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May 4 in Saint-Malo – 4 mai à Saint-Malo

04 Wednesday May 2016

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Wednesday May 4, 2016 and the weather forecast is for sunny and a high temperature of 18 C, which means A BEACH DAY!

Sandy worked on homework and household chores while waiting on the phone to solve an internet access problem with our bank, HSBC France.  Phil met our neighbor Jean for coffee at 10 am.

Around noon, we put on our boots, a light jacket and walked the 5 minutes to the beach.  Low tide was forecast for 12:30 today.  The tide was definitely out and we were able to walk farther away from the ramparts than we’ve walked before.  The water is still very cold, but in small tide pools it would have been warm enough for Sandy to get a toe wet.

Click a photo to enlarge the set.

Sandy exploring the shore
low tide – way out from the walls
low tide – way out from the walls
low tide – way out from the walls

After walking around and wondering about two indentations/creations in the sand we were ready for lunch.

mystery indentations – there were hundreds
mystery pile – there were thousands

We stopped at La Pie Qui Boit for lunch and talked to Didier.  Last Sunday we wondered why he had paddled out in a kayak to Grand Be island and returned with his dog, Nino.  He told us today that someone had seen Nino, stranded on the island as the high tide came in and warned him.  He borrowed a kayak and had to go and rescue the dog.  Nino most likely did not get a “good dog” treat that night!

For lunch Sandy ate a Salad du Pays du Cantal which consists of green salad, cured ham, Cantal cheese, home  grown tomatoes, and fried potatoes.  It is delicious and she ate every bite.  Phil enjoyed Quiche Lorraine.   For dessert, we shared a Nutella and confiture de banana maison crepe.  The sun was so hot that the silverware on top of the table was too hot to touch!  We both took off our jackets and were glad we’d brought out hats.  We would have been burnt!  Even though the temperature was 18C, the humidity was at 40%, there was a little breeze and we remembered from previous years, just how intense the sun can be here.

Earlier in the day when we were far out on the beach we saw a couple of gulls, a goeland and a mouette.  The mouette was standing still and the goeland was walking toward it.  We thought they would get close enough to get them in the same picture, but the goeland suddenly flew away.

goeland – gull
mouette – gull

May 1 in Saint-Malo – 1 mai à Saint-Malo

01 Sunday May 2016

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Sunday May 1, 2016 is a beautiful warm sunny day.  The expected high temperature was 14, but it felt so much warmer.  It looked like all of the outdoor tables were occupied at lunch with diners.  Great for the local businesses here.

May 1 is May Day in most of the world. In France, it is a tradition on the first day of May to give friends and family members a bouquet of Lilies of the Valley.  King Charles IX of France was presented with lily of the valley flowers on May 1, 1561. He liked the gift and decided to present lily of the valley flowers to the ladies of his court each year on May 1. Around 1900, men started to present a bouquet of lily of the valley flowers to women to express their affection. The flowers are a more general token of appreciation between close friends and family members these days.

Our neighbor, Jean, knocked on our apartment door at 9:20 this morning to give Sandy a bouquet of Lilies.  He had purchased a large bouquet for his wife from the florist on the corner.  On our way back from walking on the beach, the florist had a sign on her door saying “Sorry, out of Lilies of the Valley.”

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Lilies of the Valley (Muguets)

We walked out on the beach in our rain boots for over an hour.  High tide was expected around 2pm.  As we walked towards the piscine / swimming pool we could see people standing on the island called Grand Bé.  The path between it and the beach was already submerged by the tide.

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4 people stranded on Grand Bé – they were rescued about 30 minutes after this picture

We also saw a kayak with a man in it paddling back from Grand Bé. In the kayak was also a black dog. As we neared the kayak we saw it was Didier the owner of the “La Pie Qui Boit” hotel-restaurant that we like.  The black dog was Nino, his dog. Didier shook our hands and hurried up to put his kayak away.  We’ll stop by later in the week to hear all of the details.

Phil saw later in the day on Facebook where 4 people were stranded on Grand Bé.  We have heard that it is very costly to pay for being “rescued” by boat.  Apparently they did NOT pay attention to the tide forecast today.

Today the high tide was a very low high tide.  In fact the high tide over the last week has been so low that it has not filled up the swimming pool / piscine.  The swimming pool relies on the high tide to fill it up with water on a regular basis.  When the tide is not high enough water does not enter the swimming pool / piscine.  In the picture below Sandy is actually walking  in the very shallow end of the pool, but because of the low high tide, there is no water in the shallow end.  This is probably as close as Sandy will ever get to actually being in the swimming pool / piscine! Over the next few days the high tide will increase and by the end of the week the swimming pool / piscine will be filled.

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Sandy walking in the shallow end of the swimming pool / piscine

The ocean seems so clear at times.  Today it was crystal clear.  The picture below show that clarity.

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crystal clear ocean water

Some pictures from the Place du Marche aux Legumes.