le lundi 28 août 2017 – Monday August 28, 2017

Today is forecast to be hot! The weather channel predicts a high of 27C / 81F. The problem is that the wind is only 2 mph which is almost nothing. Normally there is a great cool breeze coming from the north-west off the English Channel.

We shopped early for groceries and the store felt cold because of the air conditioning. So few places here are air-conditioned, that when you enter a business that does have it, it feels shocking.

We mailed a package and wanted to stop at Charley’s Bar for a coffee. Not today! This is the first day since we arrived in France that they have been closed. They must think the tourist season is over. There were also very few people walking through town. Monday is often a slow day but maybe the predicted heat is keeping them away.

We did see a cat on a window sill across the courtyard.  Hopefully it had good depth

perception.

 

Our apartment stayed cool, under 24C by closing up the windows and shutters by around 11h until the sun moved to the west. After lunch, a cold sandwich and fruit, we walked outside of the walls to watch our friend Alain play boules. After exiting the gates, the air felt like a blast from a furnace. We said hello to him, watched a few minutes and headed for home. Too hot for us!

We had a cold “chef” salad for dinner with ice cream for dessert.

le mardi 29 août 2017 – Tuesday August 29, 2017

It is much cooler today. The forecast is for a high of 24C with a breeze out of the north by afternoon. Sandy shopped at the marché for fruit and salad. We walked through town stopping to buy a bottle of sweet cider, and a <<Kouign Amann>> cake on the way to mail a letter. Then we climbed the stairs to walk around the top of the ramparts/walls. When we looked over the walls at the ocean we could see fog (brume de mer). There was a cruise ship named the <Crystal Symphony> moored in the harbor and the Brittany ferry had just departed. The fog makes everything look spooky.

After a lovely stop for coffee and people watching at Charley’s Bar we headed home.

While Sandy was hanging laundry to dry on the balcony, we listened to jazz music from a musician playing in the <<Place du Marché aux Légumes>>. Entertainers often perform there and ask for donations from all of the people sitting on park benches, eating, or drinking in the restaurants and bars. Our apartment is so close that we benefit from all of the music.

Later in the afternoon the temperature started dropping. It was much cooler.

le mercredi 30 août 2017 – Wednesday August 30, 2017

Sandy wore slacks and a jacket to shop at the boulangerie. The forecast is for rain this afternoon and a high of 19C / 66F. We love these temperatures! All morning it drizzled and turned cooler. We watched pedestrians walk by in coats, with hoods, up and many carrying umbrellas. We stayed in our apartment, sorted out brochures and newspapers for recycling and read.

le jeudi 31 août 2017 – Thursday August 31, 2017

The temperature was 12C / 53F when Sandy shopped for our breakfast.

We took the bus to the Rocabey marché to purchase chicken breasts, farcie meat to make stuffed peppers, ground steak to make a little chili. and pork filet mignon de mariné.  Sandy asked the lady assistant about the pork. She said it was new this year, was not spicy hot, and tasted very good. We’ll try it tonight.

After returning to our apartment and leaving the meat in the refrigerator, we took a different bus and got off near the hospital. The Red Cross boutique was having a half priced sale on most items. We like to look at everything. We bought a short-sleeved, button up the front shirt for Phil, a <<Trivial Pursuit>> game, and a <<Scrabble Junior>> game. The two games should help us with our French.

On our way home we got off the bus at the Gare (train station) to purchase our bus passes for September. However, the line was VERY long with it being the end of the month and school starting on Monday. There are no seats to wait, so Sandy took the bus home and Phil stayed in line. He arrived home about an hour later than Sandy. But, the passes had been purchased!

The new purchase of <<filet mignon mariné>> was delicious! The pork here has such a wonderful flavor and is always tender. The marinade was not spicy but very tasty!

le vendredi 1 septembre 2017 – Friday September 1, 2017

It is drizzly and the temperature was 13C at 7h45.

Today we spent two hours with Christine for French tutoring. We did not see her neighbor today.  While at Christine’s house, it rained the entire time. Lucky for us it started after we arrived and ended as we left her house.

School resumes here Monday, but today must have been an orientation day. There were many students coming and going on the bus wearing new-clean shoes.

Our friend Alain stopped by this afternoon and invited us to have an aperitif at his apartment on Wednesday at 18h30. We are looking forward to that time. The sun came out as Alain was leaving, but it stayed cool today.

le samedi 2 septembre 2017 – Saturday September 2, 2017

The forecast is for sunny and 19C / 66F.

Today was the day for the <<Banque Alimentaire de Saint Malo>> garage sale and also the flea market at the Hippodrome or horse racing track. We have been to both in the past and really enjoyed them. There are so many huge wooden pieces of furniture at the <<Banque sale>> and they are very reasonably priced. You would need a huge home with extremely high ceilings to be able to use them. We are interested in the hinges, the hand carving decorations, the location of cupboard doors, and the keys that fit into the locks. Most are truly antiques.

At this sale last year, Sandy purchased a pewter two piece chicken for an euro. Then later in the year in Winona, she found a matching duck made out of the same material and in the same style.  Earlier this year she found a similar but smaller duck at the Paramé flea market.  This year she found a duck, similar to the one she bought in Winona and Paramé, but much smaller still. It was priced at 1€ just like the other pieces.

We have come across a variety of characters in the years we have been coming to Saint-Malo. One gentleman we nicknamed the <<General>> used to be dressed in a French navy officer’s uniform. We have also seen him in French military camouflage colored clothing, and last year security clothing. He has cartoon style and length eyebrows and walks with a distinctive swing in his arms, but very upright.

We just commented this week that he must have moved away. While waiting for a bus to return home after the second flea market, he came out of his apartment building, crossed the street, and waited for the same bus that we were waiting for. This year he is dressed in <<secure incendie>> (fire brigade t-shirt) and trousers. We noticed that he had a monthly bus pass this year. In the past, he boarded the bus without a ticket. When the individual conducting the occasional bus company security checks saw he didn’t have a ticket, they would make him disembark at the next stop. At least he is legally riding the bus this year.

After lunch we watched our friend Alain play boules.  Then we sat at the harbor and watched the  passenger cruise ship <<Herbidian Sea>> as it left the basin to enter and then exit the lock as it headed out to sea. It had come into the basin at 5h this morning during high tide.

This was an absolutely beautiful sunny and cool day!

le dimanche 3 septembre 2017 – Sunday September 3, 2017

It was good that we were able to attend both braderies/flea markets yesterday because it was raining today.  It was also very cool and not pleasant to walk outside for very long.

On her way back from the boulangerie today Sandy passed a group of British tourists that  were walking to meet the ferry. They had dressed inappropriately for the day since they wore t-shirts, shorts and no jacket or umbrella. Good thing they were just 15 minutes from the dock.

Sandy did get two lovely desserts for dinner.