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le semaine se terminant le dimanche 2 septembre 2018 – the week ending Sunday September 2, 2018

02 Sunday Sep 2018

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Our albums of photos can be viewed by clicking on the links below.

June 2018

July 2018

August 2018

le lundi 27 août 2018 – Monday August 27, 2018

Pretty quiet this morning when Sandy took our garbage and recycling to the center. She was 6th in line at the boulangerie today and several tables on the terrace and the interior were occupied. Tourist season is not over yet.

We took a walk in the morning towards the mole/breakwater. The temperature was so cool that even Phil wore a jacket. We reached the end of the Intra-Muros to look at the Plage du Mole ( breakwater beach ) and the wind was very strong. Sandy took her hat off so it didn’t blow away and we decided it was too windy to walk to the end of the pier. Instead we walked along the basin towards the esplanade Saint-Vincent, looked at the ocean then walked inside the walls to return.

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a Nissan Leaf electric car getting a charge at the harbor

We enjoyed an espresso at Charly’s bar and watched people, dogs, birds, gulls, and waiters going to and fro. It was cloudy all morning.

In the afternoon we watched a boules game for a while on our way to the Cathedral. They were providing tours of their bell tower as a way to encourage donations for the renovations of some of their bells. We were at the meeting point but the guide said there were too many people. We elected to leave giving tourist in town for the day a chance to visit. We’ll return on Wednesday at 5pm or Thursday morning.

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a cabbage growing in the garden by the castle

le mardi 28 août 2018 – Tuesday August 28, 2018

Sandy frequently sees unusual sites on her way to and from the boulangerie. Today on her return trip she spotted a lady walking down the street wrapped in a towel, heading towards the beach. There were no apparent swimming suit shoulder straps visible. This doesn’t mean much, except the temperature was 12C, 53F, and it was chilly. The beaches here are top optional, but not nude beaches. Maybe she was on her way to shower at a friend’s house.

At the marché Sandy was buying fresh fruit. Another customer from the UK was speaking to the assistant in English. Sandy heard him say that in Greece, an entire watermelon costs 1 euro. The assistant did not understand and was trying to ask him questions. Sandy helped and translated into French for the assistant. The assistant understood, then explained the whole conversation, including Sandy’s translating to Monsieur Alex.

At 12h00, Sandy agreed to meet Christine, our tutor at her house. She had invited Sandy to go to Rennes with her for the afternoon.They were going in Christine’s car which was not air-conditioned. It was a practical size for France, so fairly small but easy to park and drive on narrow streets. It was 22C in Saint-Malo, 27C and sunny in Rennes and hot in the car.

Rennes is a large city and the capital of Brittany. First they visited the Couvent Des Jacobins which had been turned into an exhibition hall. It was a beautiful, light and airy building with an interior cloister. The exhibit contained some of the artwork collected by a world-renowned collector named Francois Pinault. He has assembled over 3000 artworks of the 20 and 21st century. The collection was interesting and bizarre. Then they walked (Donna and Caron – you would be glad you weren’t with us) more than 7 kilometers in the center of the town.

Rennes reminded Sandy of Strasbourg. There were many pedestrianized small cobble stoned streets with bars, restaurants, and boutiques lining both sides of the streets. They were curvy, narrow, and fun to look at. Many houses were similar in style to the city of Dinard, France which has many half timbered houses that tilt one way or another. They also toured the grand Parc du Thabor, 25 acres in size, which is a very large park in the center of the city. It is considered an elegant and romantic French and British style garden. There was an aviary in the center and an Orangerie. They didn’t take time to visit the Orangerie or winter interior garden.

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ancient architecture in Rennes

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ancient architecture in Rennes

They stopped in the Cathedral which was a beautiful building built around 1845. They looked in several boutiques and arrived home close to 19h00. Sandy was very tired and her feet were sore. She enjoyed her outing, learned a lot about Rennes and practiced speaking French. Thank you Christine.

le mercredi 29 août 2018 – Wednesday August 29, 2018

Sandy was still tired this morning and chose to purchase our breakfast croissant at Maison du Pain, a very short walk from home. However, the sign on the door said, on vacation until September 5th. Sandy then walked to her usual boulangerie La Fournee Malouine but had extra steps since she didn’t intend to shop here.

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while waiting for the bus we saw this freighter being unload in the basin

She spent two hours tutoring with Christine. Christine is leaving for a vacation in Spain tomorrow and won’t return until 11th of September. Sandy will take a plant for Christine to “plant sit” and a check to Christine later on that day.

le jeudi 30 août 2018 – Thursday August 30, 2018

Again it was cool, 13C and quiet in the morning. We noticed shutters in neighboring apartments staying closed yesterday. Back to school time. School starts Monday in France so time for the tourists with children to depart.

We took the bus to the Carrefour at the Madeleine Center to look for white dryer sheets. No luck! They must have discontinued them. Alain had given us a plant when we first arrived in Saint-Malo. We saw the same plant while shopping and took a photo to remember the name. It is called a Bromeliacea plant. 42518831370_749048a303_z

We did see “The General” a local character on our bus.

We watched Alain play boules for a while in the afternoon.

le vendredi 31 août 2018 – Friday August 31, 2018

Very quiet this morning. After breakfast we walked to Saint-Servan to buy meat from the butcher. We told him good-bye, he wished us a good winter. His assistant thanked Sandy for helping her practice English and wished us a Happy New Year and a good 2019. Sandy thanked her for her help in practicing French.

We have a lot of tasty meals lined up until we leave! We saw several cars being packed for departure. It was a sunny day with a high temperature of 20C, 70F.

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Claude is 92 and still playing boules daily.

le samedi 1 septembre 2018 – Saturday September 1, 2018

Quiet again and Sandy spotted more people leaving with luggage, shopping bags etc this morning.

This weekend is the braderie at the Hippodrome or race track. In the past, an euro entry included a complimentary soft drink. This is the 50th anniversary of the event, so there was no charge, but also no free beverage. We walked around, looked at everything but didn’t buy anything. We spotted two pewter ducks, similar to our own, and a larger duck. We have never seen any of the pewter chickens that we have in Saint-Malo. Everything, the Gare, streets, stores are less crowded.

The temperature climbed to 26C, perfect beach weather. We walked in the ocean admiring the sail boats, the horizon, and enjoyed the cold water. We made a guess that there were only 10% of the number of people here today compared to the last time we were in the water. It seemed like paradise.

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Fort National looking good with a stiff wind coming in from La Manche (English Channel)

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the RENARD at full sails in the bay

le dimanche 2 septembre 2018 – Sunday September 2, 2018

There must have been a ferry leaving soon on it’s way to the UK when Sandy walked to the recycling center and boulangerie. About 8 British people were in front of her at the boulangerie. They all had backpacks, hand luggage, and larger luggage on wheels. They ordered something like 16 different vienoiseries (pain au chocolat, croissant, pain aux raisons, croissant almond) and each picked out their own order. It took quite awhile to get all of them purchased and departing before it was Sandy’s turn.

After breakfast and close to high tide, we spent awhile at the harbor. We watched a few boats travel in and out of the locks, Corsair and Condor ferries arrive and depart before heading home for lunch.

In the afternoon the temperature was 25C so we headed for a walk in the ocean. It was windier than yesterday but still lovely to enjoy the sun, fresh air, and sea water.

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gulls gathering on the rocks at low tide

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gulls, rocks, sea and sky, beautiful

le semaine se terminant le dimanche 24 septembre 2017 – the week ending Sunday September 24, 2017

24 Sunday Sep 2017

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Monday September 18, 2017 – le lundi 18 septembre 2017

It was quite cool when Sandy bought our breakfast. The temperature was 9C / 49F. The boulangère at La Fournée Malouine reminded Sandy that she will be closed tomorrow on Tuesday, so with a quick <<À mercredi.>> (See you on Wednesday), she was on her way home with our croissants.

We expected a package to be delivered before noon, so after it arrived at 11h00 we were on the bus at 11h07 to shop at the Intermarché grocery store for the final time. Like many stores in France they close for lunch between 12h30 and 14h00. We arrived, completed our shopping and were back in our apartment by 12h00. We love those quick shopping trips. Trips to the supermarket in the USA usually take a long time, but they do have more choices in the stores.  We can make do with fewer choices.

After lunch we spent some time on the harbor. A construction company had used fencing to fence in many huge bags of sand and a cement mixer. All of the benches close to the edge of the harbor were within the fencing so people can no longer sit near the edge. We heard sirens approaching and watched as three fire department rescue vehicles sped in front of us towards the mole or breakwater. Apparently someone fell over the edge of the wall. High tide was in 3 hours so we hoped the huge rocks below the wall were covered with water.

We did see a small cargo ship unloading in the basin.

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cargo ship unloading in the basin

Next we saw the ship Belem come into the harbor and sail right into the ecluse or lock. We waited for it to come through into the basin. It is a very pretty ship and moored just outside Porte Saint-Louis.

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BELEM

Tuesday September 19, 2017 – le mardi 19 septembre 2017

Cloudy, cool, and windy today! Sandy shops for our breakfast at the Cathedral Boulangerie since our usual boulangerie is closed today. It is always a visually and aromatic delight to walk into this boulangerie. It is owned by two young men, pierced nose, lips, etc, but they make fabulous breads, viennoiserie, and pastries.

On her way back to our apartment she greeted our hairdresser, the poissonnier (fish seller), and waves at Monsieur Alix at the marché. Already it is a wonderful day to be up and out in Saint-Malo.

We took the bus to a stop near the hospital and walked up the hill to the Secours Catholic (Catholic Charities). They operate a small clothing and household goods store and we had some clothing to donate. Sandy also saves the 1 and 2 centime coins each year when we’re in France and we gave them a sandwich zip-lock bag full of coins.  Our walk took us past our friend Alain’s residence, so we took a quick picture.

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the gate at Alain’s residence

Next we walked to Saint-Servan to visit the butcher at the marché. He was on vacation for 2 weeks and this was his first day back. The building is being remodeled and his designated spot is under construction. There was a sign on the wall saying he was located near the poissonnerie area. We found him with a long line as usual but he had less refrigerated case space and we noticed a smaller amount for sale.

We walked back to the Intra-Muros and enjoyed a coffee at Charley’s Bar. Around 2 pm our friend Alain stopped by to say hi. He told us he was playing boules this afternoon and we watched for over an hour. When the sun was out, the day was nice and warm, but when clouds came by, it felt cold.

Wednesday September 20, 2017 – le mercredi 20 septembre 2017

We took the bus to the La Madeleine center to buy a replacement fluorescent circular light ring for our bedroom ceiling light. The Carrefour Hypermarche did not carry that style so we went to Kandella, a lighting store. We purchased paper towels and some caramel sauce to eat with apples while we were out. The sun was brilliant, warm and there was a light breeze.

After lunch, the clouds rolled in and even though the temperature was 19C / 67F, it was cool. We tried to buy Phil’s last prescriptions at our usual pharmacy. All non-prescription items were 50% off since they are closing October 14 for good. They didn’t have the medicine and aren’t ordering any more.

We tried the pharmacy across from the Cathédral but it needed to be ordered. We will pick it up tomorrow.

Our friend Denise called from Paris in the evening. We sent a birthday package to her at the end of August because her birthday was September 2. She just received the package earlier today. It wasn’t much of a gift, just a remembrance for her to know we thought about her on her birthday. We were glad she received it.

Thursday September 21, 2017 – le jeudi 21 septembre 2017

Our final week in Saint-Malo. Today we mailed a package to our friend Jean in Paris, had a coffee, and arrived back at our apartment before it rained. Sandy is organizing our remaining food so we finish everything that might spoil before we return next spring. We also have to finish all refrigerated food because we turn the refrigerator off for the winter.

Friday September 22, 2017 – vendredi 22 septembre 2017

Bright and sunny but cool when Sandy shops for our baguette. Normally Friday is our tutoring day with Christine. She changed the day to Monday because she is having some painting done and there are very strong odors in her house. She was aware of Sandy’s allergies and postponed our session until Monday.

We took a walk from our apartment to the north end of the digue and back. It was a wonderful day outside with a high temperature of 66F / 19C and little wind. The tide was very far out and we could see rock formations and small islands that were new to us.

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low tide

When Sandy washed the lettuce to make a salad for dinner, Phil had to remove two snails for her. She doesn’t mind mud on the lettuce after a rainstorm, but she can’t stand the snails. They were tossed out the kitchen window into a hedge.

Saturday September 23, 2017 – le samedi 23 septembre 2017

Sandy could tell as she walked to the boulangerie that the Brittany Ferry had recently arrived. There were several groups of British tourists walking through the street with their luggage. She also passed 4 English girls trying to use their phone to navigate, but the walls often interrupt signals and it is difficult to find your way through the streets. When she entered the boulangerie there were 2 English men looking at the patisserie case and talking to each other about what to order. They were in front of Sandy and should have been waited on first. However, the boulangère saw Sandy, quickly moved over to her, said “Bonjour madam”, and took her order. It is important to be well-known at the boulangerie to insure the wonderful quality of food and to be waited on quickly.

After breakfast we took the bus to the Paramé Mairie bus stop to go to the Paramé marché.  We needed to buy a piece of pork roast for dinner. We told the butcher this was our final shopping trip, wished he and his assistant a good winter, and returned to our apartment. We have not found any meat in the USA that even comes close to the flavor of meat we find in France.

Around 2 pm we took the bus to the Gare for the annual Braderie de la Saint-Michel with around 220 stall holders. It was quite entertaining, a gorgeous sunny day, but we didn’t buy anything. After an hour and a half we headed back to our apartment.

Sunday September 24, 2017 – le dimanche 24 septembre 2017

It was very quiet and calm when Sandy bought our breakfast. She was the only customer in La Fournee Malouin boulangerie at 9h40. It was sprinkling as she walked back to our apartment.

We walked towards the Gare to go to the second day of the braderie. It was less crowded at 11h00 but it was cloudy and the forecast was for light rain after noon. We saw the general  in his “security” clothing. He also had not made any purchases at the braderie. After looking around for an hour, we took the bus back to Intra-Muros.

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the crowd at the Braderie de la Saint-Michel

Sandy spent a couple of hours organizing and packing one piece of our luggage. She also put away the decorative items we enjoy in the kitchen when we are here.

Jour 40 à Saint-Malo – Day 40 in Saint-Malo

26 Thursday Jun 2014

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14327171768_58a2d46713_o 14327127159_c80067e73a_oLe jeudi (26/6 Quimper) nous avons dormi dans presque jusqu’à 8h30, très tard pour Sandy. Nous avons apprécié le petit-déjeuner buffet à l’hôtel et partons pour la vieille partie de la ville à 10 heures. Nous avons visité le jardin à côté de la cathédrale et pris le petit train qui a duré 40 minutes. Nous avons longuement cherché dans un grand magasin de 3 étages Eurodif, qui sont situés dans toute la France. Ils sont égaux à une combinaison de l’Amérique Kohl et Bergners sauf qu’ils ne portent pas de vêtements pour hommes. Ils font tout réaliser pour la maison y compris l’éclairage, rideaux, et un magasin de tissu. Depuis le premier jour de vente a commencé le 25 Juin, il y avait de nombreux acheteurs. Nous n’avons rien acheté parce que je ne veux pas porter de nouveau à Saint-Malo. (Phil et moi avions chacun un pack petit jour pour un séjour d’une nuit.) Nous avons marché une des vieilles rues pavées que nous avons manqué la veille. Nous étions à la recherche dans une fenêtre à Quimper en terre cuite que j’admire et quelque chose a cliqué. L’homme qui court le magasin fait semblait familier. J’ai dit Phil, j’ai reconnu l’homme comme ayant eu un atelier à Saint-Malo 3 des 4 années précédentes, nous étions là. Nous sommes allés dans le magasin et Phil demandé si l’homme avait l’habitude d’avoir une boutique à Saint-Malo. L’homme a immédiatement demandé s’il y avait un problème. Quand Phil a expliqué que nous étions d’anciens clients, a raté sa boutique l’an dernier et nos voisins ne savait pas ce qui lui était arrivé, il a expliqué son départ. Il était très heureux de nous voir et de connaître nos voisins avaient été préoccupé lui aussi. Nous avons acheté un pichet en faïence de Quimper avec un coq rouge sur le front et comme d’habitude nous a donné un cadeau supplémentaire de notre achat. Après avoir récupéré nos sacs de jour de la zone de rangement de bagages de l’hôtel, nous sommes allés à la gare. Nous avons pris un sandwich jambon / beurre sur une baguette pour le déjeuner et un cookie chocolat / canneberges à manger dans le train. Notre voyage de retour à Rennes s’est déroulé sans incident et avec seulement 8 minutes pour changer de train à Rennes nous l’avons fait en 5 minutes. Nous avons attendu environ 5 minutes de Saint-Malo pour le bus de la ville vers les portes fortifiées. Il était bon d’être de retour et beaucoup plus frais aussi! Sandy ramassé kebabs et frites de Chez Marcel pour le dîner avant d’aller à la “Maison de Québec” pour le film du jeudi soir. Nous avons apprécié notre séjour à Quimper et avons été très heureux de voir notre «vieil ami».  Link to all our pictures from Quimper.

On Thursday (26/6 Quimper) we slept in until almost 8:30 am, very late for Sandy.  We enjoyed the breakfast buffet at the hotel and set off for the old part of town by 10 am.  We visited the garden adjacent to the Cathedral and took the Petit Train which lasted 40 minutes.  We shopped in a 3 story Eurodif department store, which are located all across France.  They are equal to a combination of American Kohl’s and Bergners except that they don’t carry men’s wear.  They do carry everything for the home including lighting, curtains, and a fabric store. Since the first day of sales had begun on June 25th, there were many shoppers.  We didn’t buy anything because I didn’t want to carry it back to Saint-Malo. (Phil and I each had a small day pack for a one night stay.) We walked down one of the old cobblestone streets that we missed the day before.  We were looking in a window at Quimper earthenware that I admire and something clicked.  The man running the shop actually looked familiar.  I told Phil I recognized the man as having had a shop in Saint-Malo  3 of the 4 previous years we were there. We went in the shop and Phil asked if the man used to have a shop in Saint-Malo.  The man immediately asked if there was a problem.  When Phil explained we were former customers, missed his shop last year and our neighbors didn’t know what had happened to him he explained his leaving.   He was very glad to see us and to know our neighbors had been concerned about him too. We purchased a Quimper earthenware pitcher with a red rooster on the front and as usual gave us an extra gift with our purchase. After retrieving our day packs from the stored luggage area of the hotel we headed to the train station.  We picked up a ham/butter sandwich on a baguette for lunch and a chocolate/cranberry cookie to eat on the train. Our return trip to Rennes was uneventful and with only 8 minutes to change trains in Rennes we made it in 5 minutes. We waited about 5 minutes in Saint-Malo for the city bus back to the walled gates.  It was good to be back and much cooler too! Sandy picked up kebabs and fries from Chez Marcel for dinner before we headed to the “Maison de Quebec” for the Thursday evening film. We enjoyed our time in Quimper and were very happy to see our “old friend”.