the week ending Sunday September 4, 2022 – la semaine se terminant le dimanche 3 septembre 2022

04 Sunday Sep 2022

Posted by philipdenotto in 2022-France

Tags

bas sablons, basin vauban, Christine, cormorant, esplanade saint-vincent, franklin, french air force, intermarche super, le ponton, magpie, michael douglas, michel, mole, pie, quai de porte saint-louis, rocabey, stacy schiff, voluntary intake points

MONDAY-29th We walked out to the digue when it was high tide. It was 19°C (66°F) and fairly windy. Lovely to be outside with an air quality index of just 3 (an excellent score). We decided there were a few thousand less people out today than yesterday. All of a sudden, we saw 8 French air force jets in the sky trailing blue, white and red air-show smoke, the colors of the French flag. What a nice surprise!

***FRENCH AIR FORCE JETS TRAILING THE BLUE, WHITE, AND RED OF THE FRENCH FLAG***

We were invited for an aperitif to Christine and Michel’s house in the Paramé section of Saint-Malo. We took the bus to the stop in Paramé. It was very windy as we walked the 15 minutes from the bus stop to their house. They have a huge home, lovely garden with a sheltered outside corner they refer to as their summer dining room/living room. We sat outside where they served a variety of appetizers that were very tasty.

We enjoyed talking to them and hearing about their family. Christine and Michel’s daughter and her husband, with their 5 month old son will be moving to the Washington DC area for the next three years. He will be working in the DC area and she will be working from home for a company in New York city. They are waiting for their US work visas and will be moving in the next couple of months.

It was kind of Michel and Christine to drive us back to the Esplanade St. Vincent at the end of the evening.

TUESDAY-30th Cool and very windy when we walked to and from the Intermarché Super for our weekly shopping. On the way back we stopped in at the boulangerie in Rocabey.

Hot on our way home!! The hour of walking plus the 30 – 45 minutes of shopping is exhausting!

WEDNESDAY-31st The city has installed new, completely underground, “voluntary intake points” for garbage, recycling, etc. We stopped at the closest one to our apartment at Porte St. Louis. A city worker was waiting there to inform and help everyone using the new facility. He explained to us that when the underground garbage container is nearly full, an automatic SMS will be sent so the container can be exchanged. There is no odor, it is much cleaner, and signs are hanging on each area to explain what should be put inside. This year none of the “yellow bags” that the city gives out should be put into the recycling area. Next year they will be accepted.

Then we walked to the harbor at high tide. We walked to the end of the mole and were the only people on it. It was wonderful! We were even able to return home on the main street. So many fewer people!

***SIGN INDICATING THE DEPTH OF THE CHANNEL INTO THE BAS SABLONS HARBOR***

THURSDAY-1st Walked to the Marche de Rocabey early at 8:30 to try and beat the predicted rain. Shopped at the butcher, charcuterie, olives, and Thai restaurant. Stopped at the boulangerie, and the post office to pick up a package. Walked home and stopped at the Presse to buy the newspaper. All accomplished before 10 am.

In the local paper, Pays Malouin, Sandy read where another movie will be filmed here in September. Michael Douglas will have the principal role in a film to be viewed on Apple TV titled “A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America” by Stacy Schiff. The quai de Porte St. Louis parking area, currently closed to traffic and under construction will be used in the film.

At noon, it still hadn’t started to rain.

SANDY BUYING SOME THAI FOOD IN THE ROCABEY MARCHÉ

FRIDAY-2nd Sandy shopped at our local marché this morning and learned there won’t be any more green beans. Good thing we enjoyed them earlier in the week.

On a short walk to the harbor at high tide this morning, we walked by the quai where the Franklin movie will be filmed. Workers were unloading fake stone walls to be used as scenery. There was a more detailed article in the newspaper today about the movie. The filming will begin Sept. 13th. The Manoir of Jacques Cartier will also be used. Two of the French actors will like from the series “Dix Per Cent”, will also be included.

***US ON THE MOLE WITH SAINT-MALO IN THE BACKGROUND***

SATURDAY-3rd We decided to walk on the Bas Sablons and have lunch at the Ponton restaurant, where earlier we’ve enjoyed a beverage and croissant. Since school started this week there are a lot less tourists. We did not make a reservation. We were given a choice of a table inside or on the terrace, but in the bar area which did not have a shade. We chose the terrace since it was a cloudy day, around 21°C (70°F) degrees. We enjoyed a cheeseburger and fries, very large in size with an Orangina to drink. Good thing we had a long walk back home (65 minutes round trip) because we were stuffed!

We did get a good look at a cormorant that was resting by the basin Vauban which is very close to our apartment. This is the closest we have ever been to a cormorant.

SUNDAY-4th Fairly quiet this morning compared to the half marathon race last Sunday. Walked a little on the digue. Breezy in places, humid, high of 24°C (75°F) today. We started organizing items to go back to the U.S., things to recycle here or throw away. Straightened out some drawers, mentally began the count down of days and things left to accomplish.

Now that you have made it this far you have a choice on how to continue. Below is an album of photos from this week titled 2022-09-04 week album. There are two ways you can view the photos.

The first way is to click on the title area of the album. So click on the 2022-09-04 week album and the album will open in FLICKR.

The other way is to click on the right ＞arrow in the area below. Clicking on the arrow will show the next photo in the album.

2022-09-04 week album

35 photos

Monday morning walk on the digue
Monday morning walk on the digue
Monday morning walk on the digue
Monday morning walk on the digue
Monday morning walk on the digue
Monday morning walk on the digue
Monday morning walk on the digue
Monday morning walk on the digue
Tuesday afternoon walk to the harbor
Tuesday afternoon walk to the harbor
Tuesday afternoon walk to the harbor
Wednesday morning walk on the mole
Wednesday morning walk on the mole
Wednesday morning walk on the mole
Thursday morning walk to the marché at Rocabey, Sandy in the marché
Thursday morning walk to the marché at Rocabey, Sandy in the marché
Friday morning walk on the mole
Friday morning walk on the mole
Friday morning walk on the mole
Friday morning walk on the mole
Friday morning walk on the mole
Friday morning walk on the mole
Friday morning walk on the mole
Friday morning walk on the mole
Friday morning walk on the mole
Saturday morning walk to Bas Sablons for lunch
Saturday morning walk to Bas Sablons for lunch
Saturday morning walk to Bas Sablons for lunch
Saturday morning walk to Bas Sablons for lunch
Saturday morning walk to Bas Sablons for lunch
Saturday morning walk to Bas Sablons for lunch
Saturday morning walk to Bas Sablons for lunch
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That is all for this week in Saint-Malo. Au revoir.

the week ending Sunday July 31, 2022 – la semaine se terminant le dimanche 31 juillet 2022

31 Sunday Jul 2022

Posted by philipdenotto in 2022-France

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

backroads bicycle tours, bas-sablons, cafe-de-l-ouest, commodore goodwill, crepes, digue, dinard, esplanade saint-vincent, guy, helicopter, jean-michel, kennedy bus stop, magpie, plage des bas-sablons, renard, rocabey, rochebonne

MONDAY-25th took the number 6 bus to BricoMarché, the local big box hardware store, to look into ideas to keep Sophie from escaping the apartment. Did not really come up with any good ideas, so we will just have to stay vigilant.

In the afternoon we walked to the harbor.

***Threatening skies in the afternoon, but no rain.***

TUESDAY-26th had our haircuts at Studio 3 at 10:30. Then we went to the Intermarché Super for our normal big store shopping.

In the late afternoon we took a walk to the harbor and then headed to the Café de L’Ouest to meet our friend Jean-Michel for a drink. He surprised us by bringing crêpes to the resto. So with our Orangina drinks we got to try some very tasty crêpes. The crêpes were from the crêperie owned by the same company, Maison Hector, which owns the Café de L’Ouest. They own 4 or 5 restaurants in the area. Well the crêpes were wonderful, so we will have to try the crêperie in the next couple of weeks. Jean-Michel was giving us a taste of the crêpes which originated here in western France, Brittany.

WEDNESDAY-27th We did a long walk on the digue in the morning to see the sights.

***Sights we saw on the digue Wednesday morning.***

In the afternoon we went to the boules court and then to the harbor. There were a lot of people traveling back and forth between Saint-Malo and Dinard which is on the other side of the bay of Saint-Malo. It is a 15 minute boat ride.

***A lot of people coming and going on the shuttle boat between Saint-Malo and Dinard.***

THURSDAY-28th was the day the city water department decided to tear up the street about 30 meters from our apartment building. They made a lot of noise to replace about 3 meters of pipe.

***tamping down ground after the repair and before laying the asphalt***

In the morning we walked to the Rocabey marché for meat; sausages, beef and sandwich ham.

***a magpie on our way to the Rocabey marché***

In the afternoon we walked to the boules court where we saw the vans from the BACKROADS bicycle tour company. They are a common sight here in Saint-Malo in the summer. Bicycling is a very popular activity in the area of Brittany.

***BACKROADS cycling tours, a common sight in the summer***

FRIDAY-29th And without any demands on our time we took a walk to the Bas Sablons area of Saint-Malo. It is the area just south of us that has the big harbor for pleasure boats. There we explored an area which we had not visited for at least 5 years. We found a nice resto/bistro to have a drink before returning home.

In the evening we met our friend Guy for drinks. We met at a resto/bistro across the street from the train station which was about the same distance from both of our apartments. The Cuisine de rue is a small resto/bistro which was perfect for our needs. We had Oranginas, beers and chips. We were able to catch up with what was new with Guy. It was a very nice evening.

SATURDAY-30th and we took the bus to Rochebonne and returned via the digue.

In the afternoon we were at the harbor as the Commodore Goodwill left for its next stop.

SUNDAY-31st the last day of the month. An overcast day without sun in the morning. We took the number 9 bus from the esplanade Saint-Vincent to the Kennedy bus stop in Rochebonne. Then we walked along the digue on our way home.

***Our balcony with Sandy’s great looking geraniums!***

Now that you have made it this far you have a choice on how to continue. Below is an album of photos from this week titled 2022-07-31 week album. There are two ways you can view the photos.

The first way is to click on the title area of the album. So click on the 2022-07-31 week album and the album will open in FLICKR.

The other way is to click on the right ＞arrow in the area below. Clicking on the arrow will show the next photo in the album.