Tag Archives: la pie qui boit

8 juin à Saint-Malo – June 8 in Saint-Malo

08 Wednesday Jun 2016

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Wednesday June 8 is a cloudy, cool day.

Phil left the apartment right after breakfast to make an appointment for Sandy to see the doctor tomorrow morning at 11:20. Her foot was less painful last night but more swollen this morning. He also stopped at the Hotel/restaurant La Pie Qui Boit to cancel Sandy’s appointment with Natalie for a crochet lesson. His next stop was 4 Saisons to buy fruit since we missed the market yesterday.

Sandy cancelled our tutoring session with Christine scheduled for tomorrow and cancelled our lunch invitation with our friends Jean-Louis and Claudine for tomorrow. The rest of the day was very quiet with little activity.

The highlight of the day was a lunch of mini-pizzas. 🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹

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21 mai à Saint-Malo – May 21 in Saint-Malo

21 Saturday May 2016

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Saturday May 21, 2016 the forecast is for a high temperature of 20 C but little sun.  Today is a number 3 bus day.

Sandy bought a new patisserie for breakfast today.  It was a creme patissiere pepite chocolat.  It was croissant dough, nice and flaky, light creme filled with melted chocolate chips.  Delicious! 27154282035_9a041a46a8_o

After breakfast we took the number 3 bus to Courtoisville, a new (to us) area of Saint-Malo.  One of the public elementary schools were holding their annual rummage sale.  Looking and reading at signs related to clothing items, sizes, prices, and listening to conversation is good for Sandy as well as enjoyable.  It was held outdoors and there were at least 40 venders.  We didn’t buy anything but it was interesting to browse.

We retraced out steps back to the number 3 bus to continue farther out-of-town towards the E.Leclerc Shopping Center area.  We needed to go to Jardinland which is a huge garden center.  They have plants, landscaping materials, outdoor furniture, and gifts.  We were looking for chairs to leave on our balcony.  We didn’t find what we were looking for and walked into Bricorama, next door to look for chairs. They didn’t have anything we cared for so we walked across the street to E.Leclerc.  Again, they didn’t have what we wanted so we caught the number 3 bus back towards home.

We stopped at the Paramé Mairie on the way back.  They were holding a “free trade” show and sale.  We tasted some 80% chocolate but didn’t buy anything.  Finally it was time to return. We walked to the bus stop and sat on a bench waiting for the bus.  While we were waiting, it turned 12 noon.  The clock in the building behind us struck its bell and startled Sandy.  She jumped just a little. After a couple of minutes we caught the number 3 bus back towards Intra-Muros.

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Bell (very top of the picture) that made Sandy jump just a little bit

When we got back to the esplanade Saint-Vincent, we decided to have lunch at La Pie Qui Boit.  You can certainly tell there were few tourists in town because so many restaurants were not busy.  You could actually walk down the main street without any difficulty. Phil had an Orangina to drink and it came in the usual glass bottle, but it came with an official Orangina glass.  The glass had an anthropomorphic female giraffe sipping an Orangina.  Apparently Orangina ran a lengthy advertising campaign with anthropomorphic animals.

Orangina
Orangina giraffe

We enjoyed lunch outdoors on the terrace.  They were actually busy with two large tables of British tourists.  Nino the black lab sat right near Sandy as he remembered she had given him a taste of her lunch in the past.  For dessert we shared a crepe filled with conficture de Citron.  It was tart and sweet at the same time.  Very tasty!

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Took the picture when we were almost done with the crepe au citron.

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.

 

April 13 in Saint-Malo – 13 avril à Saint-Malo

13 Wednesday Apr 2016

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Today is April 13 and in Saint-Malo we had a few surprises.

A beautiful day, nice and sunny with temperatures in the mid-60s F / 16 C.

We had a nice surprise early this morning as were having breakfast.  There was a soft knock on the door.  It was our friend Alain.  He had come over to check on the apartment on the 4th floor (5th floor in the USA).  It belongs to his relatives and he has been keeping an eye on it while they are in Paris.  Alain did not have time for a coffee, but we had a nice talk and we look forward to his next visit.

We decided to have lunch at the La Pie Qui Boit.  Sandy had been looking at the menu and decided she would like to try a salad that is on the menu.  The salad was called “Salade du Pays du Cantal” and it had green salad, cured ham, cantal cheese, tomatoes, and fried potatoes.  Phil chose Quiche Lorraine and french fries.  Everything was delicious.  For dessert we shared a crepe with Nutella and banana jam inside it.

Quiche Lorraine
Salade du Pays du Cantal

After lunch we went to the post office to purchase some stamps and mail a letter to the USA.

Then on to the beach to walk in the sand and venture into the waves with our wading boots.  The boots have come in very handy.  We get to mess around on the beach without worrying about getting our shoes wet.  Plus the water is very cold, so the boots allow us to walk in the waves and not freeze our feet.  There were quite a few sail boats out today, but they were pretty far out from shore, so we did not get a good look at them.

Sails in the distance
Sandy on the beach

After the beach excursion we headed back to the apartment, but first, as usual, we stopped to buy a newspaper at the tabac/presse.

At the apartment, we found that the post person had delivered a small package from Amazon.fr.  It contained a French language exercise book which we can use in our studies.

In the afternoon we had a surprise rain shower.  It was a surprise because it was bright and sunny outside at the time it rained.  That was the 2nd sun shower we had experienced in the

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Sun shower in the late afternoon

last couple of weeks.  Always interesting.

Just before dinner, we got another surprise.  Our friend who lives on the 5th floor, is coming over from Paris tonight.  It was a last-minute decision, but we will be glad to see him.  But we will not see him tonight.  His train will not arrive until after 23:15 / 11:15PM, so we will see him in the morning.

1 April in Saint-Malo – 1 avril à Saint-Malo

01 Friday Apr 2016

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April 1st is a gorgeous day!  The sun is bright and warm.  The temperature was around 8 C or 46 F early in the day.

We walked to the pharmacy to buy vitamins, stopped to drop off a letter at the post office, bought a newspaper, and stopped at the twice weekly Intra-Muros market for fresh fruit and vegetables.  Sandy bought salad, an eggplant, pears, an orange, and strawberries.  This is enough fresh food to last until Tuesday when the locP1010969al market opens again.
Our plan today is to wear our ocean/rain boots and take a walk along the beach before high tide at 13:32 today.  The coefficient is expected to be 39 which is VERY low!  We plan to have lunch outside at “La Pie Qui Boit” (The magpie who drinks) after the beach.

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Sandy at the beach

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sailing ships

 

 

 

 

 

Our walk on the beach was great!  Both the sky and the water were vivid blue. The water was very clear.  You could see some sailing ships in the distance taking advantage of the good weather. After our walk we headed back into the Intra-Muros for lunch.

For lunch we stopped by the La Pie Qui Boit Hotel / Restaurant. This hotel/restaurant is owned and run by husband Didier and his wife Nathalie. Lunch was delicious!  It was warm enough to eat outside and Sandy even took her coat off for a while. We both enjoyed Croque Monsieur sandwiches and fries. When we ordered, the owner / cook Didier went off to his kitchen to cook the food.  Very nice service.

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hot fries

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croque monsieur

 

 

 

 

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crepe framboise

 

For dessert we order a crepe framboise to share and two espressos.  The crepe was cooked wonderfully and the raspberry jam was delicious.  The jam was homemade at the restaurant by Didier the owner / cook.

Nathalie, the co-owner, is an expert at knitting and crocheting and sells her hats, scarves etc.  She showed Sandy several items she had made. Sandy asked Nathalie if she could teach her how to make the bonnets (ladies hats) and they exchanged phone numbers.  We can return for lunch next week and remind her Sandy is still interested in a crochet lesson.

All our pictures for April in Saint-Malo France can be viewed at 2016-04 April in Saint-Malo on Flickr.  They will open in a separate window.

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.