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the week ending July 21, 2019 – la semaine se terminant le 21 juillet 2019

22 Monday Jul 2019

Posted by philipdenotto in 2019-France

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

"A.R.C. GLORIA", "giant balloons", "pirate flag", azzura, braderie, cherry picker, COLOMBIA, e leclerc, kevano, MHM, orangina, Paramé, Place du Marché aux Légumes, rocabey, Saint-Servan

lundi 15 juillet 2019 – Monday July 15, 2019

Spectacular fireworks last night, the 14th, with thousands of viewers, music, and entertainment. (cool enough for even Phil to wear a jacket and comment on how cool it was). It was very quiet this morning. Lovely to have been able to FACETIME with Michael yesterday afternoon. He looks good and so does the cat. He’s had quite a busy summer with a lot of traveling so he couldn’t make it here this year. Hopefully, next year he will make a visit.

We needed to buy milk and wanted to take a walk along the seawall (digue in French). We walked to the Courtoisville Carrefour Market through town because the wind was blowing very strong on the digue. This market is bigger than our Intra-Muros Carrefour City and busier.

  • the AZZURA, from Vail Colorado, strange since Vail is in the mountains
  • just a nice flag
  • Children’s play area flying the PIRATE flag.

We returned along the digue where many people were enjoying the beautiful, clear day. A wonderful 5 kilometer walk!

mardi 16 juillet 2019 – Tuesday, July 16, 2019

We were up early and out of our apartment before 7h45 am today. The ship “A.R.C. Gloria” from Columbia was scheduled to arrive in Saint-Malo between 8h and 9h. ARC stands for “Armada Nacional de la República de Colombia.” The ship was built in 1967. It is 76 meters long and 10 meters wide, and is the training ship of the Colombian Navy.

From the Saint-Malo tourism site: “At the arrival ceremony, which will begin at 8h at the breakwater at the entrance of the port, the ship will deploy a giant flag of Colombia and will shoot 19 shots greeting gun. Visitors will be able to tour the boat docked, from 16 to 19 July.”

There were probably at least a hundred people waiting with us on the breakwater to view the ship. The ship had a huge Colombian flag at its stern. As the ship entered the harbor, we counted the 19 cannon shots and Colombian music played from the A.R.C. Gloria. It was very interesting to watch and listen to. We recorded the arrival of the A.R.C. Gloria in the video below. Be sure your audio volume is not muted.

Watch the A.R.C. GLORIA entering the harbor, playing Colombian music.

It was quite impressive as sailors were standing on all five levels of the masts and dressed in each color of the Colombian flag; yellow, blue and red.

  • A.R.C. Gloria with sailors standing on the yardarms.
sailors on the yardarms (spars) - 1 red, 1 blue, 4 yellow - Notice the sailor at the very top of the mast.
sailors on the yardarms (spars) – 1 red, 1 blue, 4 yellow – Notice the sailor at the very top of the mast.

In the afternoon, an organization that features local products was in Saint-Malo. The organization, their staff, and van travel Brittany and stop at a different locale each day. We’d wanted to see their display last year but missed it. We waited in line for about 10 minutes in order to “spin the wheel” to see if we won a prize. Sandy spun the wheel and landed on “KEVANO” which is from the Breton language and translates to “Au revoir” in French which then translates in English to “Sorry, you didn’t win.” Phil’s spin landed on “Suprise!” He had a choice of three different prizes, all from this area. First offer was a can of beef tongue, second was a glass jar of fish soup, and the third, which we chose was a 1 liter carton of milk from the Saint-Malo dairy. Everyone received a “goody bag” with a bag of Breizh chips, a Madeleine (cookie), a sticker, and a key chain. Certainly worth the 10 minute wait in line. We’ll be sure to stop again next year.

  • Sandy did not win a prize.
  • Phil did win a prize.

In the evening, we had invited our friends Jean-Louis and Claudine for an apéritif. This is a normal way in France to have friends to your house around 18h, but not prepare a meal. We served roasted chicken rillette on small slices of bread, Boursin cheese on bread with raisins on top, tapenade noire (black olive paste with anchovies) on bread, peanuts, dried fruit mix, fresh strawberries, fresh cherry tomatoes, cubes of cheese (flavored with tomatoes, ham, blue cheese), sesame crackers, and ham rolled around cheese. If the snacks are plentiful, and they were, this is a substitute for an early dinner. We spent a very enjoyable two hours with them with tentative plans to meet them at a restaurant before we leave in August.

mercredi 17 juillet 2019 – Wednesday 17 July 2019

Sandy likes to program our washer at night so the laundry is ready to hang on the line by the time she’s out of the shower in the morning. She feels lucky to have a machine that is a combination washer and dryer as most people here only have a washer. She prefers to hang clothes on the line on our balcony or extra bedroom, but uses the dryer for towels or when it’s not a good day to dry. Today, everything was on the line by 8h30.

After breakfast we waited in line for 10 minutes to board the ship A.R.C Gloria from Colombia. We were amazed at how high the rigging really is when standing on the deck. The sailors standing at attention yesterday along the sails, as it entered the locks, do NOT have a fear of heights!

  • The masts and yardarms
  • Sandy and Phil on the A.R.C. GLORIA

Next we walked to the temporary Musée d’Histoire Maritime (MHM) of Saint-Malo. The old silos along the docks were torn down and a new museum is being constructed in their place. The projected completion of the project is 2022, two years before the Olympics take place in Paris. We had a private tour of the proposition, photos, and explanation of the plan. It will be beautiful when finished! There was also a 5 minute video to explain the project.

Sandy by a drawing of how the MHM museum will look in 2022 when it opens.

Sandy loved the folding chairs they provided while watching the film. Very comfortable!!. She is sure they are just the right chairs we need at FUMC in Holland, lightweight and fold-able.

the comfortable chairs

jeudi 18 juillet 2019 – Thursday 18 July 2019

It was cloudy, cool with a chance of showers this morning.

In the afternoon Phil shopped at the E.Leclerc hypermarché while Sandy met with her French tutor Christine. He was still able to buy rhubarb yogurt and pineapple yogurt, our very favorite flavors!

Later in the afternoon we took a walk to the beach. The city was having a “sand and wind” afternoon on the beach. There were giant kites of green fish, orange fish, a hammerhead shark with its baby behind it, and a school of fish. There had originally been an octopus, but he was deflated so there must have been issues with it. The headline in the Ouest-France newspaper for this event was “Flying Fish in the Saint-Malo heaven.”

  • hammerhead balloon
  • fish balloon
  • hammerhead baloon
  • many small fish kites
  • fish balloons

vendredi 19 juillet 2019 – Friday 19 July, 2019

Sandy bought deux cents grammes de haricots verts, 200 grams of green beans, at our market. The green beans here are consistently very thin, with almost nothing to stem. You only have to cook the green beans for 5 minutes to have them al dente (slightly crisp). It took Sandy a few years to be able to order food in grams, but now she knows how to ask.

Haricot Vert – Green Bean

We also purchased another bouquet of flowers from the florist. We asked the name, can’t remember it now, but the red appears to be small fruit instead of flowers. Very pretty though.

bouquet from the florist in the Intra-Muros marché

We walked to Saint-Servan marché to buy meat from the butcher and cheese from the fromagerie. We asked for cent cinquante grammes de fromage emmental râpé (150 grams of shredded emmental cheese-similar to Swiss but a little milder). This was the first time to purchase cheese at the market. In the past, we bought it at the grocery store. Getting braver!

The young lady assistant was back at the butcher. She not been there the last week or so. She said she’d been sick and pointed to her stomach. Doing much better now. She is very nice and practices her English with Sandy.

We took the bus from the Saint-Servan neighborhood of Saint-Malo to Rocabey neighborhood to get a couple of items at the Intermarché. We then walked home along the basin. We walked a little over 5 kilometers on this little excursion to two different parts of Saint-Malo.

samedi 20 juillet 2019 – Saturday July 20, 2019

Today was the day of the Grande Braderie de Paramé. We took the bus to Paramé and planned to walk home. After attending for several years, we know that the bus route to Paramé has a detour and it’s easier to walk home along the digue. Over 250 individuals and small, local business owners set up tables and stands for their annual flea market. It was packed as usual. We didn’t buy anything, but spent over an hour looking at a lot of stuff!

  • crowd at the Paramé braderie
  • crowd at the Paramé braderie

On the way back to the apartment, we stopped along the Boulevard Rochebonne at a boulangerie to have a croissant and drink an Orangina. We ate our snack at a table in front of the boulangerie. After our snack we continued down the street toward the digue and the ocean. We walked home along the digue and enjoyed the sounds and sights of the high tide.

The total trip was over 9000 steps and we were tired when we climbed our 34 stairs.

After a rest we walked to the Place du Marché aux Legumes and the restaurant B’Art à Thé for lunch. This is the new restaurant we had dinner at last week. We each tried a different dish and loved everything we had, including a wonderful chocolate, hazelnut dessert. Wow!

  • bruschetta and a torte
  • chocolate cake & ice cream

Late in our afternoon we got a text from our son Michael. The electricity is off in his part of Grand Rapids and was not expected to be back on until Sunday night. So he and his cat Kima are having a little vacation at our apartment in Holland. Glad to accommodate them!

dimanche 21 juillet 2019 – Sunday July 21, 2019

Today we took the bus to a flea market (braderie or vide grenier (attic cleanout)) which was held in the neighborhood of the Saint-Malo Hospital. Our friend Alain is one of the organizers of the vide grenier and he also works at the refreshment stand.

When we got back to the apartment there was a bit of excitement on our street. A person in the building next to us had fallen ill and an ambulance had been called to get him to the hospital. The ambulance staff were unable to get the man down the stairs so the fire department had to be called. They used one of their trucks which has a cherry picker to get a stretcher through a window into the 3rd floor apartment. The man was strapped into the stretcher and the fireman in the cherry picker lowered him to the ground. From there the ambulance took him to the hospital. We hope he is okay.

  • firemen getting the cherry picker ready
  • cat watching the cherry picker
  • the cherry picker maneuvering into position

How to view additional photos.

You can view an album of photos by clicking one of the following links. The photo album will open in a new browser window with the photos.

Click here for all the June photos in France

Click here for photos of La Roseraie Saint-Anne

Click here for the photos in Paris

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the week ending July 14, 2019 – la semaine se terminant le 14 juillet 2019

15 Monday Jul 2019

Posted by philipdenotto in 2019-France

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

14th juillet, 3 dogs, ACTIVE freighter, alstroemeria, awning, boules, brown eggs, carrefour hypermarche, Christine, cordon bleu, couregettes, e leclerc, fiddler, harbor, harry's sliced bread, Intra-Muros, le français, motorcycle, ouest france, Place du Marché aux Légumes, plage de bon secours, plage du Sillon, rocabey, round zucchinis, schweppes, tender, the world, zucchinis

A lot of pictures this week! And a couple of videos.

lundi 8 juillet 2019 – Monday July 8, 2019

Today at breakfast Sandy was reading an online story in the local French paper, Ouest-France (West-France), about a dolphin sighting. Yesterday, just off the salt water swimming pool and beach, a pod of 20 dolphins was spotted. That must have been some sight!

We shopped at the large Carrefour hypermarché to replace our bathroom scale and pick up a few items. July is one of the two months when sales are held all over France. There were many discounted shelves and bins to look at.

We took a late afternoon walk on the beach Plage du Sillon. I got really lucky getting the 3 photos in the gallery below. The gull played it perfectly. It looked right. It looked left. Then it took off! Perfect.

  • Get Ready!
  • Get Set!
  • GO!

On our way back we wanted to look at another beach, Plage de Bon Secours, where the swimming pool is located. Apparently we had forgotten the direct path to take and wandered around through small pathways before we reached our destination. Since it was low tide, (the pool is filled when high tide comes in) the sides of the pool were easily visible. Beautiful day with the air temperature of 23C (74F). But with a water temperature of 17C (62F). The water is too cool for us!

  • queuing up at the diving platform
  • the splash after a dive
  • diving @ swimming pool – white circle
  • diving @ swimming pool – white circle
  • diving @ swimming pool – white circle
  • Plage de Bon Secours
  • Plage de Bon Secours and the salt water swimming pool

mardi 9 juillet 2019 – Tuesday, July 9, 2019

Sandy’s feet were a little tender after walking 11 kilometers yesterday.

After picking up strawberries, flat peaches, cherries, lettuce, green beans, and brown mushrooms from our local marché we stopped at the florist stand. Three years ago was the last year the florist had a permanent store at the corner of our street. Since then, she and her husband are “pre-retired” and are selling flowers just at the marché. She is at our local Intra-Muros marché and her husband is at the Saint-Servan marché. Today she had Alstroemeria flowers, a favorite of ours, and we bought a bouquet of 6 pieces.

  • Intra-Muros marché
  • Intra-Muros marché

Next we stopped at the Hôtel de Ville, city hall, to talk to the lady at the reception office. She listened to our plea about parking posts last week. We wrote a thank you note to her and asked her to pass the note on to the officials. She seemed genuinely pleased to be thanked for her part. The work in front of our building is complete and only one post is still missing behind our building. A week is really a quick response here.

Today we noticed a large cruise ship anchored in the harbor. We get four or five of these ships each summer. They are too large to go through the lock (écluse) into the basin, so they anchor in the middle of the bay. Tenders are used to shuttle passengers from and to the ship. There was even roof top seating on the tender boats. This ship is “The World.”

  • tender returning to THE WORLD
  • THE WORLD
  • THE WORLD cruise ship

The World is a private residential community-at-sea. There are only 165 individual homes on the ship. Yes, you read that correctly, 165 individual homes on the ship. You can read more about The World by clicking this link.

Sandy found the following information about The World on the internet.

  • largest private residential yacht in the world
  • on-board apartments
  • only 165 residences
  • priced from $2 to $20 million
  • studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments
  • a six-bedroom penthouse suite
  • annual maintenance fees which can range from $60,000 to $270,000
  • owners get to help choose the destinations
  • approximately 20 countries are represented
  • a movie theater
  • grocery store
  • five restaurants

When I first saw this ship and the number of decks on it I thought there might be one or two thousand passengers. As it turns out there are usually only 150 to 200 passengers (owners and guests). There are 280 crew members.

We’re guessing this is for the 1%’ers of the 1%’ers. Very, very fancy and only for the very wealthy!

mercredi 10 juillet 2019 – Wednesday 10 July 2019

On our walk back from the Rocabey Intermarché, we saw the LE FRANÇAIS moored in the basin. It is a 3 mast sailing boat for hire. You can find more information at this link.

  • LE FRANÇAIS
  • LE FRANÇAIS

Last weekend Phil had used “Harry’s” sliced bread to make bread crumbs for the meatballs . Harry’s is a French company which makes American sandwich breads. We bought eggs last week too, so we had both eggs and bread left. Sandy used them to make French toast for lunch. The eggs sold in France are almost always brown, from brown hens, and are never refrigerated in the store. They’re on a shelf in the store similar to cereal or canned goods. They are a beautiful color.

  • egg packaging
  • the eggs
  • the result

jeudi 11 juillet 2019 – Thursday 11 July 2019

Sandy met with her tutor Christine while Phil shopped at the E.Leclerc hypermarché. Christine told Sandy the winter population of Saint-Malo is about 50,000 people. The 14th of July celebration is this Sunday. Another 40,000 people are expected in the area to watch the fireworks at 23h10.

Christine also said she’d been swimming this week. She said the water wasn’t too cold, it had already reached 19C (66F). Can’t imagine water that cold to swim in!

The cruise ship, The World, was still moored in the harbor this afternoon when we watched the boules game. After the boules game we walked to the harbor. Got lucky and spotted a cormorant in the harbor. Got really lucky as I was able to get the camera out just before it decided to take flight.

  • cormorant swimming around
  • cormorant getting ready
  • cormorant takes off

On our way back to the apartment we stopped in the Place du Marché aux Légumes to people watch and listen to a performer. Here is a short clip of his performance.

Fiddler in Place du Marché aux Légumes video

vendredi 12 juillet 2019 – Friday 12 July, 2019

Today it is cloudy, cool and the air is full of moisture. It is barely sprinkling. The drops are so fine you can hardly see them at all. But, you can definitely feel drops on your arms.

The restaurant on our corner is getting a very large awning on our side of their building. It will provide shade in the heat of the day and protection from rain. They have 3 tables under the awning. They must be doing a pretty good business to afford such an addition.

  • small white van of the guys installing the awning
  • getting ready to lift the awning
  • lifting the awning
  • adjusting the mounting
  • the awning is up, open and being adjusted

Around 15h30 we tried to take a walk on the beach. High tide was expected at 16h30 with a co-efficient of 57 which means it is a very low high tide. We walked a ways then were running out of beach. The waves were washing towards us but we saw one of the stairways up to the digue and quickly made it before our feet were wet. Back to the harbor for us!

  • beach at a low high tide looking north
  • beach at a low high tide looking south

On our way to the harbor we went past one of the basins. We have been watching the freighter ACTIVE unload it’s cargo in the basin. It started unloading on the 8th of July and by the 12th it was completely unloaded. Not sure why it took so long, but then again that might be normal.

  • sitting low in the water starting to unload on 8 July
  • sitting high in the water after unloading 12 July

samedi 13 juillet 2019 – Saturday July 13, 2019

Saturday morning we took a walk to the Rocabey marché. On the way we witnessed the following interesting event.

Saturday morning, a man, a motorcycle and 3 dogs

The man on the motorcycle zoomed past us with no dogs. They were running behind him trying to catch up. He eventually stopped and they all jumped on the motorcycle.

We had seen this man and his 3 dogs on the motorcycle before. Another time we saw him on a bike with one dog and the two others in an attached cart. He had always zipped past before I could get my camera ready. This time he sped by us with no dogs. About 100 meters ahead he stopped and let the dogs catch up. The first 2 jumped on to the motorcycle. The 3rd was too tired to jump up and had to be lifted on to the motorcycle. Then they sped off.

Saturday morning after the man and his dogs

Saturday morning at the Rocabey marché was interesting with a big crowd.

We wanted to buy a couple of Cordon Bleus from a new vendor Sandy had noticed the other day. We also were looking for round zucchinis (couregettes). If we found the round zucchinis we then wanted to by some tomato stuffing (farci a tomate) to use in the zucchinis.

The marché was incredibly crowded. Every vendor seemed to have ten to fifteen people in line. But we found everything we needed even if it took a while.

Sandy had found a recipe for stuffed round zucchinis and wanted to try it.

I took the short video below while I was in line for 20 minutes at the butchers in the Rocabey marché. To make the video larger click on the symbol for full screen in the lower right part of the video.

Rocabey marché video

Tonight we are trying a new restaurant, B’Art à Thé, a tearoom which serves mainly vegetarian dishes. It is 5 minutes from the apartment on the Place du Marché aux Légumes.

  • view of place du marché aux Légumes from terrace table
  • brandade potate cabillaud
  • torte & salad
  • dessert

dimanche 14 juillet 2019 – Sunday July 14, 2019

Today is the French National Day (Fête nationale) also called The Fourteenth of July (Quatorze juillet). Tonight at 23h10 there will be a large fireworks display here in the Intra-Muros section of Saint-Malo. The fireworks will be set off from the breakwater (mole) and are supposed to last about one-half hour. That is a lot of fireworks!

14th July Fireworks – 48 seconds

Left the apartment at 22h55 for the 5 minute walk to the Fireworks area. After 20 minutes of fireworks, which were great, we walked back to the apartment and were in bed by 23h45.

How to view additional photos.

You can view an album of photos by clicking one of the following links. The photo album will open in a new browser window with the photos.

Click here for all the June photos in France

Click here for photos of La Roseraie Saint-Anne

Click here for the photos in Paris

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