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MONDAY-4th… We waited to 10:50 to take the bus to Rochebonne for our return walk on the digue. We waited that long so there would be more sunshine on the digue. The temperature at 11 this morning was only 17°C.
Sights on our walk on the digue.
The 4th of July is not a holiday here, so it was pretty much business as usual on the digue.
Our afternoon walk took us past the boules players where we said hello and then we walked on the mole. Beautiful day all around.
Walk to the harbor – sea gull paddling along in the harbor
TUESDAY-5th had our normal shopping trip to the Intermarché Super.
We watched the first parade of the Folklore-du-Monde in the late afternoon. It started at the Esplanade Saint-Vincent right by the castle.
From the parade, which only lasted 10 minutes, we walked to the digue. We were meeting friends for dinner and we were early, so we stopped at a hotel resto-bistro which was right on the digue. We had a nice white wine with peach liqueur, a Kir.
drinks on the digue
We had dinner at the restaurant L’Olivier on the Sillon. Pizza with our friends Jean-Louis and Claudine who brought their 8 year old grand-daughter Thea. It was very good as usual.
WEDNESDAY-6th walk on the digue to find the resto-bistrot Sandy had noticed last week. We had a drink, an Orangina, at the resto-bistrot called Les-Charmettes. We sat on the terrace, sipped our Oranginas and enjoyed a terrific view of the sea. Our server was a young lady who explained their food menu and spent some time talking with us.
A lot of activity in the water while we had our drinks, Orangina, at the Les Charmettes
In the late afternoon we went to the see the start of the Folklore-du-Monde parade at the Esplanade Saint-Vincent.
THURSDAY-7th we had a nice visit to the Rocabey marché. The butcher was in a good mood, and Phil asked him if the meat was “free” today. He replied “No, that was yesterday.” This was the second week in a row that he used the same punchline, so we teased him about it.
Garden by the Esplanade Saint-VincentCzech Republic folklore du monde group
FRIDAY-8th and lunch at Les-Charmettes on the digue. We arrived at 12:15 and while we did not have a reservation, we did get a table toward the back of the terrace. We had a glass of rosé wine and a very good lunch. We shared a tiramisu for dessert. The view of the sea was wonderful.
Les Charmettes terraceOur view from the Les Charmettes terraceA nice display of flowers in this window – saw it on the way back from lunch
Watched the start of the Folklore-du-Monde parade at the Esplanade Saint-Vincent. There was a group from Brittany and a group from the Czech Republic. Both stopped to perform their traditional dances before walking through the stone gates to enter the Intra-Muros.
SATURDAY-9th and we planned to take a walk. Big surprise. The walk today was through Saint-Servan, a stop at the Rosarie-Saint-Anne, then to the Solidor tower. We stopped by the Solidor tower and had a couple of drinks, grenadine and water, at the Le Cancalaise bistro-resto.
We had the usual great view, plus we got to watch an artist working on a painting.
view from Le Cancalaise retro-bistroSolidor tower from the Le Cancalaise restor-bistroArtist working in the shadeThree views from our table at the Le Cancalaise resto-bistroOur walk through Saint-Servan, Roserie-Sainte-Anne, Tour Solidor and Bas Sablons.
SUNDAY-10th marked the end of Folklore-du-Monde festival. We took a bus at 10:15 to the Rochebonne area near Paramé. The parade started in Rochebonne and ended in Paramé. We got a good spot in the shade to watch the parade. The shade was more important to us than having a close view of the parade. As usual there was a big crowd. The crowd was constantly nudging forward to get a closer look at the parade. We did not play that game and just stayed in the shade. It was a nice parade which lasted about 35 minutes.
Some pictures from the Folklore-du-Monde parade.
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 2022-07-10 week album. There are two ways you can view the photos.
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Spectacular fireworks last night, the 14th, with thousands of viewers, music, and entertainment. (cool enough for even Phil to wear a jacket and comment on how cool it was). It was very quiet this morning. Lovely to have been able to FACETIME with Michael yesterday afternoon. He looks good and so does the cat. He’s had quite a busy summer with a lot of traveling so he couldn’t make it here this year. Hopefully, next year he will make a visit.
We needed to buy milk and wanted to take a walk along the seawall (digue in French). We walked to the Courtoisville Carrefour Market through town because the wind was blowing very strong on the digue. This market is bigger than our Intra-Muros Carrefour City and busier.
the AZZURA, from Vail Colorado, strange since Vail is in the mountains
just a nice flag
Children’s play area flying the PIRATE flag.
We returned along the digue where many people were enjoying the beautiful, clear day. A wonderful 5 kilometer walk!
mardi 16 juillet 2019 – Tuesday, July 16, 2019
We were up early and out of our apartment before 7h45 am today. The ship “A.R.C. Gloria” from Columbia was scheduled to arrive in Saint-Malo between 8h and 9h. ARC stands for “Armada Nacional de la República de Colombia.” The ship was built in 1967. It is 76 meters long and 10 meters wide, and is the training ship of the Colombian Navy.
From the Saint-Malo tourism site: “At the arrival ceremony, which will begin at 8h at the breakwater at the entrance of the port, the ship will deploy a giant flag of Colombia and will shoot 19 shots greeting gun. Visitors will be able to tour the boat docked, from 16 to 19 July.”
There were probably at least a hundred people waiting with us on the breakwater to view the ship. The ship had a huge Colombian flag at its stern. As the ship entered the harbor, we counted the 19 cannon shots and Colombian music played from the A.R.C. Gloria. It was very interesting to watch and listen to. We recorded the arrival of the A.R.C. Gloria in the video below. Be sure your audio volume is not muted.
Watch the A.R.C. GLORIA entering the harbor, playing Colombian music.
It was quite impressive as sailors were standing on all five levels of the masts and dressed in each color of the Colombian flag; yellow, blue and red.
A.R.C. Gloria with sailors standing on the yardarms.
sailors on the yardarms (spars) – 1 red, 1 blue, 4 yellow – Notice the sailor at the very top of the mast.
In the afternoon, an organization that features local products was in Saint-Malo. The organization, their staff, and van travel Brittany and stop at a different locale each day. We’d wanted to see their display last year but missed it. We waited in line for about 10 minutes in order to “spin the wheel” to see if we won a prize. Sandy spun the wheel and landed on “KEVANO” which is from the Breton language and translates to “Au revoir” in French which then translates in English to “Sorry, you didn’t win.” Phil’s spin landed on “Suprise!” He had a choice of three different prizes, all from this area. First offer was a can of beef tongue, second was a glass jar of fish soup, and the third, which we chose was a 1 liter carton of milk from the Saint-Malo dairy. Everyone received a “goody bag” with a bag of Breizh chips, a Madeleine (cookie), a sticker, and a key chain. Certainly worth the 10 minute wait in line. We’ll be sure to stop again next year.
Sandy did not win a prize.
Phil did win a prize.
In the evening, we had invited our friends Jean-Louis and Claudine for an apéritif. This is a normal way in France to have friends to your house around 18h, but not prepare a meal. We served roasted chicken rillette on small slices of bread, Boursin cheese on bread with raisins on top, tapenade noire (black olive paste with anchovies) on bread, peanuts, dried fruit mix, fresh strawberries, fresh cherry tomatoes, cubes of cheese (flavored with tomatoes, ham, blue cheese), sesame crackers, and ham rolled around cheese. If the snacks are plentiful, and they were, this is a substitute for an early dinner. We spent a very enjoyable two hours with them with tentative plans to meet them at a restaurant before we leave in August.
mercredi 17 juillet 2019 – Wednesday 17 July 2019
Sandy likes to program our washer at night so the laundry is ready to hang on the line by the time she’s out of the shower in the morning. She feels lucky to have a machine that is a combination washer and dryer as most people here only have a washer. She prefers to hang clothes on the line on our balcony or extra bedroom, but uses the dryer for towels or when it’s not a good day to dry. Today, everything was on the line by 8h30.
After breakfast we waited in line for 10 minutes to board the ship A.R.C Gloria from Colombia. We were amazed at how high the rigging really is when standing on the deck. The sailors standing at attention yesterday along the sails, as it entered the locks, do NOT have a fear of heights!
The masts and yardarms
Sandy and Phil on the A.R.C. GLORIA
Next we walked to the temporary Musée d’Histoire Maritime (MHM) of Saint-Malo. The old silos along the docks were torn down and a new museum is being constructed in their place. The projected completion of the project is 2022, two years before the Olympics take place in Paris. We had a private tour of the proposition, photos, and explanation of the plan. It will be beautiful when finished! There was also a 5 minute video to explain the project.
Sandy by a drawing of how the MHM museum will look in 2022 when it opens.
Sandy loved the folding chairs they provided while watching the film. Very comfortable!!. She is sure they are just the right chairs we need at FUMC in Holland, lightweight and fold-able.
the comfortable chairs
jeudi 18 juillet 2019 – Thursday 18 July 2019
It was cloudy, cool with a chance of showers this morning.
In the afternoon Phil shopped at the E.Leclerc hypermarché while Sandy met with her French tutor Christine. He was still able to buy rhubarb yogurt and pineapple yogurt, our very favorite flavors!
Later in the afternoon we took a walk to the beach. The city was having a “sand and wind” afternoon on the beach. There were giant kites of green fish, orange fish, a hammerhead shark with its baby behind it, and a school of fish. There had originally been an octopus, but he was deflated so there must have been issues with it. The headline in the Ouest-France newspaper for this event was “Flying Fish in the Saint-Malo heaven.”
hammerhead balloon
fish balloon
hammerhead baloon
many small fish kites
fish balloons
vendredi 19 juillet 2019 – Friday 19 July, 2019
Sandy bought deux cents grammes de haricots verts, 200 grams of green beans, at our market. The green beans here are consistently very thin, with almost nothing to stem. You only have to cook the green beans for 5 minutes to have them al dente (slightly crisp). It took Sandy a few years to be able to order food in grams, but now she knows how to ask.
Haricot Vert – Green Bean
We also purchased another bouquet of flowers from the florist. We asked the name, can’t remember it now, but the red appears to be small fruit instead of flowers. Very pretty though.
bouquet from the florist in the Intra-Muros marché
We walked to Saint-Servan marché to buy meat from the butcher and cheese from the fromagerie. We asked for cent cinquante grammes de fromage emmental râpé (150 grams of shredded emmental cheese-similar to Swiss but a little milder). This was the first time to purchase cheese at the market. In the past, we bought it at the grocery store. Getting braver!
The young lady assistant was back at the butcher. She not been there the last week or so. She said she’d been sick and pointed to her stomach. Doing much better now. She is very nice and practices her English with Sandy.
We took the bus from the Saint-Servan neighborhood of Saint-Malo to Rocabey neighborhood to get a couple of items at the Intermarché. We then walked home along the basin. We walked a little over 5 kilometers on this little excursion to two different parts of Saint-Malo.
samedi 20 juillet 2019 – Saturday July 20, 2019
Today was the day of the Grande Braderie de Paramé. We took the bus to Paramé and planned to walk home. After attending for several years, we know that the bus route to Paramé has a detour and it’s easier to walk home along the digue. Over 250 individuals and small, local business owners set up tables and stands for their annual flea market. It was packed as usual. We didn’t buy anything, but spent over an hour looking at a lot of stuff!
crowd at the Paramé braderie
crowd at the Paramé braderie
On the way back to the apartment, we stopped along the Boulevard Rochebonne at a boulangerie to have a croissant and drink an Orangina. We ate our snack at a table in front of the boulangerie. After our snack we continued down the street toward the digue and the ocean. We walked home along the digue and enjoyed the sounds and sights of the high tide.
The total trip was over 9000 steps and we were tired when we climbed our 34 stairs.
After a rest we walked to the Place du Marché aux Legumes and the restaurant B’Art à Thé for lunch. This is the new restaurant we had dinner at last week. We each tried a different dish and loved everything we had, including a wonderful chocolate, hazelnut dessert. Wow!
bruschetta and a torte
chocolate cake & ice cream
Late in our afternoon we got a text from our son Michael. The electricity is off in his part of Grand Rapids and was not expected to be back on until Sunday night. So he and his cat Kima are having a little vacation at our apartment in Holland. Glad to accommodate them!
dimanche 21 juillet 2019 – Sunday July 21, 2019
Today we took the bus to a flea market (braderie or vide grenier (attic cleanout)) which was held in the neighborhood of the Saint-Malo Hospital. Our friend Alain is one of the organizers of the vide grenier and he also works at the refreshment stand.
When we got back to the apartment there was a bit of excitement on our street. A person in the building next to us had fallen ill and an ambulance had been called to get him to the hospital. The ambulance staff were unable to get the man down the stairs so the fire department had to be called. They used one of their trucks which has a cherry picker to get a stretcher through a window into the 3rd floor apartment. The man was strapped into the stretcher and the fireman in the cherry picker lowered him to the ground. From there the ambulance took him to the hospital. We hope he is okay.
firemen getting the cherry picker ready
cat watching the cherry picker
the cherry picker maneuvering into position
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