Tag Archives: Coquilles St Jacques

21 March in Saint-Malo – 21 mars à Saint-Malo

21 Monday Mar 2016

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Monday Monday so good to me… (that’s all I remember) Today is Monday March 21.

The sun is out this morning and pouring in the east windows of the living room (salon), the dining room (salle à manger) and the second bedroom (chambre).

Phil’s task for the morning is to start the US tax return for 2015.  Sandy is doing laundry and cleaning.

For lunch Sandy made croque-monsieur, a grilled ham and cheese sandwich.

After lunch we walked to the post office (La Poste) in the Intra-Muros.  I had a letter to mail to friends in Paris.  It was rather heavy and I was not sure it would be okay with one stamp.  One stamp will cover a letter of up to 20 grams.  I had the lady in the post office weigh the letter.  It came in at 18 grams.  It is on its way to Paris.

We then walked a short way to the Maison du Québec à Saint-Malo.  From there you can walk a few yard to get to the ramparts.  We walked southwest toward the harbor.

The Maison du Quebec à Saint-Malo is an organization sponsored by the Canadian provence of Quebec and Saint-Malo.  The link between Saint-Malo and Quebec is based on the fact that Jacque Cartier the French explorer of Canada was born in Saint-Malo.  He had set sail from Saint-Malo when he first came to Canada and also for his subsequent explorations.

magpie (pie)

magpie (pie)

We did see a magpie hunting for food at the Bastion de la Hollande on the ramparts.  It is in front of the statue of Jacques Cartier, which for some reason is not by the Maison du Quebec. The magpie is a great looking large bird with white, blue and black coloring.

 

As we walked, we saw that several fishing boats were heading back to the harbor to unload their catch.  So we picked up our pace and headed to the harbor.

In the harbor the first fishing boat was pulling up to the boat ramp which allows them to dock and unload their catch.  They started unloading sacks of scallops shells, coquilles st jacques.  This was the first of 8 or 9 boats for the day.  Quite a sight.

Click on a photo to enlarge it.

Sandy supervising the unloading

Sandy supervising the unloading

weighting the catch

weighing the catch

boats lined up to unload their catch

boats lined up to unload their catch

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 16 in Saint-Malo, France – 16 mars à Saint-Malo, France

16 Wednesday Mar 2016

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Wednesday March 16 and it is time for haircuts at the Gomina coiffure.  Sandy has her pictures from 2014 which she always shows to the stylist to get the correct cut.  For me, I just have trouble caring much about my haircut.  However today I got a very good style from the owner.  She also demonstrated her product which enhances the perceived volume of the hair.  With my dwindling crop of hair it might be a future purchase.

On the way back to the apartment we stopped at the local butcher.  We purchased two chicken breasts and two faux creme brulees.  Then a stop at the 4 Saisons market to purchase one orange, one pear and one courgette.

Back in the apartment Phil worked on the documents which will allow us to stay for at least 8 months.  The Office Français de l’Immigration et de l’Intégration (OFII) requires our VISA documentation which we had received from the French consulate in Chicago, plus a photocopy of our USA passport information, our French VISA information and the passport entry stamp we received when we arrived on March 3 at Charles de Gaulle airport.  Had to have one set for Phil and one set for Sandy.  We then took the documents down the street to purchase a large envelope and then to post office (La Poste) to get send it off to the OFII office in Rennes.

After mailing our documents, we walked to the harbor to see if anything was going on today.  We got really lucky.  The local fishermen were returning to the harbor to off load their catch.  Their catch was not fish, but Coquilles St Jacques, also known as scallops.  The coquilles st. jacques season is very short, a couple of weeks a couple of times a year.  We were lucky to happen out to the harbor on one of the days and at the time the boats returned to the harbor.  We got to see 5 boats unload their shells.  We had seen the unloading in 2014, but it is always an interesting event.

The first fishing boat pulling up to the ramp, getting ready to unload and the unloading of the coquilles st. jacques.

coquilles st jacques

coquilles st jacques

 

 

coquilles st jacques

While watching the boats unload, some dark clouds appeared and blocked out the sun.  Some sort of weather front was passing by and the temperature dropped quite a bit.  We were happy to head home to our warm apartment.

 

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