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the week ending June 30, 2019 – la semaine se terminant le 30 juin 2019

30 Sunday Jun 2019

Posted by philipdenotto in 2019-France

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

bacs, bank of france, bastion de la hollande, boules, brittany ferries, canicule, carrefour city, chennevières-sur-marne, chez marcel, condor ferry, corsaire ferry, fleur-de-lis, haircuts, heatwave, jardiland, mahe de la bourdonnais, mole, secours catholique, Shara, trehouart

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lundi 24 juin 2019 – Monday June 24, 2019

It was raining when we woke up so we chose not to purchase fresh croissants for breakfast. The forecast for this week is extremely hot. A heatwave (“canicule” in French) is coming up from the Sahara desert. The forecast for Paris is high temperatures of 33C to 39 C (91F-102F) for six days. The forecast for here in Saint-Malo is 21C to 33C (69F-87F) with only two days being hot. There are few buildings air conditioned in France. The newer major hotels are air conditioned, but many older ones are not. Saint-Malo is located on the ocean or English Channel in the northwest of France. We almost always have a breeze, usually from the north or northwest which keeps it cool. When the wind is from the south or southeast, it is much warmer. Our apartment building is made of granite. We have shutters similar to hurricane shutters on all of our windows. When it is hot, we keep the windows and shutters closed and the apartment is fairly comfortable. It almost always cools off at night. We’ll see as the week continues. The high today was 19C (66F).

In the middle of the afternoon, tea time, our friends from upstairs came for tea. Denise and her son Gilles, age 62, brought a bouquet of fleur-de-lis. I didn’t have a vase that was tall enough, so Denise went upstairs to loan one of hers to us. We had a lovely conversation of French mixed with English for about 90 minutes. Denise and Gilles live in Chennevières-sur-Marne
which is a southeastern suburb of Paris.

  • Fleur-de-Lis in Dennis’s vase
  • Fleur-de-Lis in Sandy’s vase

You can click on a photo to see a larger image.

We had a bowl of chili for dinner that Sandy had made over the weekend. Different from the USA, but delicious!

We took a walk out on the mole, watched the Condor ferry depart and headed for home as it started to rain.

mardi 25 juin 2019 – Tuesday 25, June 2019

Sandy wanted to shop at our Intra-Muros marché before we did anything else today. She bought a melon, appears to be a small cantaloupe, but the variety is “Bowl of Honey.” She also bought brown mushrooms. They are similar in size to the white mushrooms sold in the USA, but have a stronger taste. Delicious when cooked with chicken. She also bought a lot of fresh fruit; cherries, peaches, and apricots.

Next we took the bus to the gare, waited for a #5, then took it up the hill, past the hospital to the Tréhouart stop. We were on our way to the Secours Catholic boutique and depot. We had a difficult time last year finding the new location that they moved to. We wandered through all kinds of neighborhoods, up steep hills and were hot by the time we located the building. Secours Catholic is the French version of a Catholic Charities shop or the Community Action House General Store in Holland. In three rooms are clothing for men, women, children, purses, shoes, small bags, and household linens. Sandy wanted another table cloth for our dining room table. The one we are currently using is similar to oil cloth purchased at a market in 2012. She also purchased aprons for Phil and herself. We wear aprons at church in Holland and thought it would be nice to have our own. She was also looking for a tall vase, so she could return Denise’s vase to her. We were directed downstairs to the depot. The depot is where breakable items are sold in addition to a few articles of clothing, shoes, beds, etc. They had several vases that were the correct size and we chose one made in Portugal. We also spotted an oven mitt and a decorative glass cutting board. Today is the final day the Secours Catholic boutique is open until September. Since we leave on September 1, this will be our one and only visit until next year. Au revoir jusqu’à l’année prochaine.

On our walk to and from the Secours Catholic we saw several flowers which were worth taking pictures of.

  • Sandy looking at the Pôle Surcouf which houses the Secours Catholic
  • flowers on our walk to/from
    Secours Catholic
  • flowers on our walk to/from
    Secours Catholic
  • flowers on our walk to/from
    Secours Catholic
  • flowers on our walk to/from
    Secours Catholic
  • flowers on our walk to/from
    Secours Catholic
  • flowers on our walk to/from
    Secours Catholic

The temperatures are still unbearable in most of France. The high temperature here in Saint-Malo was 20C (68F).

In the afternoon we took a walk out Port Saint-Louis to the môle (breakwater). It was a nice day and resulted in some pretty good photos.

  • planting flowers at the statue of Mahé de la Bourdonnais
  • Brittany Ferry in the harbor
  • Plage du Môle
  • Fort on Petit Bé
  • curve of the mole (breakwater)
  • swimming pool and sail boats
  • Grand Bé and Intra-Muros
  • Corsaire Ferry and Petit Bé
  • the harbor
  • Bastion de la Hollande

We had chicken, ratatouille, risotto and mushrooms for dinner. Chez Sandy restaurant! Delicious!

chicken, ratatouille, risotto and mushrooms

mercredi 26 juin 2019 – Wednesday 26 June, 2019

We planned to go grocery shopping today but had to make a stop at the doctor’s office on the way. Phil realized last night that he was having problems with his ear. While we were in Paris he had trouble with it for a day but it improved. Today we needed to make an appointment with the doctor. The receptionist remembered us from previous years. He was given an appointment for 11h40 and we were on our way to the local Intermarche store. When we boarded the bus, our neighbor Jean-Michel was there and he and Phil chatted until our stop. We were able to buy everything on our list today except for Cheerios. They had Cheerios two weeks ago, but nothing today.

We took the groceries home, put everything away and walked to the doctor’s office. The office only took cash in the past but today had a machine for credit cards. The diagnosis was an outer ear infection so we needed to fill a prescription for antibiotics. The pharmacy near the Carrefour City was still open at 12h15 (stores normally close between 12h and 14h for lunch) and we had the prescription in less than 5 minutes. The antibiotic is a powder that needs to be mixed with water before taking. Let’s hope they work!

After lunch we watched Alain play boules for a few minutes. The temperature was 23C (74F). It is warm in the sun but still a nice breeze blowing in the shade. All schools were closed in Paris today due to the extreme heat of 38C (100F) since school isn’t out for the summer until next week, and none of them are air conditioned.

boules court

After the boules match we walked to the harbor to watch the boats. The Corsaire Ferry was approaching the ramp on its return from Dinard.

Corsaire Ferry returning from Dinard.

jeudi 27 juin 2019 – Thursday 27 June, 2019

The forecast for all of France, except around us in Brittany, was for another day of the heatwave (a “canicule” in French). Our peak temperature was 28C (82F). Sandy had made arrangements to see Christine, her tutor, an hour earlier due to the heat. As with most things here, the buses are not air conditioned and they are hot.

Phil took the same bus and picked up a few items at E.Leclerc hypermarché.

After lunch, they watched Alain play boules for about 30 minutes. There was still a nice cool breeze in the shade. This is the first year that other boules players have acknowledged us and a few are even initiating conversation. After 8 years, they must have decided we’re okay.

We had our first haircuts of the summer later. The owner of the shop, Studio 3, cut both of our hair. Sandy took photos with her from last year to help the stylist. We were both pleased with our haircuts.

vendredi 28 juin 2019 – Friday 28 June, 2019

Today, we felt the heat. The forecast is for a high of 34C (93F). We have kept our windows closed and the shutters and curtains drawn when the sun faces the windows. Our second bedroom, dining room, and living room windows face east. The kitchen, shower room, and our bedroom face west. We always have daylight coming from one side of the apartment even with the shutters down.

After breakfast and a trip to the Intra-Muros marché we took a walk on the beach. Low tide was around 9h30 so the sand was fairly hard and dry an hour later. The temperature was great, low 20’s and the wind was blowing. We came across a fairly large group of people all digging in the sand. A closer look showed about 7 teams, with around 5 people on each team.

Bank of France employees from Paris in the team building exercise.

The man who appeared in charge was speaking English to some groups and French to other groups. Phil asked a lady who was taking photos what was going on. It was a group of employees from the Bank of France in Paris. The man speaking French and English was a champion sandcastle maker from Canada. They were in Saint-Malo for two days doing team building exercises. They were very lucky to escape the Parisian heat and enjoy the beach here. Interesting to watch.

These are pictures from our walk on the beach. The wide beach, sailboats, Brittany Ferries, walkers in the water and team building with staff from the Bank of France in Paris. Quite a few different things happening.

  • the wide beach to the south
  • the wide beach to the north
  • Sandy and the beach
  • a trimaran
  • the wide beach to Intra-Muros
  • walking the ocean with wet suits
  • Brittany Ferry to England
  • Us on the beach
  • Bank of France team building
  • Bank of France team building
  • part of the castle

By the time we were ready to return to our apartment it was hot! We stayed inside the rest of the day. Jardiland phoned and said they would deliver our planters, gravel and dirt between 8h30 and 10h30 tomorrow.

samedi 29 juin 2019 – Saturday 29, June 2019

At 7h it was wonderfully cool! The outside temperature was 17C and 23C in our apartment. We opened all of the windows and the temperature inside dropped quickly. On her way to the boulangerie, Sandy wasn’t able to see the ocean through the city gates. Fog was rolling in from the ocean. No wonder it’s much cooler today.

Phil waiting on the balcony for the Jardiland delivery

Our delivery from Jardiland arrived around 10h. Since we had already cut the black liner, the job went very smooth. Our neighbor above us, Madame Bertin, arrived and talked to us about the planters. She thought it was a nice idea and hoped it helped. We had one extra bag of dirt which Phil took to our cave (our basement storage room). The job was complete in less than an hour.

the new planters in front of the apartment building and Sandy

The temperature warmed up and it was hot in the sun. The high was 26C. Late in the afternoon the temperature dropped quickly and by 19h Sandy had a jacket on outside. Almost everyone walking around had changed from shorts to long pants and added a jacket.

We enjoyed a kebab sandwich and frites at the Chez Marcel restaurant. Every restaurant in the Intra-Muros was crowded. People had been enjoying Saint-Malo all day. We saw on the news where the heatwave in the south of France had destroyed many of the grapes on the vines. The photos they showed were dried up grapes, still hanging from the vines, with the appearance of raisins. A potential catastrophe for wine makers.

dimanche 30 juin 2019 – Sunday June 30, 2019

This morning we went for a walk around 10h30. We are invited to Denise and Gilles’ apartment for tea on Monday. We are shopping for a small gift to bring to them. Since they are leaving for Paris on Wednesday we won’t get them flowers and because of the heat we decided against chocolates. So we bought a small box of specialty cookies.

On the way back to the apartment we met Denise coming out of the butcher’s shop on rue l’Orme. We talked for a few minutes about our plans for the day. When we left her we started to head back to the apartment and met our friend Jean-Michel from building #6 next door to us. He was returning from a swim in the ocean. He apparently does this every day of the year! The water temperature is around 15C (60F) which is just a tad to cold for us. Ha!

Around noon we went for a walk on the beach. It was very interesting as usual.

  • cloudly above us, but sun on Cézembre
  • Fort National
  • a beautiful house on the digue
  • the wide beach
  • Sandy showing the scale of beach
  • sail boats on the horizon
  • Fort National
  • Us on the beach with the sea
  • some colorful bouys
  • Place CHATEAUBRIAND

You can always click on a photograph to enlarge it for easier viewing.

How to find all our photos from our visit France, June 9 through June 30.

You can view the album of photos by clicking on the following link. It will open in a new browser window with the photos.

Click here for all the June pictures in France

How to find all our photos from our visit to La Roseraie Sainte-Anne

You can view the album of photos by clicking on the following link. It will open in a new browser window with the photos.

Click here for pictures of La Roseraie Saint-Anne

How to find our photos from our visit to Paris on June 10, 11, 12, 13, 2019

You can view the album of photos by clicking on the following link.  It will open in a new browser window with the photos.

Click here for the pictures in Paris

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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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