sunday July 16 – Holland, Michigan, USA

Today we will drive from Holland, Michigan to O’Hare airport in Chicago, Illinois. From O’Hare we will take an American Airlines flight directly to Charles de Gaule airport in Paris France. We will walk to the train station in the airport to take the train to Saint-Malo. From the train station in Saint-Malo we will take a bus to the entrance to the Intra-Muros part of Saint-Malo where our apartment is located. We will walk the last few hundred feet to the apartment.

So to get to our secondary home in France we will have 1) driven in a car, 2) flown on an airplane, 3) ridden on a train, 4) traveled on a bus and finally 5) walked to the apartment. Just a few different modes of transportation. This trip did not include a cruise. 🙂

So that was the plan. Here is how it turned out.

First we drove a rental car from Holland to O’Hare.  This did not turn out as planned. The trip is usually a 3 hour drive. Today it took us 4 hours. Good thing Chicago is in Central Time zone and Holland is in Eastern Time zone. The problem was construction on the highway throughout the 30 or 40 miles we travel in Indiana. It was construction from the Michigan-Indiana border all the way to the Indiana-Illinois border. Stop and go all the way. It was no fun at all.

We had checked in online for our flight the night before.  We quickly checked one small luggage each and breezed through TSA precheck.

The flight on American Airlines (at 18.30) was interesting. Sandy had used the majority of our frequent flyer miles to get both of us free tickets. We only had to pay the taxes which was $80 each. The problem was the tickets were in economy class, in the middle of the plane, in an aisle row and a middle seat. They were next to each other. The plane itself was wonderful, a brand new Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The economy class amenities were pretty good, but the seats are incredibly cramped. At six-foot three-inches and 250 pounds I was really molded into the seat. I was unable to move and actually could not get my legs under the seat in front of me because the seat came down so low. But Sandy had told me to keep repeating the phrase “the ticket was free” over and over again. This did not help much.  Sandy, as a fairly normal sized person at five feet five inches and 125 pounds was able to move around a bit, but was not comfortable at all. She had trouble sleeping and kept getting cramps in her legs. So while the flight was very uneventful, it was not much fun.

Monday July 17 – Paris, France

We left the USA on Sunday and we arrived in France on Monday. Our scheduled 8 hour flight was completed in 7 hours and 30 minutes.  We had a good tailwind.

Upon arrival at CDG in Paris at 8:30 our plane was parked in the extra-parking area away from the terminal without a jet-way. We had to take buses to the terminal. This is not a big inconvenience and we had a lot of time until our train. We got through French customs very quickly and also got our luggage very quickly.

We then walked to the SCNF train station in the airport. We had second class tickets on the TGV which left at 12:40. A few interesting things happened while we were waiting for the train.

A man setting next to us was reading the Anthony Doerr novel “All the Light We Cannot See” which is largely set in Saint-Malo. I thought that was an odd coincidence. He did not travel to Saint-Malo as he got on a different train.

While we were waiting we saw the usual heavily armed military personnel walking through the train station.  An announcement was made asking whoever left a blue luggage by the RER (regional train) north platform to please retrieve their luggage. This announcement was repeated three or four times over the next hour. Then we heard a couple of loud whistle blasts, several SNCF police and military personnel appeared, and we were asked to orderly move to the south platform of the train station. That was where we were already, so we did not have to move far. The police and military kept us from leaving the area. About twenty minutes later we were allowed to return to the waiting area and the police and military left the area. We were not given an explanation. We can speculate that the authorities ended up moving the blue luggage and moved us to the south platform while this was being done. Not a real fun experience, but not a surprise given the world today.

Overall, sitting in the train waiting room at CDG is people watching at its ultimate level.

Our train ride was great. The second class train seats had lots of leg room, the seats were very wide, and by this time we were really tired (neither of us slept on the airplane). We had a quick connection from the TGV in Rennes to the TER train to Saint-Malo. We were a bit concerned because there was only 10 minutes to catch the TER and our train was running 3 minutes late. It turned out that our TGV train came in on the opposite side of the same platform as the TER train. So we had to walk 10 meters and were there in plenty of time.

At the train station in Saint-Malo we were able to immediately get on a bus to Intra-Muros. We even got seats. This ride is short, 5 or 7 minutes, depending on whether the bus has to stop at the one stop light on the route.

Our walk from the Intra-Muros gate to our apartment gave us a surprise. We were already talking about making reservations at our favorite restaurant, DIVERS’ CITE, and hoped to see the owners on our walk to the apartment. The surprise is that the restaurant is GONE! Apparently they sold it and are looking to do something different for a while. At least that is the story I got from the owner of the tabac next door. It was a real surprise, but we wish them well.

While I was in the tabac Sandy waited for me outside of the door. Someone drove by in a car and yelled “Sandy.”  It was our friend  Marie Dominique from the Hotel Quic-n-Groigne.  What a surprise in France to have someone recognize you.

The apartment was in good shape. Better shape than us. We were really tired. It was exactly 24 hours since we left Holland, Michigan. It was a busy and tiring 24 hours, but it was worth it.

We went out to eat at “Chez Marcel,” the kebab and fries place two minutes from our apartment. It was very good as usual.

After that we were basically useless and after putting clean sheets on the bed, we climbed in around 9PM.

Tuesday July 18 – Saint-Malo

We slept straight thru to 8 am.  We planned to have breakfast at La Fournee Malouine boulangerie on Rue de Dinan. After breakfast we went back to bed.  We did some house work and then back to bed.  At 11:30 we went to the Carrefour City market. Stopped in to see Marie-Dominique at the Hotel Quic-n-Groigne. Had spaghetti bolognese for dinner.

Wednesday July 19 – Saint-Malo

Early in the morning we stopped by the hair place to get appointments for next week.  Then we stopped at the doctor’s office to get an appointment.  The appointment was for later in the day.

Our friends who live on the fourth floor are in Paris and may not be able to visit Saint-Malo this year. They have their cousin Alain check on their apartment, water the plants and collect the mail. On his way up he stopped at our apartment and was surprised that we were there.  It was good to see him again.  He understands a lot of English and it is very easy to talk with him.  We exchanged some news and promised to stay in touch.

In the early afternoon, we stopped in to see Michel at the Hotel Quic-n-Groigne.  Then we spent some time looking around and watching boats in the harbor.

The appointment with the doctor went well.  I needed to get prescriptions for my medicines to get them filled at a local pharmacy.  That went well and the trip to the pharmacy was easy. However, Dr. Tuloup has retired. I saw a “sub” doctor and the new physician will arrive in October.

We had pesto pasta for dinner.

Thursday July 20 – Saint-Malo

We were up early to take the bus to Intermarche supermarket in Rocabey.  Here we got some canned goods and other items which are not available at the local markets.  Then we walked for about 4 minutes to the Rocabey market.  We went to our butcher who represents the “Ferme les Aubriais.” He and his assistant always have a meat counter in side the market.  It was nice to see them again.  He has gotten more and more friendly over the years.  Unfortunately, today my mouth and brain were not working well and I forgot how to order a pork tenderloin.  My verbal stumbles did get a smile from the butcher.  We got our tenderloin, a couple of chicken breasts, and two slices of ham for sandwiches.

We reused the bus ticket to ride home and then walked to Le Charly’s bar for a coffee.

On the way back to the apartment we stopped at the local fish seller’s shop.  We purchased a large chunk of cod.  We had the cod for dinner.

After dinner we went to a movie at the Maison du Quebec.  It was a fairly interesting French Canadian movie with English subtitles.  The subtitles were a nice bonus for us and the price is always great – free!

Friday July 21 – Saint-Malo

The small goal for this morning is to walk around a bit and then go to the Intra-Muros Carrefour City market to pick up some small items.  After the market we went to Le Charly’s for a coffee.

We had the pork tenderloin for dinner.  Very tender pork with a wonderful taste.  More about the food in France in a future blog entry.

Saturday July 22 – Saint-Malo

The forecast is for rain in the afternoon.  So we got an early start on the bus number 3 to go to the E Leclerc shopping area.  Our first stop was at Bricorama, the local hardware store. There we bought AA batteries and 3M Command strips to hang some pictures and our broom.  Then we walked across the parking lot to E. Leclerc where we bought printer paper.  After a short stop at the WC, we headed for the bus stop.  We had a short wait for the number 3 which took us to Paramé which was having a big flea market with 300 stands.  The stands are mainly local residents selling their goods like at a garage sale, but each stand is actually about 10 feet of street and curb on which tables and / or blankets are set out with their goods.  There is always a  lot of children’s clothing and toys, ladies shoes, and miscellaneous household goods. We purchased:

  • two DVD for 3€
  • two new bath towels for 6€
  • a duck miniature for 1€
  • cat metal key holder for 1€
  • a wallet for 1€
  • two pain-au-chocolat for 2€

At the flea market, we were lucky enough to spot our old friend Jean-Louis J.  He had his wares spread out on a blanket near the round-about in the center of town.  We have know Jean-Louis for 7 years now, having first come across his shop in Saint-Malo in 2010.  He no longer has the shop, but he does sell at flea markets.  It is always good to see him.

We took the bus back to Intra-Muros and walked to Le Charly’s bar for a cup of coffee, espresso.

Sunday July 23 – Saint-Malo

Today it is supposed to rain in the afternoon, so we have all our outdoor activities planned for the morning.  We walked to the Rocabey part of Saint-Malo to see the war memorial monuments.  The city of Saint-Malo, as it is now, was created 50 years ago when the cities of Saint-Servan, Paramé and Saint-Malo were combined under the Saint-Malo name.  Each city had their own war memorial.  The war memorials were very simple, but they do contain the names of all the deceased.  In 2017 Saint-Malo decided to relocate all 3 memorials to one place in the Rocabey quarter of the city.  We took a couple of pictures and read some names on the memorials.  Sandy stepped inside the church which faces the memorials and gave herself a tour.

On the way back we walked to the street which runs parallel to the beach.  It is a great walk with all kinds of interesting things to see.  We walked around the base of the castle, through Place Chateaubriand, through route Jacques Cartier to the tabac to purchase a newspaper.  Then we walked up the stairs to the Place du Marché aux Légumes.  It was a busy place as usual.  For today we went into Le Charly’s bar for our coffee.  Good coffee and good people watching. The coffee is priced 20 centimes cheaper if you drink it inside the bar instead of outside on the terrace.  The view is the same.

After coffee we went back to the apartment, sorted some socks and hung two pictures in our bedroom.

For dinner Sandy prepared chicken with risotto and eggplant.

It has been quite a week.  We are really glad to back in Saint-Malo.

23 août 2016 à Saint-Malo – August 23, 2016 in Saint Malo

24 Wednesday Aug 2016

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Monday August 15, 2016

Monday August 15, 2016.  Phil ended up with blisters on his toes from walking so far and  long in beach shoes the past two days.

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Path of our walk along the beach.

It was lovely and cool so we had a quiet day.  We took care of laundry, household chores, homework, and reading. Sandy picked up a few items from the Intra-Muros Carrefour city grocery store.  It is very common to see dogs on the stairs or at the entrance to the store waiting for their owners to finish shopping. She was really surprised to see a mother cat and her two kittens peeking their heads out of their owners backpack which had been placed at the entrance to the store.  The cats were a novelty to all of the shoppers as they stopped to see the cute animals.28380307943_165da10fdb_o28380308613_1ccf766c3e_o

Tuesday August 16, 2016

Tuesday August 16, 2016 was sunny and a high temperature of 25ºC.  The wind was out of the north and was nice and cool.  We shopped at the Intra-Muros marche for fruit and vegetables.  Today we purchased “pastique” or watermelon.  It made a delicious lunch!  In the afternoon we spent some time at the harbor watching boats come and go.  Since it was almost high tide, we watched some “idiot aged males” (as Sandy refers to teenagers) jump into the sea from the top of the basin.  It was at least a 20 foot drop. There are many rocks and boulders below in the area where they were jumping, but fortunately for them, the tide was high enough to prevent any injury.  Of course, they did feel the need to drop their swimming trunks to “moon” the passing boats and passengers.

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People getting ready to board the Corsaire ferry for the ride to Dinard.

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Loading the Corsaire ferry for the ride to Dinard.

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Corsaire ferry in the foreground and Condor ferry in the background.

Wednesday August 17 2016

Wednesday August 17 2016 was sunny and cool in the morning.  By the time we returned from Christine’s tutoring session it was warmer.  The predicted high temperature was 29ºC / 85ºF.  Our apartment did not feel hot but we kept the french doors and the awnings closed facing the sun while we were gone.  We haven’t had any significant rain for over a month and we heard on the news that there are water restrictions in part of the country. After lunch the sun disappeared behind the clouds and the cool air continued to move in.  Fortunately for us, we escaped the heat again today.

Thursday August 18, 2016

Thursday August 18, 2016 was supposed to be cloudy all day.  We took the 8:40 am bus to Carrefour at the Madeleine center to avoid crowds and do our shopping.  We completed all of our shopping and were returning to our apartment on the 10:15 am bus.

There were very few people around even in the Intra-Muros all morning.  However, even though the weather forecast was for 100% cloudy, the sun came out around lunch time and was a beautiful day.

We were invited to our friends Jean-Louis and Claudine’s house for dinner.  Their daughter and her family would be joining us. Sandy had purchased a small picture book to take as a little gift to their petite-fille /grand-daughter who will be 2 years old next month.

Usually Jean-Louis picks us up in his car when we go to their house.  Today, we offered to take the bus now that we are better able to figure out directions, places, locations, etc.  We took a bus from the Saint-Malo Gare to the Gare near his house.  The trip took only 20 minutes and there were only 4 additional passengers besides us on the bus. It was a lovely evening, great conversation, and of course delicious food.  It was the first time for Sandy to try moules (mussels).  Claudine is an outstanding cook and Sandy doesn’t hesitate to try anything she prepares. The bus route stopped running at 19:30 so Jean Louis brought us home.  Sandy did discover that we could return on another bus route that leaves from a different location at either 22:00 or 23:00.  Jean-Louis was very kind to bring us home at midnight and we didn’t turn into pumpkins.

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In the morning, there was a car from Russia in the basin parking lot.

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Sandy eating moules (mussels) for the first time.

Friday August 19, 2016

Friday August 19, 2016 was drizzly and cool, only 15ºC when Sandy walked to buy our croissant and baguette for breakfast. Phil met our neighbor Jean for coffee at 10:30.  When Sandy met them a little later it was raining hard enough to use an umbrella.  We picked up prescriptions from the pharmacy and headed home.  After lunch there were a few off and on showers, the sun came out and it turned into a beautiful day.

Saturday August 20, 2016

Saturday August 20, 2016 is sunny and 17ºC when Sandy shopped for our breakfast. Today was one of the days of the Grand Maree where the coefficient of the tide is greater than 100. For more information on the grand maree:  www.grandes-marees.com. The wind was very strong too, which is why Saint-Malo has the highest tide in Europe several times a year. We took our beach shoes to walk in the water two hours after high tide.  As we approached Porte Saint-Vincent we saw the bus waiting and decided to take the bus to Rochebonne beach and walk back.  When we arrived at the beach we could see that there was room to walk in the sand almost the whole way back.  However, the wind was blowing directly at us, the waves were higher and the water deeper than we expected.  Sandy would have been knocked down by the waves or blown down by the wind if she hadn’t been holding Phil’s hand.  There were many people riding surf boards, boogie boards, and kite boards.  We saw later where one of the hotels that faced the beach had windows broken out by the tide.  Quite a spectacle to see and experience.  When we arrived back to Porte Saint-Vincent, our calves were sore and we felt as if we had used many muscles on our return walk.

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The starting point of our walk along the beach.

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Beautiful day strolling along the beach.

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The waves making their way to shore.

Sunday August 21, 2016

Sunday August 21 and we took a mid-morning walk to the Plage de bon Secours to look at the high tide (grande maree).

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A high tide (grande-marre) with waves hitting high on the breakwater.

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High tide (grande-maree) waves hitting the rocks at the base of the ramparts.

Monday August 22, 2016

Monday August 22 and we took the bus to the La Madeleine center.  We were looking for covered toe sandals for Sandy.  We went to Go Sport and InterSport, but neither had the correct size and color combination.

Tuesday August 23, 2016

Tuesday August 23 and it’s going to be a hot day, around 33 C which is around 90 F.  We went for a walk on the beach, but it was cut short as the tide was coming.  With the tide coming in we quickly ran out of beach to walk on, so we cut it short.  It was still a nice walk and we got it in before the heat of the afternoon.

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Some different colored beans at the marche this morning.

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A seagull came to visit at the window ledge.

26 mai à Saint-Malo – May 26 in Saint-Malo

26 Thursday May 2016

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Thursday May 26, 2016 and neither one of us shops for a baguette for breakfast.  We had bread left over from yesterday.

Sandy slept much better last night and so of course Phil was able to also.  Sandy’s foot was slightly less swollen and she was not in excruciating pain. An improvement.

Phil left our apartment around 10 am with Jean our neighbor to shop at the Rocabey marché and Intermarche grocery store. However, Phil only came home with two items out of 20 on our list.  He’ll take care of everything else tomorrow.

Sandy enjoyed the warm air and sunshine sitting on the new chairs on our balcony while he was out.

After lunch Phil went to the Carrefour City in the Intra-Muros for a few items.  He bought salad and bread to have for dinner tonight with Coq au Vin.  Sandy had made the Coq au Vin a couple of weeks ago and froze most of it. While going to the Carrefour Phil took this picture of the old Telegraphe-Poste-Telephone building.

Telegraph -Post-Telephone building in the Intra-Muros

Old Telegraphe-Poste-Telephone building in the Intra-Muros

Sandy caught up on some sleep with quite a long nap, at least for her.  She was awoken by thunder and lightning.  The weather forecast for today  was a high temperature of 21 C and disruptions caused by thunder and lightning.  The forecast was true!

Sunrise is now at 6:15 and sunset is now at 21:56 (9:56 PM).  A lot of day light.

 

24 mai à Saint-Malo – May 24 in Saint-Malo

24 Tuesday May 2016

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Tuesday May 24 is a gorgeous day! The high temperature was 19 C or 66 F.

Sandy’s foot was still bothering her so Phil shopped for breakfast. Sandy decided she needed to rest her foot so we did not meet with Christine for tutoring. Sandy did enjoy sitting on the balcony in the new chair before lunch with her foot propped up on the new table.

We have always claimed the food in France is superior in taste to the food in the US. Today we ate frozen mini pizzas for lunch. They were not like any frozen US pizza we have ever had. Unless you saw the package, you would not realize they were frozen. There were fresh tasting tomatoes, fresh tasting cheese on top and the crust tasted great too.

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Buitoni Piccolinis frozen pizza

Late in the afternoon Sandy wondered if she might have gout in her foot. After searching on the internet, that looked like a possible diagnosis. Phil went to the Carrefour City market for cherry juice to see if the online treatment might work.

Cherry (Cerise) juice

Cherry juice – Cerise jus

April 20 in Saint-Malo – 20 avril à Saint-Malo

20 Wednesday Apr 2016

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Wednesday April 20 started out as a very windy day and ended as a very windy day.

Not much planned for today.  Sandy is a bit fatigued today.  It is because of the stress of the visit to the dentist yesterday.  Even though it worked out much better than expected, Sandy had been quite agitated and upset about the whole thing.  From the time she broke the tooth on Sunday evening, until we returned home from the dentist she had really been  stressed about the whole thing.  Now it is matter of calming down and realizing how fortunate we were to find a dentist so easily and to have him fix her broken tooth in less than 1 hour.  Being so stressed is easy to understand, and it takes time to recover.

Phil and his friend Jean went out for a coffee this morning.  They went to the Cafe Le Charlys which is about 100 feet from our apartment building.  Coffee, discussion, and people watching are the main activities at Le Charlys.

After a while, Sandy showed up at Le Charlys.  Phil and Sandy then did some walking around the Intra-Muros and shopped for some fruit.  Then it was back to apartment to do some chores and homework.

This afternoon we went to the pharmacy to get some prescriptions refilled.  Then we walked out to the basin Vauban to see what was happening with the sailing boats involved with the Transat bakery race.  The wind which had been strong in the morning had lessened around lunch.  But now around 4 PM / 16:00 the wind was picking up and the sky was getting quite gray.  It looked like it might rain.  We walked around the RACE VILLAGE which is 15 or 20 marques which are set up for the race.

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The RACE VILLAGE in Saint-Malo

The marques have vendors and organizations displaying their offerings.  Sandy stopped by a couple of places which were giving away pastries.  We’ll have them for breakfast on Friday when we have to take an early train to Rennes.

The preliminary race from Saint-Malo to Plymouth will be on April 23.

The real race from Plymouth to New York will set off on May 2.

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The race has 3 or 4 different classes of boats, but the most interesting part of the race is that it is solo race.  The boat has only one person abroad, the captain.the-race-map-en

We walked over to the harbor and sat for a while enjoying the view and the fresh air.  We did get to see a cormorant.  The bird was sitting atop a tall pole.  They often do this to dry their weathers after swimming for the food. But, there was not much else going on and as the wind continued to build it was getting quite cool.  We headed back to apartment to warm up.

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CORMORANT surveying its domain

 

April 19 in Saint-Malo – 19 avril à Saint-Malo

19 Tuesday Apr 2016

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Tuesday April 19 is another very sunny day, but today it is getting quite a bit warmer in the afternoon.  Haircuts, French lessons and a visit to the dentist are on the agenda.

Our 9:00 AM haircut appointments have us up and going early.  This is our second visit to this haircut shop this year.  We went quite a few times in 2014 with good results.  The same thing applies this year.  We get really good haircuts and they are consistent, which is important.  The name of the shop is GOMINA Coiffure .

We left the haircut shop at 9:30, just a little behind our normal schedule.  So we hurried to the esplanade Saint-Vincent to get the bus on our way to our French lesson.  We just made it to the bus, mainly because the woman bus driver was nice enough to wait for us.  We changed buses at the gare and got to our tutor Christine’s house at 1 minute to 10.

Christine had her dining room table back in place after having it repaired last week.  So the French lesson was a success.  Sandy had to do a lot of speaking today and she is getting better every week.

We left Christine’s hours at 11:55 and caught our bus at 12:05 as planned.  When we got to the gare / train station, we went to the SCNF ticket counter to buy our tickets for our Friday trip to Rennes.

We got back to the apartment around 12:45 and had a nice lunch.  Phil had a ham sandwich and Sandy had soup due to her tooth problem.

At 14:00 Phil went up to the 4th floor to visit with our neighbor Jean.  In the mean time Sandy worked on writing her thoughts for her visit to the dentist.  She wrote the thoughts out in French so she could share them with the dentist.  There is no guarantee he/she knows any English and Phil’s French will only get her so far. Sandy also took a quick trip to the Carrefour city to buy a couple of items.

A couple of minutes after her return, we got a phone call from the dentist’s office asking if we could get to the office as quickly as possible.  They must have had a cancellation.  We tried hard to get there as quickly as possible, but we missed our bus at the esplanade Saint-Vincent and lost about 15 minutes.  We took our bus as planned, but we knew we had to walk for about 8 minutes to the dentist’s office.  Unfortunately we missed the office and walked past it.  Phil saw a man sitting on his front porch and asked the man for directions.  He pointed us in the right direction.  Merci monsieur!

The dentist’s office was pretty much a normal office.  The assistant who took our appointment call yesterday greeted us and Phil thanked her for being so helpful in setting up the appointment.  We waited in the waiting room for about 5 minutes, then the dentist came to get us and take us to his office.

The dentist’s office has 3 dentists and 2 dental assistants.  In our previous dentist’s office in Springfield Illinois, there was 1 dentist and 4 assistants.

Sandy gave her written thoughts to the dentist. He read them and then escorted her to the dental chair which was in his office.  He took a look at her broken tooth and gave his diagnosis.  He did not think the tooth needed a crown.  Rather he suggested using a resin like material to repair the remaining part of the tooth.  That was great with Sandy.  He suggested doing it right then and Sandy gave her okay.

About 40 minutes later we walked out of the dentist’s office with Sandy having a newly repaired tooth.  Things could not have worked out better for her.  At a later date we’ll write-up a blog entry to discuss our dentist and doctor appointments, how we set them up, how much they cost, and our take on medical issues in France.

On our way back to the apartment we walked past the basin Vauban.  They are setting up for a sail boat race between Plymouth, England and Saint-Malo.  It is a preliminary warm up race.  The real race will be between Plymouth and New York.  There are some racing boats in the basin and more to come tomorrow.  Quite a few marques are being set up to

the race poster
setting up the marques

provide entertainment for people coming to take a look at the boats.

One of the boats is captained by a man from Japan.  He is the first Japanese sailor to participate in the race.  His name is Hiroshi Kitada and his boat is called the KIHO.

Hiroshi Kitada’s ship Kiho
Hiroshi Kitada’s ship Kiho

We then resumed our walk back to the apartment.  On the way we passed the boules courts by the wall.  The group responsible for the boules courts had worked on the courts to get them ready for the summer.  The courts had new gravel on them and they looked good.  The group was playing boules, trying out the newly refurbished courts.

Playing boules
Boules group warning

April 16 in Saint-Malo – 16 avril à Saint-Malo

16 Saturday Apr 2016

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Saturday April 16 and the day will be about water and plants.

We had eaten breakfast and were outside the Intra-Muros standing on the mole /  breakwater by 8:45 am.  The name of the mole/breakwater is “Le môle des noires.” We were at the end of the mole to watch the start of a sailing regatta. The regatta is for students and they are mentored by experienced sailing captains. We counted at least 36 sailboats in the regatta.  We heard a horn honk from a boat that appeared to have officials on it and the boats headed to the starting line.  It was very interesting to see so many boats in the same area.  The wind was brisk and we thought a few boats were going to capsize.

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regatta start

After watching the start of the regatta, we walked to the Carrefour City store inside the walls and bought cranberry juice and a new kind of cake.   The cake is called “Mini-Financiers aux amandes.”  They are delicious bite-sized butter pound cakes with almonds. Our tutor Christine had them and they are delicious!  It’s hard to stop at just one!

the store is in the basement of the building
a happy buyer exiting the Carrefour City

After lunch, homework, and household chores we walked to Saint-Servan.  The city was holding a flower and plant show in their market area.  There were only about 10 vendors there.  They were mostly individuals selling vegetable plants for your own personal garden.

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flower and plant market

Across from the flower and plant market is the Saint-Servan library. There is a statue of a naval hero Admiral Bouvet in front of the library.  Around the statue there is a lovely flower bed brightening up the area.

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Admiral Bouvet

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We walked back and sat outside the harbor watching boats come and go for about an hour.  Even though it’s windy, it’s a lovely sunny day.

For dinner we had reservations at Divers’ Cite, a small restaurant about 2 minutes from the apartment.  Phil had bass with leeks, rice and potatoes.  Sandy had a beef steak, salad and french fries.  For dessert Phil had chocolate mousse and Sandy had profiteroles with chocolate and caramel sauce. The dinner was delicious as always.

April 12 in Saint-Malo – 12 avril à Saint-Malo

12 Tuesday Apr 2016

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Tuesday April 12, 2016 was a beautiful sunny day. The high temperature for the day was 18 C or 65 F. But it was not sunny all day.

We left the apartment around 9:20 and returned at 13:30.

To start, we caught the bus to the Gare and waited for a connection. We waited across the street from a large boulangerie/patisserie and watched people coming and going from the shop. Today a lady walked down the street with a large black Labrador and a small black French bulldog. Neither of them was on a leash. When she reached the boulangerie she talked to the dogs and pointed to a place next to the door. The large black Labrador laid down where she pointed and then she talked to the little black dog. The small dog sat down next to the large dog. The lady went into the boulangerie. Both dogs stayed where she left them even though other customers walked by them. The dogs were cute to watch and were well-trained.

We caught our connecting bus, the number 5, to our tutor Christine’s house for our 2 hour session. We got a special rest pause about one hour and half into the session. Christine had us pause to get us a coffee.  We all had an espresso.  We’re guessing Christine has an espresso machine because she brewed up the three coffees very quickly.  Next time we’ll ask her what kind of coffee maker she has in her kitchen.  The time flew by and Christine gave us two worksheets for homework to be completed by Thursday.

When the session with Christine ended, we hurried back to the bus stop to catch the bus. We wanted to go to the Secours Catholic thrift shop. The same bus we took to Christine’s house would take us to the thrift shop.  We got our number 5 bus as expected.  But there was a diversion in the route and we were not able to get off at the stop we wanted.  Instead we had to get off in Saint-Servan and walk for about 10 minutes to the Secours Catholic thrift shop.  Not a big deal since it was such a nice day.

At the thrift shop, Sandy wanted to buy acrylic yarn, wash cloth-mitts, and socks for Phil. She found two skeins of yarn, two mitts, and one pair of socks. The total price was 1.30 €  or $1.50. Phil talked to one of the ladies that volunteered there while Sandy shopped. As usual, the staff is very nice to us.

From the thrift shop we had to walk back to Saint-Servan to get a bus back to the Intra-Muros.  We missed the bus we wanted and ended up getting back a little later than expected.  We were tired from all of the “brain strain” but happy to be outside walking on a gorgeous day.

After lunch Phil completed our USA and Illinois taxes using the TAXACT software on the internet.  We then worked on our homework.  We completed the homework, but we will check our answers tomorrow.

Now it was time to take a quick walk to the Carrefour City inside the Intra-Muros.  It had been a warm, bright sunny day, but as we walked it started to drizzle.  We got our items at the Carrefour City, ice cream, butter, jam, bread and carrots rappe.  It was still drizzling as we walked back to the apartment.

The ice cream is vanilla with caramel and pecans.carte-dor_26120960050_o

Later in the afternoon we had some thunder and lightning as a light rain passed through.  It did not last more than about 45 minutes.

 

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April 4 in Saint-Malo – 4 avril à Saint-Malo

04 Monday Apr 2016

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Today is Monday April 4 and we don’t have a schedule for today.

dredger

dredger

We are going to start out by taking a walk.  First we stopped at the harbor.  There is a dredging vessel in the harbor today.  It is dredging the harbor to allow the fishing

boats to anchor in the harbor, rather than having to anchor in the basin.  Avoiding the basin means they do not have to go through the lock / ecluse which give them more flexibility for their schedule.

After the harbor we climbed the stairs to the top of the ramparts.  We started at the south end of the ramparts and walked toward

little red sails

little red sails

the north.  On our way we saw a group of sailing students get started for with their lesson.  There were about 10 small boats which were being pulled out into the shallow water near the shore.  After a while we saw that the students had raised the little red sails on their tiny boats and were sailing around.

We walked to the castle on the north end of the ramparts and then headed into the city.  Sandy needed to buy a few things at the Carrefour City in the Intra-Muros.

After Carrefour we head back to the apartment.  The walk had been 3.93 km or 2.44 mi.  A good start to the day.

Sandy did a bunch of cleaning around the house.  Phil spent a lot of time catching up on scanning the documents and memorabilia we had collected over the last few weeks.

In the afternoon we both received emails from the OFII people in Rennes.  They are the French VISA (not the credit card) people. We know they would be contacting us. We are scheduled for a physical examination and a review of our documents on April 22 at the OFII office in Rennes.  This is part of our request to stay longer than 6 months.  Translating the emails and the attached documents took a good bit of time this afternoon.  The good news is that we believe we have all the information they have requested.

We did go by thP1010980e La Fournee Malouine boulangerie and took a picture of the exterior.  Sandy has been trying to get Trip Advisor to reclassify the place from a restaurant to a boulangerie.  It is not a restaurant at all.  Being incorrectly classified may keep people for going there so we want to get it corrected.

 

All our pictures for April in Saint-Malo France can be viewed at 2016-04 April in Saint-Malo on Flickr.  They will open in a separate window.

All our pictures for March in Saint-Malo France can be viewed at 2016-03 March in Saint-Malo on Flickr.  They will open in a separate window.

March 17 in Saint-Malo, France – 17 mars à Saint-Malo, France

18 Friday Mar 2016

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road work – view from our balcony door

It is Thursday March 17, Saint Patrick’s day. Received a few St. Paddy’s day e-cards and sent a few e-cards.  Hope everyone had a good day!

This morning the major road work on our street is continuing.  The replacing of city water pipes has resulted in most of the street being “under construction.”  One thing we know is that it will be completed before the high tourist season starts in July.

Phil and I took care of a few errands in the morning.  The scale that we bought this week works and is set to kilograms.  Now we can weigh ourselves to make sure we’re not enjoying too much French food!

In the afternoon, we walked to the butcher to buy something for dinner.  We bought paupiettes-de-veau for dinner.  They are thin slices of veal stuffed with the same stuffing that is used in tomato farcies.  Next they are wrapped in bacon, decorated with a plum, fig, or orange on top and tied with string.  The butcher told us to brown some onions then set them aside.  Brown the veal then re-add the onions. Next he said to pour hard cider over the paupiettes until they are almost covered. Cook in the oven for 45 minutes.  They were delicious!!!  We ate them with new potatoes, a salad, and zucchini.

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La Maison du Pain – the house of bread

We also discovered after stopping at the butcher that our favorite boulangerie (Lucas boulangerie) has reopened after remodeling.  Now they are called “La Maison du Pain” and the shop looks great!

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La Maison du Pain – the house of bread

 

 

 

 

 

All our pictures for March in Saint-Malo France can be viewed at 2016-03 March in Saint-Malo on Flickr.

 

 

March 15 in Saint-Malo, France – 15 mars à Saint-Malo, France

15 Tuesday Mar 2016

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Tuesday March 15 and it is a beautiful day.  Bright sunny sky, a little on the cool side.

Sandy showered, dressed and was out the door on her way to the boulangerie as I got up to make the bed.  By the time I had showered Sandy was back with a baguette and a pain au raisin (similar to a raisin danish).

At 9:30 we were off to the bus stop to catch a bus to the Catholic Relief (Secours Catholique) used clothing store (vêtements en linge maison).  Sandy found a dressing robe and a pair of pants.  The lady was very helpful in guiding Sandy to the right sizes.  I spoke with the man behind the counter and mentioned to him that I remembered him from 2014 and was glad to see him.  He was pleased to be remembered. After we paid for the clothing, they offered us a cup of coffee and a cookie.  So we took the offer and sat with one of the ladies and had a nice little discussion.

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Carrefour hypermarche

We then walked to Saint-Servan part of Saint-Malo to pick up the bus to the La Madeleine Center.  It is the largest shopping center in the area.  It is centered by a Carrefour hypermarche which is larger than the E.Leclerc hypermarche we visited yesterday.  Today we were interested in buying rubber boots, aka wellies, so we can walk along the

rubber boots for rain and beach from Carrefour

rubber boots for rain and beach from Carrefour

beach and venture into the water.  We both found boots today, great!  Sandy also purchased a bathroom scale just like the one we have in the USA.

We took the bus back to the Intra-Muros for lunch.

After lunch we had 3 things to do:

  1. Get some bread at the boulangerie (bakery) 100 meters from the apartment
  2. Get some chicken breasts at the boucherie (butcher) 40 meters from the apartment
  3. Get some bananas at the 4 Saisons market (vegetables and fruit market) 30 meters from the apartment

Well we got the bread, but missed the next two.  The butcher was closed and so was the 4 Saisons market.  So pasta for dinner tonight instead of chicken.  But we did go to the Carrefour City store for bananas for my Honey Cheerios tomorrow morning. A Carrefour City store is the smallest Carrefour store. It is in the basement of a building near the Saint-Vincent gate entry to the city.  Only 400 meters from the apartment so it was an easy walk.

All our pictures for March in Saint-Malo France can be viewed at 2016-03 March in Saint-Malo on Flickr.