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~ Nos expériences dans la ville des corsaires. – Our experiences in the city of the corsairs.

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le semaine se terminant le dimanche 29 juillet 2018 – the week ending Sunday July 29, 2018

29 Sunday Jul 2018

Posted by philipdenotto in 2018-France

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

alain, Astor, Bosnia and Herzegovina, bricorama, carrefour market, Croissants, DENMARK LICENSE PLATE, espresso, europa 2, Hebridean Princess, le charly's bar, le mole des noires, Nantucket Bakery, Place du Marché aux Légumes, plage du Sillon, Saint-Malo

If you want to see the album of our pictures from June 2018, you can click on this link, June 2018.

le lundi 23 juillet 2018 – Monday July 23, 2018

Sandy wore a jacket to shop for our breakfast. The temperature was 15C,  59F!

We walked to the post office to mail some postcards and stopped for an espresso at Le Charly’s Bar. The town was fairly quiet today. A lot of people in France have vacation during the month of August and will arrive next weekend.

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our view while drinking coffee at Le Charly’s Bar

Sandy sent the mayor and the person in charge of city parking an email. The two green posts in front of our building needed to be fixed in cement again. Each year, people desperate for parking places wiggle the posts until they can be removed. So, each year they need to be repaired or we can’t get into the door of our apartment.

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EUROPA 2 at anchorage in the harbor

le mardi 24 juillet 2018 – Tuesday July 24, 2018

We took the bus to Bricorama. Phil tried to buy piece of hardware to repair our kitchen curtain rods last week and they were out of stock. We were in luck! We stopped in at E.Leclerc to see if they had pineapple yogurt, which is Phil’s favorite flavor. They didn’t have the brand we usually buy, but the did have a “Mamie Nova” brand with pineapple and passion fruit. We spotted rhubarb flavor yogurt and bought it. We were back on the bus in less than an hour. Not bad for two stores, a few blocks to walk between them and the bus stop.  While walking through the parking lost we spotted a license plate from Bosnia and Herzegovina.  Very rare in Saint-Malo

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Bosnia and Herzegovina license plate

Sandy stopped in at the boulangerie on the Grande Rue. She usually buys a baguette tradition from them but they were out. She tried a baguette campagnie (country)which was good. It was twice as long as a regular baguette. It resembled a light wheat colored interior that was very dense. Sandy liked the inside, but not the crust. The crust wasn’t as crisp as she likes. Good experiment. When we were just around the corner from our apartment building. Sandy almost came to a complete stop. She has a phobia of snakes. A small boy was sitting next to another building with what looked like a boa constrictor around his neck. At a slightly closer look, you could tell it was fake because one of his hands and an arm was inside the head, just like a puppet. Ugh!!

The weather was odd, even for Saint-Malo. It was a little cool on our way to the store, quite cool when we returned and completely cloudy. The forecast had been for sunny and 22C, 73F, but the temperature was 19C, 67F.

Around lunch time the sun came out and the wind slowed down. We walked to check out the boules court but there weren’t any games being played. We walked almost to the end of the Mole or breakwater and then sat in the shade. The temperature had really warmed up and now there was little breeze.

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a beautiful view of the Intra-Muros from the Môle des Noires (breakwater)

le mercredi 25 juillet 2018 – Wednesday July 25, 2018

We shopped at Intermarche early in the morning. While on our walk back to the apartment we saw a license plate from Denmark, very rare for Saint-Malo.

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Denmark license plate

After lunch, we walked in the water as the tide was coming in. We kept having to walk closer towards the shore to stay in ankle-deep water. We could feel a variety of water temperatures as we continued our walk. Both of us had slightly wet shorts as the waves kept splashing higher on our legs as we returned to our starting point. The high temperature was 24C.

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Sandy posing in the shallow water during our walk

le jeudi 26 juillet 2018 – Thursday July 26, 2018

Today the forecast is for a high of 28C, 84F. VERY hot for Saint-Malo. Sandy opened all of the windows when she woke up to lower the temperature in our apartment before closing it up for the afternoon. There was very little breeze and it was from the east. Good thing we’re not still in Paris. The high temperature there today is 35C, 96F. Too hot to be in un-air conditioned buildings, buses, etc. After breakfast we took a walk before it warmed up. There was a ship, Hebridean Princess from Glasgow docked in the basin. Phil researched the price of this small ship. A 9 day cruise was priced at $6,500 per person.

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Hebridean Princess docked in the basin

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Hebridean Princess docked in the basin

Another cruise ship the Astor was anchored in the harbor.

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cruise ship Astor at anchorage in the harbor

The Brittany Ferry was leaving on it’s day cruise to Portsmouth, UK and the Corsaire Ferries were traveling to Dinard and back.  A group of tourists was aboard the Le Renard for a cruise around the nearby islands. A busy morning in the Saint-Malo harbor.

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Le Renard leaving the harbor with a few crew of tourists

We stayed in our apartment in the afternoon because of the heat and the sun. Around 5 pm the sky filled with clouds and it started to rain. It rained off and on until around 7 pm. There were times when it was a downpour, and other times when it was just barely sprinkling. When it stopped, the temperature had dropped at least 8 degrees and everything appeared cleaner.

We walked to Chez Marcel and enjoyed a kebab sandwich on his terrace.

le vendredi 27 juillet 2018 – Friday July 27, 2018

The forecast is again for a hot day with a high of 28C. Sandy could have worn a jacket on her way to the boulangerie because it was only 17C, 65F. City workers were replanting the flowers in the flower beds in Place du Marché aux Légume. They had become trampled during the celebration when France won the World Cup on July 15th. Last chance to spruce up the flowers before all of the tourists arrive this weekend.

Later in the morning we took a walk on the breakwater called Le Môle des Noires.

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Our walk on the breakwater resulted in this lovely photo of the Intra-Muros

An afternoon walk in the ocean was messy! There were a lot of sea weed type grass etc on parts of the beach. Since we walked just after low tide, we couldn’t get around the rocks near the Digue. There were lots and lots of tourists to walk through on our way home.

le samedi 28 juillet 2018 – Saturday July 28, 2018

Sandy wanted to buy milk and grenadine at our local Carrefour. Since she dislikes walking through hordes of tourists not knowing where they’re going, she stopped in at 8:30 am on her way to the boulangerie. No tourists in either the streets or the store.

We walked in the ocean at noon today. High tide was at 8:30 am and low tide at 14:30. The water was crystal clear and we didn’t see any sea weeds or grass. We walked around the rocks, through the water and turned around at the Digue.

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the tide was out – small waves coming in – clear beach – clear water

The wind was very strong from the southwest. Our laundry hanging on the balcony was dry within two hours.

A side note – anyone wanting to sample authentic, or at least very close to authentic, French croissants can visit the Nantucket bakery in Grand Rapids, MI. They are as close to any we or our son Michael have had in the USA. Michael was at Nantucket bakery 2 days after returning from Paris.  He taste tested their French croissants while the memory of real French croissants was fresh in his mind and taste buds. Almost identical!

The beach we walk on, Plage du Sillon has been awarded the Travelers Choice Award in 2018 as the Plus Belle Plage de France on TripAdvisor. Guess we really do have good taste in beaches!

After lunch we walked to the boules court and said hello to Alain. We took our chairs and tried to sit by the harbor but the wind was very strong. After about 15 minutes, we’d had enough wind and headed for home.

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the strong winds were great for the gulls – just gliding on the currents

le dimanche 29 juillet 2018 – Sunday July 29, 2018

29 July Sunday – It was raining when Sandy shopped for our breakfast. She shopped at Maison du Pain just a few steps away from our building to avoid getting wet.

With the weather being iffy, we settled in for a day of reading and working on a puzzle.

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le semaine se terminant le dimanche 15 juillet 2018 – the week ending Sunday July 15, 2018

15 Sunday Jul 2018

Posted by philipdenotto in 2018-France

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

alain, arm, boulangère, boulangerie, corsairs malouins, grande maree, Iceland, La Fournee Malouine, la maison du pain, le mole des noires, Place du Marché aux Légumes, plage de l'eventail, plage de mole, Saint-Malo, Saint-Servan, sncf, world cup 2018

If you want to see the album of our pictures from June 2018, you can click on this link, June 2018.

le lundi 9 juillet 2018 – Monday July 9, 2018

We took the bus to the Carrefour Hypermarché located at La Madeleine Shopping mall. We wanted to buy things that aren’t available at the markets or the mid-sized Intrmarche grocery store where we usually shop. We bought dental floss, garbage bags (20 liter size, elastic at the top with drawstrings to close), lightly breaded fish (similar to the fish from “fish + chips”), and fresh ravioli filled with spinach. We only waited less than 5 minutes for the bus to return to the Intra-Muros. It was a successful trip. It was hot today on the bus. We sat on the sun side of the bus and the temperature was 25 C with very little wind.

We had a text from Michael with a gorgeous photo of white water falls from Iceland.

High tide took place around 16h30 this afternoon with a low co-efficient of 58. We walked in the water with the tide still coming in. There was still some beach visible at the Plage de l’Eventail. Some of the beach,  towards the Digue, was totally under water. It was nice to be in cool water on a very sunny day.

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the beach is very near the wall at this high tide, not much beach but we did not have to walk far to the water

le mardi 10 juillet 2018 – Tuesday July 10, 2018

This morning at La Fournee Malouine two new assistants waited on Sandy when she ordered our breakfast. They are not used to hearing her style of French and she is unfamiliar with them. Sandy had to repeat herself 3 times before her order was understood.

After breakfast and shopping at our local marché, we took the bus to the Rocabey stop. We needed to go to a para-pharmacy to purchase vitamins and other toiletries that aren’t available at the grocery stores. We went to the first para-pharmacy, Rocabey Para-Pharmacy, but they only had one of the three items we needed. We walked around the corner to the Para-pharmacy de La Gare for the additional 2 items. They were very busy.

We walked back towards Intra-Muros on the shady side of the street. The temperature was 24 C but felt much hotter. We were glad to reach our apartment.

During our walk back to the apartment we spotted a car with a license plate from Portugal in parking lot.

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car from Portugal in the parking lot

After lunch we reserved our train and hotel room for our return trip to the USA in September. Time goes fast.

An hour before the time of high tide we walked to the Place de l’Evantail to walk in the water. The wind had picked up and the temperature had actually dropped since our walk in the morning. However, the water was warmer!

le mercredi 11 juillet 2018 – Wednesday July 11, 2018

Today was the last day of Michael’s vacation. The photos he sent from Iceland this week have been almost magical. So much white water, rocks, cliffs, falls but very few trees. He returns to the U. S. late this afternoon.

It was only 15 C when Sandy shopped for our breakfast. She even wore a jacket today. We took the bus to the Intermarche grocery store, did our shopping, checked out quickly, and were back at the bus stop to return home in 45 minutes!

After lunch it was still cool in the shade, so we took our camping chairs to the harbor. The tide was coming in with at least 3 more hours until high tide. There were many things happening. We watched at least 4 fishing boats unload huge amounts of mussels packed in orange mesh bags, weigh them, throw the orange bags onto pallets, and load into refrigerated trucks. Four Corsair Ferries were coming and going, and when the locks opened we watched a Russian cargo ship and 10 sail boats exit the basin into the channel. The Condor Ferry was loading, and the Armorique a light house and beacon repair ship returned to the harbor. We had a very entertaining two hours!

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weighing crustaceans from a fishing boat

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unloading moules (mussels) from a boat

le jeudi 12 juillet 2018 – Thursday July 12, 2018

We received a text around 5h30 am this morning letting us know Michael was back in Grand Rapids. His cat was glad to have him at home.

Sandy asked the assistant at La Fournee Malouine if the boulangère was here this week. Sandy hadn’t see her since Sunday. The assistant thanked her, said that was nice, the madam was here all week just very busy making many sandwiches in the back. They do a large take-away sandwich business this time of year. With the new terrace, this boulangerie is even more enticing to have an inexpensive lunch and be able to sit down in the shade.

We watched Alain play boules for a few minutes and visited with him. He and his wife had just returned yesterday from attending Jean’s funeral in Paris.  They had spent 6 nights helping Denise in Paris.

We walked in the water at the Plage de Môle at low tide. There was a lot of sand to walk through!

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while on our walk in the water we saw these kids learning to sail

After dinner we listened to the “Les Corsairs Malouins” sing sea shanties. They were very entertaining.  We have fun watching and listening to the group.

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“Les Corsairs Malouins” sing sea shanties

le vendredi 13 juillet 2018 – Friday July 13, 2018

The town was very quiet when Sandy shopped for our breakfast.

We walked to the Saint-Servan marché to purchase meat. We arrived at the bridge while it was open and waited a few minutes for boats to enter the lock and the bridge to slide closed. The marché was busy. A lot of tourists in town for vacation and extra people in town due to tomorrow being the Fete National 14th Juillet. After 15 minutes in line, it was our turn.

We had an uneventful walk back home and since the wind was out of the north there was a cool breeze blowing.

Today was one of the days of the Grande Marée where the tide is exceptionally high. The expected co-efficient was 101. It was also one of the days of exceptionally low tide. There were warnings in the newspaper and on the radio for people to be observant.  It was a good day for “Pêche à Pied,” fishing by foot. People walk out a very long way in the sand to the sand bars to dig or rake for their dinner. The warnings were due to the fact that once the tide starts to come back in it does it very rapidly. We walked in the sand a very long way before we got to the ocean.  We were on the far side of the Fort National. It was farther than we’d ever gone to reach the water. We walked in the water for a while in both warm and cold temperatures.

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the beach at low tide, it is quite a walk to the water

le samedi 14 juillet 2018 – Saturday July 14, 2018

Today was the Fete National Quatorze Juillet (National Holiday 14th of July). A lot of visitors were expected in town. Signs had been posted at parking lots, entrances to the ramparts etc about the possible closure. The Intra-Muros was closed to all vehicular traffic starting at 17h00 unless you had proof of residency or owned a business. Restaurants and bars were busy!

We walked to the beach before noon today. A Grande Marée is scheduled for 8h45 and after 21h00 this evening. We wanted to walk in the water between a high and low tide to avoid walking through blocks of sand and yet have enough beach to walk on. The sky was brilliantly blue and the air fresh.

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great looking sail boat we saw on our walk on the beach

Later we walked out of the walls at 22h45 to be in place to see the fireworks. There were very large city trucks, garbage truck size blocking the entrance to all of the ports. Streets were blocked off and police were around.

At 23h00 the fireworks started. It was just barely dark but they were on time. They were set off at the Môle des Noires or the breakwater. We and several thousand additional people stood in the middle of one of the round points to watch. They were incredible and timed to music played over large speakers. It was amusing to hear songs from the USA, Ireland, France, and other countries. Several of the songs dealt with the sea, and one of the famous Saint-Malo songs Santiano was part of the entertainment. The fireworks lasted for 22 minutes, 6 minutes longer than last year. We were back in our apartment by 23:30. Time for bed!

le dimanche 15 juillet 2018 – Sunday July 15, 2018

It was relatively quiet when Sandy shopped for our breakfast. She passed several street cleaning crews trying to clean up after such a crowd yesterday.

After breakfast we took the number 1 bus to the Le Mouchoir Vert bus stop and then walked about 1/2 kilometer to the Vide Grenier (empty attic flea market) at Square de Biscayenne on the Rue de la Marne.  Every year it is a big market with lots of vendors.  Our friend Alain and his wife Mary-Yvonne were there.  Alain was helping at the concessions stand.

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the large crowd at the Vide Grenier

On the way back we missed our bus and ended up walking all the way back to the apartment.

This afternoon is the final of the World Cup from Russia.  France and Croatia are playing.  There are people all over the place in the Place du Marché aux Légumes.  There was a lot of horn blowing and shouting during the game.  France won 4-2 so everyone is pretty happy.   The game ended about 4 hours ago, but the celebrating is still going.

 

 

 

 

 

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21 septembre 2016 à Saint-Malo – September 21 in Saint-Malo

21 Wednesday Sep 2016

Posted by philipdenotto in septembre poster 2016 - September 2016 post

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Tags

divers cite, e leclerc, esplanade saint-vincent, gomina, grande maree, Journées Européennes du Patrimony, La Fournee Malouine, le mole des noires, le pourquoi pas, macaron simon, national geographic orion, plage du Sillon, rocabey marche, rotheneuf, rue de dinan, Tower Bidouane

Wednesday September 14, 2016

Wednesday September 14, 2016 is very breezy and cool.  The temperature was 16 C when Sandy bought Phil’s croissant at Simon boulangerie.  After breakfast we took a walk to the basin where the ship National Geographic Orion was moored.  It came in around 5 am this morning during high tide.  The lock is only open about 2 hours before to 2 hours after high tide, which occurs twice a day.  It will most likely depart between 16:30 and 20:00 tonight.  For anyone wanting an expensive cruise, the web site lists the price from $8,000 to $16,000 for an 8 day trip.  Of course there are many, many activities included.  We were able to see kayaks stacked on the deck of the ship and bicycles parked on the dock.national-geographic-orion_29561430162_onational-geographic-orion_29591221021_o

Thursday September 15, 2016

Thursday September 15, 2016 is drizzly and cool.  For the second day in a row the temperature was 16 C when Sandy bought our breakfast.  Today, the boulanger gave Sandy two madeleines as a gift.  They are similar in texture and taste to a cake donut.  They have a distinctive shape and come in a variety of sizes.  They look like a raised, fat, pointed in the middle mini loaf (US loaf pan).  Phil dipped his in coffee.  It rained lightly until about 14:00.  We took a walk later looking at the low tide and many people walking out to Fort National.  We stopped at the wine shop (they were out of our usual white wine last week) and the tabac to pick up the weekly edition of our local Pays Malouin newspaper.

Friday September 16, 2016

Friday September 16, 2016.  Sandy had to wait until the sun rose before she shopped at the boulangerie for our breakfast. It had been raining and was very gray. It was as if summer was over today. Phil wore trousers for the first time in at least a month and Sandy wore a jacket. The high temperature was 18 C and the wind speed was up to 40 kph. This is the weekend of the grande marrée or high tide and the wind will make the tide more dramatic.  The sun rises at 7:46 and sets at 20:15.  We are losing 4 minutes of daylight per day.  On our way to catch the bus, we saw where the city had piled huge sand bags on the street to try to prevent severe flooding at high tide.  We spent two hours with Christine for tutoring and she continued our “brain work-out.”  On the way back to our apartment we stopped and Sandy made a reservation for us to have dinner tonight at Divers Cite.  It’s a good thing she did because with our reservation they were “complet” for the evening.  We shared an entree of crab fritters (accras de crabe) on a bed of salad, Phil had sea bass for his main dish (plat), and Sandy had beef steak.  A very delicious two hours!!

Saturday September 17, 2016

Saturday September 17, 2016 is definitely cool!  Sandy wore a jacket and slacks to buy our breakfast baguette since the temperature was 14 C.  Chilly!  Sandy took the bus to the Rocabey marché to look around and buy black olives.  On the way back she walked by Gomina coiffure to see if the shop was still in business.  The door was locked and everything looked as normal with products in the window etc.  We’ll need to return on Tuesday to see if our hair cut will take place in the shop or the owner’s apartment.

High tide in the harbor
High tide in the harbor
High tide in the harbor
High tide in the harbor
High tide in the harbor
High tide in the harbor
High tide in the harbor
High tide in the harbor

Sunday September 18, 2016

Sunday September 18, 2016 is cloudy but warmer than yesterday.  Sandy walked out the Porte de Dinan just after high tide to look at the sea.  The Corsair ferry was actually disembarking on the street level because the co-efficient was 110 and very high.  She walked to the end of the ramparts as far as the beginning of the Mole des Noires and could see where the waves had washed sea weed up over the wall onto the pavement.  That must have been a spectacle to see.  She purchased our breakfast from La Fournee de Malouine before heading for home.  This is the weekend of the “Journées Européennes du Patrimony” which is explained as: “The European Heritage Days offer a great opportunity to discover public and private buildings open their doors for the first time or exceptionally, unveiling their wings, their unique history or their secret collections.”  Sandy visited the office of the Mayor which was inside the castle and was a gorgeous, huge room.  Then she went to the exposition of the ship Le Pourquoi-Pas which was constructed in 1907 and sailed to the arctic on over 15 different missions.  The exhibit is presented on three levels of the Tower Bidouane within the rampart walls.  She visited a public school where a braderie was held but didn’t purchase anything.  For dinner Sandy shopped at our local butchery alone and bought tomate farcie and pork chops.

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Monday September 19, 2016

Monday September 19, 2016 was the last morning for the Grandè Mareè for September.  We walked towards Porte St. Vincent to look at the tide, but it was not extraordinary.  While the co-efficient was 111, there was no wind or storm at sea so the sea was very high on the ramparts, but moved with gentle waves.  We took the bus to E.LeClerc to do a little shopping.  Not too much since we’re down to less than a month before we return to the USA.  Sandy took care of housekeeping chores and homework after lunch.  We did see the painter who told us he’d be at our apartment on Thursday morning.

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High tide at Fort National

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High tide at the Plage du Sillon

Tuesday September 20, 2016

Tuesday September 20, 2016 is sunny and cool.  The temperature was 13 C when Sandy shopped for our breakfast.  She’ll have to start using the hair dryer if the temperature stays this cool in the morning.  After breakfast she walked to La Poste to mail a letter and watched workers assemble a huge crane near the park/playground.  There were also a few people still demonstrating the closing of the Intra-Muros post office with banners, flags, and signs.  She stopped by Gomina coiffure to make sure the building was still open for our haircuts on Thursday.  The proprietrice talked to Sandy and said she would still be in this location for our appointment. Most of the rue de Dinan (main street through our part of town) is closed.  Holes have been dug near the sidewalk and barricades surround the hole.  When we stopped at the pharmacy to refill one of Sandy’s prescriptions, the pharmacist (Philip) told us they were working on the gas and electric lines.  The delivery men trying to drive large trucks down the street were not happy.

Hotel construction
Hotel construction
People protesting the closing of the post office
People protesting the closing of the post office
low low tide
low low tide
Low low tide
Low low tide
low low tide
low low tide

Wednesday September 21, 2016

Wednesday September 21, 2016 is the first day of fall in the U. S.  The temperature in the morning is 13 C (in the 50’s).  In the afternoon the high temperature reaches between 19 C and 23C depending on a sunny or cloudy day.  After breakfast we took the # 8 bus to Rotheneuf.  It is a very pretty village/quarter.  They have one boulangerie, one wine shop, one tabac/bar, one creperie, one restaurant, one chocolate shop, and two traiteurs or catering (ready to eat) food. We walked around, enjoyed a cup of coffee seated outside and returned on the bus.  It is a lovely sunny day with little wind and a temperature of 19 C.

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Le Rotheneuf bar – presse in Rotheneuf centre

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View of Rotheneuf from the bus stop.

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7 août 2016 à Saint-Malo – August 7 in Saint-Malo

08 Monday Aug 2016

Posted by philipdenotto in août poster 2016 - August 2016 post

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Tags

divers cite, le mole des noires, Marche’ de Créateurs, mole, plage de mole, rotheneuf, Saint-Malo, Saint-Servan, saint-suliac

Wednesday August 3

Wednesday August 3, 2016 is again a drizzly day.  The temperature was already 22 C or 70 F and the humidity was very high for here.  We took the Navette bus to the Gare (train station) to check on the train tickets we purchased online yesterday.  We reserved them in preparation for our return trip to the USA in October.  The seats that we selected were called “duo cote de cote” meaning face to face, but the numbers didn’t match up.  The agent assured us we had selected correctly and offered to print our tickets for us.  We only waited about 3 minutes and all our questions were answered.  Next we walked across the street to return library books, then walked to the Intermarche grocery store for 5 items.  It started to rain enough for us to use our umbrellas and the wind had picked up.

Thursday August 4

Thursday August 4, 2016 and we spent two hours with Christine for tutoring.

In the afternoon we went out to the harbor and saw some fishing boats unloading their catch.

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Fishing boat unloading their catch – shellfish

Today was our 43rd wedding anniversary and we enjoyed a delicious dinner at Divers’ Cité Restaurant. Phil chose escargot for his entree and boeuf avec bernaise sauce (filet) for his plat.  Sandy ordered an entre of crab “fritters” on a large salad but asked to eat it when she served Phil’s plat to him.  Unfortunately, something was “lost in translation” and her salad was served with Phil’s escargot.  Really wasn’t a problem and it always tastes wonderful.  For dessert Sandy ordered profiteroles with caramel sauce and Phil ordered chocolat liegoise which consists of chocolate ice cream, hot fudge sauce and real whipped cream on top.  Too much “caffeine” for Sandy at 9 pm.  It is always a pleasure and a treat to eat out!

The highlight of dinner was being entertained by the restaurant owners’ little white dog!

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Restaurant’s little white dog

Friday August 5

Friday August 5, 2016 Sandy met our friend and tutor Christine at the Mediathèque De Saint Malo at 14:00 for an outing.  Christine wanted to drive Sandy to see “one of the most beautiful villages” in France.  It is called Saint-Suliac and is about 5 km from Saint-Malo. Saint-Suliac offers a panoramic viewpoint of the Rance estuary. For a long time it was a village of trawler men who fished off Newfoundland and the statue of the Virgin de Grainfollet watched over these fishermen. In the narrow streets where children play as they come out of school, flowers grow between the granite stones of the magnificent houses. A tide mill, old salt marshes, a menhir or standing stone are just some of the local treasures to admire in an exceptionally well-preserved site.

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Saint-Suliac

For more information on Saint-Suliac: www.saint-suliac.fr

They spent several hours wandering around the tiny streets, pathways, and alleys, admiring the beautiful flowers, architecture, and or course the beaches.  It really is a beautiful village!  The selection of a village to become one of the most beautiful is based on:  The selection of villages takes place in 4 stages:

  1. Evaluation on the basis of a village’s application
  2. On-site evaluation
  3. Quality Committee
  4. Quality Charter

The concept to become most beautiful is:  Some 32,000 villages have shaped the French countryside over time and those of them that are members of the Association “Les Plus Beaux Villages de France” (The Most Beautiful Villages of France) share the same passion and ambition: to make the exceptional quality of their heritage known and recognized and to invite you to encounter their history, their land, their culture and their inhabitants. Come and share an art of living, charm and authenticity in 154 places charged with emotions…

Saturday August 6

Saturday August 6, 2016 is the day of the grande braderie of Saint-Servan.  All of the commercial businesses have tables of sale items in front of their stores.  Individuals and salespeople from other areas also set out tables or blankets with items displayed.  There are always food tents of sausage galettes, and the bars/restaurants set up extra tables outside.  It is quite the “party” atmosphere.  We walked to Saint-Servan, up the street to look at items on one side of the street and returned down the other side without buying anything.  We saw our friend Jean-Louis J. and he now feels like we’re truly friends since he exchanged kisses on the cheek with Sandy.  Phil got a handshake.  We spent a few minutes at the harbor watching the pirate ship unload 6 people at a time into an inflatable boat.  The Corsair ferry was making it runs between Saint-Malo and Dinard. It was just 2 hours after high tide and the water was quite high up the ramp.

At 16:00 we walked to the beach.  Depending on the number of other pedestrians, the walk can take as long as 12 minutes.  The tide was out.  Way, way out!  We walked from the Plage de Bon Secours where the pool is over to the Plage de Mole.  We were able to walk in ankle deep water all the way around the mole.  That was a first!  The water was cool, but very pleasant.

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Sandy enjoying the sun and water

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Sandy walking through the water at low-tide

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At low tide you can really get a good perspective on the size of the harbor breakwater. That is Sandy standing in front of the breakwater.

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Tide was really out, we were able to walk out past the end of the breakwater. The breakwater is 500 meters long, about 1,600 feet.

Sunday August 7

Sunday August 7, 2016 was the day of the Marche’ de Créateurs in Rotheneuf.  Our friend Jean-Louis H. helps to organize and run this art show with his relatives.  It is set in a lovely place overlooking the sea.  There were over 100 artists displaying and selling their creations.  We looked at paintings, soap, candles, glassware, pottery, clothing, baby items, and many stands selling jewelry.  We didn’t want to buy anything so after a quick walk through we headed to the bus stop.  The sun was shining, the temperature was 26 C or a very warm 79 F and we were hot! The bus was 25 minutes late, but when it arrived was a deluxe “charter like’’ coach with windows open on both sides.  20 minutes later and we were back in our apartment with a lovely breeze blowing.  Since we spend most of the time here loving the cool weather, a warm day is very unpleasant.  Glad to be home.

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April 16 in Saint-Malo – 16 avril à Saint-Malo

16 Saturday Apr 2016

Posted by philipdenotto in avril poster 2016 - April 2016 post

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admiral bouvet, carrefour city, divers cite, le mole des noires, profiteroles, regatta, Saint-Servan

Saturday April 16 and the day will be about water and plants.

We had eaten breakfast and were outside the Intra-Muros standing on the mole /  breakwater by 8:45 am.  The name of the mole/breakwater is “Le môle des noires.” We were at the end of the mole to watch the start of a sailing regatta. The regatta is for students and they are mentored by experienced sailing captains. We counted at least 36 sailboats in the regatta.  We heard a horn honk from a boat that appeared to have officials on it and the boats headed to the starting line.  It was very interesting to see so many boats in the same area.  The wind was brisk and we thought a few boats were going to capsize.

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regatta start

After watching the start of the regatta, we walked to the Carrefour City store inside the walls and bought cranberry juice and a new kind of cake.   The cake is called “Mini-Financiers aux amandes.”  They are delicious bite-sized butter pound cakes with almonds. Our tutor Christine had them and they are delicious!  It’s hard to stop at just one!

the store is in the basement of the building
the store is in the basement of the building
a happy buyer exiting the Carrefour City
a happy buyer exiting the Carrefour City

After lunch, homework, and household chores we walked to Saint-Servan.  The city was holding a flower and plant show in their market area.  There were only about 10 vendors there.  They were mostly individuals selling vegetable plants for your own personal garden.

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flower and plant market

Across from the flower and plant market is the Saint-Servan library. There is a statue of a naval hero Admiral Bouvet in front of the library.  Around the statue there is a lovely flower bed brightening up the area.

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Admiral Bouvet

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We walked back and sat outside the harbor watching boats come and go for about an hour.  Even though it’s windy, it’s a lovely sunny day.

For dinner we had reservations at Divers’ Cite, a small restaurant about 2 minutes from the apartment.  Phil had bass with leeks, rice and potatoes.  Sandy had a beef steak, salad and french fries.  For dessert Phil had chocolate mousse and Sandy had profiteroles with chocolate and caramel sauce. The dinner was delicious as always.

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We returned to France on May 17, 2018.

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