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

à Saint-Malo – in Saint-Malo

Tag Archives: le mole des noires

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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