Tag Archives: Paramé

le semaine se terminant le dimanche 19 août 2018 – the week ending Sunday August 19, 2018

19 Sunday Aug 2018

Posted by in 2018-France

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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

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

le lundi 13 août 2018 – Monday August 13, 2018

Two French military jeeps, each with 5 soldiers and machine guns, were driving through the streets when Sandy walked to the boulangerie. We’ve seen them several times walking, but not driving around.

We took care of some household chores in the morning.

After lunch, we wanted to walk to the north end of the Digue and return by bus. When we arrived at the Esplanade St. Vincent, a #8 bus was waiting. So we stepped on the bus, and got off at the Digue stop heading north. We walked on the Digue to the northern end. We did hear a whistle blow several times, couldn’t figure out where it was coming from, or what it was about. As we neared a second story overlook, a lifeguard called out, “no dogs on the beach please”. There are signs indicating dogs are forbidden on the beach, but few people pay attention to the sign. There was a large dog playing with his owner in front of the building and as we watched, he put the leash back on the dog. It looked like they were getting ready to leave, heeding the lifeguard apparently. We also saw two policeman on bikes patrolling the Digue.

We exited the Digue, then walked uphill to Paramé and boarded a #3 bus at the Rousses stop. The bus just happened to be passing by so we signaled to the driver that we wanted the bus. That took us back to our starting point. An excellent hour-long walk. The sun was shining, no jacket needed, and lots of board surfers, and kite surfers to watch.

some odd clouds on the horizon, probably a weather front

strange clouds on the horizon, distinct cloud like is probably a front

 

29078577107_39bbdf2b5c_z

kids were sand surfing on the Plage du Rochebonne

le mardi 14 août 2018 – Tuesday August 14, 2018

Today was haircut day for the 3rd time in France. The coiffeuse (woman hairdresser) was very busy but we only waited a few minutes. Sandy told the coiffeuse her last cut was too short on the sides of her head. This time the coiffeuse didn’t use a razor at the end but “thinning” type scissors. Sandy was very pleased with the result. We made an appointment for our last cut on September 11.

After lunch we wanted to buy some sandpaper. A store called Titi-Gil is close to the Intermarché grocery store in Rocabey and carries many items. It is called a “destockage” store meaning it carries items other stores are getting rid of or selling when the store closes. They carry clothing, household goods, cans, bottled food, wine, hardware, beach items, and linens. Sandy found jars of jam with Kroger labels on them. We stopped in the store and bought a package of sandpaper for 1€50.

Next we walked to the Digue heading north, reached the end, and decided to walk back. We saw a lady carrying what Sandy thought was a weasel in her arms. She walked down the stairs to the beach and put down the animal she was carrying. We decided it was a ferret, wearing a harness and leash. The ferret proceeded to start digging a large hole in the sand. Whether it wanted to hide or was searching for it’s dinner we don’t know. A bizarre site on the beaches of Saint-Malo.

43984282982_7c7113a57f_z

kids learning to sail

29095791687_abd1512112_z

we’re guessing this is a ferret on a leash getting a walk on the beach – weird

le mercredi 15 août 2018 – Wednesday August 15, 2018

We planned to shop at the Intermarché grocery store after breakfast. We walked to the bus stop, then realized when looking at the arrival time posted that today was a holiday. It is the day of Assumption a religious holiday. The bus company considers it a holiday too and was running buses on a Sunday schedule. We didn’t wait too long, either coming or going and were soon back home. We’ll need to remember today being a “bus holiday” for next year .

The high temperature today was 21C, 69F. It was cloudy most of the day. Late in the afternoon we walked to the harbor to see what was going on. The tide was on it’s way out and we watched the water disappear from underneath the moored boats. Earlier in the week at high tide, we had counted only 3 visible cement blocks from the top of the water to the street. Today there must have been 20 visible cement blocks and the water was still receding. Quite interesting to watch!

merged

same spot on the harbor wall, the small insert photo is high tide the bigger picture is a low tide

29118282877_12f0470c34_z

a lot of gulls circling above the harbor

29118460237_504aaaf4b4_z

the Sea Cloud II was back in the basin this week – a beautiful ship

We enjoyed a kebab at Chez Marcel for dinner eating outside and watching all of the comings and goings of all the people.

le jeudi 16 août 2018 – Thursday August 16, 2018

Today Sandy spent two hours with her tutor Christine. On the walk to the bus at 9h30 there were more than 500 empty parking spaces around the Esplanade Saint-Vincent. On Sandy’s return walk at 12h40, there were only 8 spaces remaining and people were waiting in line in their cars at the entrances to the lots. Another big day for tourists!

While walking to and from Christine’s house you get to pass a large number of wonderful gardens with all kinds of flowers.  Here is a sample.

While Sandy was at the tutor, Phil went shopping at the E.Leclerc Hypermarche.  On returning to the Esplanade Saint-Vincent after shopping Phil saw two young boys looking rather lost.  They approached him and spoke in both French and English.  They were looking for the Corsaire Ferries terminal.  So Phil was able to explain to them how to get there.  But rather than letting them walk alone he accompanied them to the terminal.  They had traveled from Paris on the train this morning.  They were going to their Grandmother’s house in Dinard, across the harbor.  The oldest boy was maybe 15 and his brother must have been around 10 or 11.  We had some nice small talk on the walk.

In the afternoon the temperature dropped to 17C, 63F, and rained off and on. All of the flowers need refreshing and reviving.

Sandy was able to FaceTime with Michael at noon his time. So nice to hear his voice and see his face.

le vendredi 17 août 2018 – Friday August 17, 2018

Today is National Thrift Store Day in the United States. We hope everyone finds a good buy at their favorite store.

Sandy shopped at the Intra-Muros marché for fruit today. She likes to arrive by 9h15 to avoid the “rush”. Monsieur Alex and his assistants take plenty of time with her at that time of the morning.

Next we walked to Saint-Servan to shop at the butcher. It was a lovely morning, cool and partly sunny with no chance of rain. We purchased our meat, walked around the exterior stalls and headed for home.

We sat on a bench at the harbor and watched boats come and go about an hour before high tide. Since there hadn’t been any chance of rain and the sun was shining, we were very surprised to feel rain falling. We moved under a tree and it stopped in about 10 minutes. We weren’t the only ones caught by a surprise shower. There were quite a few people standing under neighboring trees before it stopped.

We did see a cat in a back pack today, which is rare.  Always many more dogs than cats.

30226106168_098a1fc711_z

cute little cat, probably a teenager, attempting to get out of the back pack

Across the harbor the Brittany Ferries ship BRETAGNE was loading caravans.

30225551968_738417849f_z

Brittany Ferries ship BRETAGNE loading a caravan

le samedi 18 août 2018 – Saturday August 18, 2018

The temperature was 13C, 55F, a little cool when Sandy walked to the boulangerie. She was woken up around midnight last night and could see the results this morning. At the top of the steps behind our apartment the restaurant had their outdoor planter damaged. It was a very large planter with a palm tree inside. It looked heavy enough that it needed two or three people to move it. It had been lifted off it’s bottom container and all of the gravel on top of the dirt dumped on the ground. Then it had been left in the center of the top step. Not nice!

On our way to the Esplanade Saint-Vincent we saw American, Canadian, and British flags flying next to the French flag on top of the wall by the Castle.

44113418261_a32a121451_z

BRITISH, CANADIAN, FRENCH and AMERICAN FLAGS on the castle wall

We walked on the Digue from the north end to the south end, after taking the #3 bus to the Rousses bus stop in Paramé. It was a very pleasant mid day with a lot of wind. High tide was only 20 minutes away but with a co-efficient of 62 the Digue did not have any water washing over it. There were many surfers in the water.

A curious thing on the digue today, the cat we saw at the harbor was taking its owners for a walk on the digue.

43206573925_098f8eb0b9_z

cat taking its owners for a walk on the digue

Later in the afternoon we spent some time on the harbor watching boats come and go.

le dimanche 19 août 2018 – Sunday August 19, 2018

On Sandy’s walk to the boulangerie, she was almost hit by a low flying seagull. It was one of the new birds, born this year, almost completely covered in brown feathers. Possibly it wasn’t skilled to fly high and was just testing it’s wings. Anyway, it’s a good thing Sandy can move quickly and to the side or they would have collided.

Another interesting note, Sandy saw a large car, double parked with it’s motor running on the street outside of the boulangerie . This is not normal. She noticed the bumper sticker which said, “I love nothing! I am Parisian!”, which would seem to fit in with their superiority complex. Inside the boulangerie a man was trying to put the lid on two “to-go” cups of coffee he had purchased. He didn’t get them on correctly and he dripped coffee on the floor all of the way out of the door . The madam said she would clean it up and to be careful. The boulangerie was busy with 3 of the 4 tables on the terrace occupied, a few tables in back occupied and Sandy was 5th in line.

Between 11:30 and 13:30 we watched the sailboats gather together to “parade” to Cancale for the remaining day of the “Branlebas de Régates : La mer en Fête” which is a 4 day race.

42321178830_376a4ddb4e_z

we set up our chairs on the wall to watch the boats on parade

43410754624_ab4bc7d7fd_z

some of the boats which participated in the parade

Over the eight years we have traveled to Saint-Malo we have seen many people fishing from the môle (breakwater), especially at high tide.  Today for the first time we saw someone catch a fish and it was a pretty good size fish.

guy caught a fish at high tide in the harbor

this guy caught a good size fish at high tide in the harbor

le semaine se terminant le dimanche 12 août 2018 – the week ending Sunday August 12, 2018

12 Sunday Aug 2018

Posted by in 2018-France

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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

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

le lundi 6 août 2018 – Monday August 6, 2018

Today was the first day of the two-day Intra-Muros braderie. Many individuals had already spread out their blankets, towels, etc to display their items for sale. Sandy just quickly glanced at them as she bought our breakfast.

On her way to the boulangerie she dropped off our recycling at the “center.” There are several “centers” around town both inside and outside the walled city. Today a man was standing in front of the garbage machine with his garbage bag in his hand. He looked at Sandy and appeared to need help.  She was not sure what language he was speaking. She pushed the open button, pulled open the door, the man threw his garbage inside, Sandy shut the door and pushed the compact button. The man said “okay, okay, merci” and they were both on their way. Since the written directions on the garbage machine are in English and French, he apparently did not read either language.

After breakfast we browsed through the many tables of goods for sale. This is a huge sidewalk sale where the majority of main street are full of goods for sale from individuals and the local businesses.

28953017367_0d81e57540_z

Intra-Muros braderie at the Place de la POISSONNERIE

We looked at many things but only made a purchase from the Bessec shoe store. Phil has had good luck shopping there the past two years. This year he needed better sandals to walk to the beach. He found a pair of Birkenstock sandals that are made of rubber. They had two bands across the foot and no backs. Perfect for wearing to the beach and easy to put back on after walking in the water.

After lunch we walked to the beach to go wading. There were so many people! The water had warmed up to 20C, 69F and felt wonderful! We walked a different route than usual to avoid the sidewalk sales and the main esplanade Saint-Vincent, where we catch the bus looked like a circus! Great for the local businesses.

42081380150_1efa3882ee_z

a lot of people on the beach today

le mardi 7 août 2018 – Tuesday July 31, 2018

When Sandy walked to buy our breakfast the streets were fairly quiet. She only noticed one individual setting up her sidewalk sale next to the boulangerie. However, after buying fruit at our marché then shopping for non-perishables at Intermarché grocery store at 10h00 the streets were again crowded.

On the way back from the Intermarché we saw a Republique Française emblem on a building across from the park in Rocabey.  This is the third one we have seen.  We don’t have any idea why they are on certain buildings.

30080476058_a3f03c3ace_z

Republique Française emblem, we have seen 3 of these in town, not sure why they are on display

Apparently Saint-Malo is one of a few spots in Europe or at least France that hasn’t been seriously affected by the heat wave. Our predicted high temperature of 22C, 72F is much better than the predicted high of 37C, 98.6F, in Paris. Since we are less than a 2 1/2 hour train ride this is one of the closest places to get some relief from the heat and enjoy the sea and beach. Let’s hope our luck with temperatures continues through the remainder of August.

Around lunchtime we heard thunder, the skies darkened, and it rained off and on for about an hour and a half. Good! The streets need a wash and the flowers need a drink.

le mercredi 8 août 2018 – Wednesday August 8, 2018

Sandy dropped off recycling on her way to the boulangerie. She thought the streets, sidewalks, and air smelled fresher than yesterday after the rain. The flowers in the Place du Legume aux Marché looked revived. The streets were calm.

Very early in the morning, before sunrise, a large sailing ship arrived in the harbor.  It was the Sea Cloud II.  It left late that same evening.

42138830390_7118ae8180_z

the Sea Cloud II sailing ship

Today Sandy spent two hours tutoring with Christine and Phil did a little shopping at E.Leclerc Supermarché. On Sandy’s way from Christine’s house to the bus stop (about a 10 min. walk) a lady driving by pulled over and asked Sandy where the market was in Paramé. Sandy was able to give her simple directions, in French, that were almost correct. Big improvement in Français!

42153119580_45843ffb98_z

saw a dog in a window while walking through Paramé to Christine’s house

Alain and his wife came to our apartment for an aperitif. They brought a gift as is normal in France when invited to someone’s house.  It was a nice visit and we discovered that he and his wife do not eat crackers, pretzels, or cashews. Good to know for the future.

le jeudi 9 août 2018 – Thursday August 9, 2018

Sandy shopped at Maison du Pain for our breakfast because it was raining when she woke up. The rain was predicted to come later in the morning, but arrived earlier. It was just a light mist, common for Saint-Malo. As the shop is only 80 steps from our front door it is close enough to avoid needing an umbrella.

It rained off and on until almost 15h00. The sun came out of the clouds and we were on the #8 bus to the Kennedy stop across from the north end of the Digue. Sandy wore a jacket, sneakers and socks since it was only 18C, 65F. We walked towards Intra-Muros straight into the wind. It was so strong that Sandy had to brace herself as she walked to avoid being knocked down. We felt completely wind-blown by the time we returned home. An invigorating walk for sure!

30078979458_088daf96c2_z

a few waves in  the water today

43899378842_0ee0e51d54_z

three young gulls taking a nap on the beachr

 

le vendredi 10 août 2018 – Friday August 10, 2018

The temperature had fallen after the rain yesterday and Sandy again wore a jacket to the boulangerie. She took our garbage, glassware, and recycling bag of plastics, paper, and cans to the recycling center. However, it was completely overflowing and she had to leave all of our items outside the depository on the sidewalk, as other people had already left their refuse. What a mess!

Around 11 am we took a bus to the Rocabey stop, went into Intermarche for butter and stopped in the pharmacy for eye drops.

29027032237_3a3b3e3045_z

we saw a magpie (pie in french) in the park by Rocabey on the way to the Intermarché

We walked home, and while it was windy, it wasn’t as strong as yesterday. The high temperature for today was 21C, 70F. Great walking weather.

it was still windy and the gulls were gliding around

it was still windy and the gulls were gliding around

le samedi 11 août 2018 – Saturday August 11, 2018

One of the younger assistants helped Sandy at the boulangerie. She told Sandy that her order was “ une chanson dans ma tête”, like a song in her head. Two croissants and a baguette Festival. Funny how our language sounds to other people, especially in French.

We took a bus to the Paramé Mairie stop to look at the marché. When we were there for tutoring on Wednesday there were so many vendors that their stands were almost encroaching into the street. Big surprise on Saturday! They went someplace else. There were only 4 or 5 stands on Saturday, so nothing interesting to look at. We walked 6 blocks to the Digue and enjoyed a leisurely walk home. According to our “steps” counter in a health app, it was about a 3 mile walk.

In the afternoon we spent some time at the harbor watching boats come and go. The tide was on it’s way in. It was surprising to see how fast all of the anchored boats went from sitting on mud to floating in water.

43980644051_45c467fb0d_z

the Commodore Goodwill, a cargo ship, always comes into port on Saturday

29042710237_b5f214ea08_z

after the Commodore Goodwill left the harbor, the Condor Ferries ship came into the harbor

le dimanche 12 août 2018 – Sunday August 12, 2018

It was very quiet when Sandy walked to the boulangerie. This is a day of Grande Marée, exceptionally high tide with a co-efficient of 109. It was very cloudy with rain in the forecast in the morning. Strong winds could make the tide dramatic and disruptive.

Well the tide was high, but there was very little wind, so the waves were minimal.

43094722325_b424c7eff9_z

the water was very close to the top of the wall in the harbor

43952123252_5f825bc97f_z

the tide caused all of the Plage de Môle to disappear

le semaine se terminant le dimanche 22 juillet 2018 – the week ending Sunday July 22, 2018

22 Sunday Jul 2018

Posted by in 2018-France

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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

le lundi 16 juillet 2018 – Monday July 16, 2018

France won the World Cup yesterday. People were celebrating for quite a while last night although Sandy slept through it.

In the morning she had to walk carefully through the debris on the streets from the celebrations last night on her way to purchase our breakfast this morning. By lunch time, the city workers had cleaned up all of the streets and everything was back to normal.

We walked in the ocean in the afternoon.  It was midway between high and low tide.

walk-at-low-tide-on-plage-du-sillon_43403773692_o

Fort National is accessible with the tide mostly out

It was a lovely night to eat outside and we enjoyed our dinner at one of the restaurants on the Place du Marché aux Légume.

le mardi 17 juillet 2018 – Tuesday July 17, 2018

The temperature was 16 C or 60 F when we woke up this morning. After breakfast Sandy shopped  at our local marché. She bought “pêche plat” (flat peach), a melon, and tomato cerise, but forgot to buy “un pacquet des fraises” a package of strawberries. We took the bus to the Intermarché grocery store, did a little shopping and returned home.  Sandy went back to the marché to get some strawberries, but they had sold out.  Monsieur Alix’s son told her when she forgot something don’t get in the regular line, just come into the back of their stand and they will get what she needs. New information to remember!

In the afternoon we went to the boules court and found our friend Alain deep in thought examining the situation on the court.

Alain, on the left, examing the situation on the court

Alain, in the gray shirt on the left, deep in thought examining the situation on the court

le mercredi 18 juillet 2018 – Wednesday July 18, 2018

Sandy met with Christine for her first tutoring session this year. Phil went to Bricorama, the hardware store, to purchase a replacement curtain rod for the kitchen. When he returned to our street there was a knife sharpener tradesman working at the corner.  He appeared to be sharpening knives for the restaurant next door.

knife-sharpener_29659564748_o

knife sharpener

knife-sharpener_41722733590_o

knife sharpener

 

After lunch we walked in the water at the shore. The wind was so strong out of the north it was almost too cool to be enjoyable. The sun felt warm, but we didn’t linger.

In the evening, our friends Jean-Louis and Claudine came with their 4-year-old granddaughter for an aperitif. It was an enjoyable 2 hours catching up with them.

In his retirement Jean-Louis is the head of a local track and field organization.  He is headquartered at the local soccer stadium. He told us about a visit from the FBI to the soccer stadium here in Saint-Malo. Saint-Malo will host 3 games for the U-20 women’s FIFA matches on Aug 6, 8, and 12th. The FBI with sharp shooters will be present during the games played by the USA team.

We had applied to work as volunteers at the games, but were not selected. They had almost 1600 people apply. We had a SKYPE interview conducted in French back in March.  We just received our rejection letter last week. Quel domage, what a shame.

le jeudi 19 juillet 2018 – Thursday July 19, 2018

We took care of some things around our apartment before lunch.

We also walked around to get a newspaper at the local tabac and presse. The sign on the shop had been hit out-of-place by a large truck, luckily it is mounted to the wall with a spring. So it was not broken, just in the wrong place.   The owner of the tabac came out to push it back into place, but she was too short to reach it even with the metal bar she had brought with her. So Phil helped out by taking the bar, reaching up and putting the sign back in place.

tabac-presse-loto-sign_41701080890_o

damaged Tabac sign back in place, notice the ding on the left side of the sign from the truck

Two hours after high tide we walked to the beach. The sun disappeared behind some clouds and we walked right into a strong wind. The walk in the water away from the ramparts was great, a little cool. The air temperature was 22 C. The walk on our way back to the ramparts was quite chilly. The wind was almost 15 kph and coming from the west, right off the water. Sandy was too cool by the time we returned home.

le vendredi 20 juillet 2018 – Friday July 20, 2018

It was even cooler today than yesterday morning, The predicted high temperature was 20 C, 68 F. The sun was out and it was very pretty, just cool. We walked to and from Saint-Servan to go to the marché. We wanted a piece of steak for dinner. The breeze was strong as we walked over the bridge for the lock. We saw over 50 jelly fish in the basin. Glad we weren’t swimming in there!

On the way back we saw four military personnel patrolling the street near our apartment.  We had not seen them for a while.

42848882134_338a588a72_o

4 military personnel patrolling the street near our apartment (see arrows above)

For lunch we tried a Carrefour pizza. They are oval-shaped. One was ham and cheese, the other 3 kinds of cheese. They were inexpensive!! The equivalent of $1.50 (US dollars) each. A tasty lunch for $3.00.

 

In the afternoon we walked to the boules court but no games were taking place. We brought our folding chairs with us and even Phil needed to sit in the sun for warmth. All 5 of the Corsaire ferries were operating, Taxi De La Mer and Captain Taxi made several trips back and forth, and sailboats were exiting the lock. Lots of activity.

43483974062_a08676f348_z

TAXI DE LA MER

le samedi 21 juillet 2018 – Saturday July 21, 2018

The streets were wet when we woke up today. We hadn’t heard any rain because of our granite building and our shutters. The forecast is for cloudy all day and a high of 23C, 73 F. Nothing like the terrible heat in the mid-west.

Today was the day for the grande braderie of Paramé. It is always held on the 3rd weekend of July. There are over 200 tables/blankets/places of items for sale. There are individual “stalls” just like garage sales in the USA and stalls from commercial stores, etc. We saw a surfboard for 5 euros, several wet suits, a snow sled, winter boots, and many toys, books, and clothing. We only bought a “pain au chocolat” to eat as a snack. There were 5 different bus routes that had detours caused by the braderie. It was a 2 hour round trip for us including bus rides going and coming, and the walking while browsing. It’s always an interesting spot.

A bit before 17h00 we walked toward the Salle Sainte Anne.  We stopped in the park by the Golden Tulip Hotel, LE GRANDE BÉ.img_0759_29696771958_o

At 17h00 we walked into the Salle Sainte Anne to listen to a local Malouin historian. img_0762_28680458297_oHis presentation was about the streets of Saint-Malo before 1944. It was about the Belle Epoque time around 1900 and ending around 1914 at the start of World War I. The photos were interesting to see because some of the buildings and streets are the same. Instead of a lock and a bridge between Saint-Malo and Saint-Servan there was a very tall platform on wheels to carry people and items across the basin. We’d seen other presentation of his and this was the best!

le dimanche 22 juillet 2018 – Sunday July 22, 2018

There were still available parking spaces when Sandy shopped for our breakfast. That means not all of the tourists have arrived for their vacation. That will probably change by next weekend.

Late in the morning we took the number 3 bus to the Rousse bus stop in Paramé.  From there we walked about 1 kilometer to the shore by Rochebonne.  We walked on the digue back to Saint-Malo.  Someone was flying a pretty butterfly kite. img_0772_41760054140_o

It was a bit warm in the sun, but a great day, very clear.

img_0765_42662640665_o

looking south on the digue at low tide, quite a wide beach

img_0766_42850389174_o

looking north on the digue at low tide, quite a wide beach

trois semaines en France, se terminant le 6 juin 2018 – three weeks in France, ending on 6 juin 2018

10 Sunday Jun 2018

Posted by in 2018-France

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷

This is the first blog entry for our trip to France in 2018.🇫🇷  We are looking forward to returning to our home away from home!  Back to Saint-Malo.

This entry will tell the story of our first three weeks in France with our friends from Illinois. Future entries will discuss the rest our stay in France which lasts until September 13, 2018.

🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷

mercredi 11 avril 2018 – Wednesday April 11, 2018

FIFA U-20 Woman’s World Cup in France.

Today we had an interesting experience using Skype.  A month or two ago we had applied to be volunteers at the FIFA U-20 Woman’s World Cup which will be held in France in 2018.  The matches will be held in Brittany, our region in France, during August 2018.  Some of the preliminary matches will be held in Saint-Malo, our town in France.  So, we decided to try to volunteer for the events.  We will be in Saint-Malo in June, July and August this year so the timing is good.

We initially submitted written applications through the FIFA Volunteer Portal website.  The applications resulted in interviews which were held on Wednesday April 11.  The interviews were done via Skype.  A very nice person at FIFA did a lot of adjusting of his schedule to do the interviews with us.  Sandy did the first interview at 8h00.  I had the second interview at 8h30.  Hopefully we will be accepted as volunteers.  The biggest obstacle to our getting selected is the requirement for “intermediate French language proficiency” which we may not possess.

Anyway it has been a good experience and we will hope for the best.U-20 WOMAN'S WORLD CUP FRANCE 2018 DisplayImageHandler.axdU-20 WOMAN'S WORLD CUP FRANCE 2018 B DisplayImageHandler.axd

 

A different start to our visit to France

We are scheduled to fly to France in the middle of May 2018.  We will be traveling with our friends Bill and Caron B.  Bill and Phil have been friends since college (many decades ago).  Caron’s father was in the US military and she was born in France.  They left France when she was a small child and she has not been back.  So, Bill and Caron are going with us to France.  We will spend a week or so in Paris, then travel to Strasbourg for three days, then on to Saint-Malo.  They will be spending around three weeks in France.  We do plan a Normandy D-Day site tour as part of our agenda.

We and the B’s have been planning this trip for quite a while.  We purchased our Air France tickets in November of 2017.  We will be traveling to their town in the next week or so to finalize the plans.

Bill’s surname is of French origin.  He does have French heritage via Canada.🇨🇦

mercredi 16 mai 2018 – Wednesday May 16, 2018

“the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry”

We are leaving for France today.  We will arrive in Paris around 8h00 on Thursday the 17th.  Our friends will not be flying with us.  Here is the story.

Bill B developed a leg problem about 10 days ago.  It caused him quite a bit of pain and discomfort.  It also seemed to baffle the doctors for a while.  The end result was that Bill’s doctor could not give him any guarantees about his ability to travel or about how he would feel in France.  So, Caron B came to the tough decision to continue her plans for France but without Bill.  Caron arranged for her cousin Donna to accompany her on the trip.  The airfare was a problem because Bill’s ticket could not be given to Donna.  She would have to purchase a new ticket.  Only 7 days before the flight the Air France ticket price was $3,200.  So, Caron cancelled her and Bill’s Air France tickets and got their money back because they had insurance.  Caron and Donna ended up with very reasonably priced tickets with Iceland Air and WOW.  They would fly via Reykjavik Iceland to and from Paris.  They would arrive in Paris just about 4 hours after Phil and Sandy.  All the rest of the planned arrangements, hotels, tours and trains, would be okay with Donna substituting for Bill.

So here we go!

jeudi 17 mai 2018 – Thursday May 17, 2018

Day 1 in France, Paris

Our Air France flight arrived almost an hour early.  As usual with a real early arrival our gate was not clear.  At Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport (CDG) when this happens they park your plane a good distance from the terminal, place a staircase by the plane, have you exit the plane and descend to the tarmac using the staircase, and then board a bus that takes you to the terminal.  People with a lot of carry on baggage had some difficulty. More fun after an 8 hour flight.

With our plane landing early we headed to the passport control area.  Here we queued with passengers from other flights for about 45 minutes before getting passed through to get our luggage.  Luggage was easy, it was waiting for us when we arrived at baggage pick up.

Our plan had been to take the regional train (RER B) into Paris, drop off our luggage at the hotel and then return to CDG to meet Caron and Donna as they exited baggage pick up at their terminal.  But with the long delay at passport control we had to give up that plan.  So now we had about 2 and a half hours until their plane arrived.

We took the CDG shuttle called CDGVAL (it is a light rail train between the terminals) to Terminal 3.  First we bought 20 tickets which would be good on the Paris metro and Paris buses.  Then we walked to the Hilton Hotel which is only about 100 meters from Terminal 3.  The restaurant was closed, but we were about to get breakfast at the bar.  So our first croissants were eaten at the bar in the Hilton.  We stayed a little over an hour at the bar. They had comfortable chairs, it was quiet, and their restrooms were free, close to the bar, and clean.

Then we took the CDGVAL to Terminal 1 and waited for Donna and Caron to arrive.  They were on time and had little trouble getting their luggage.  The good thing about flying through Reykjavik was they went through European Union passport control there instead of Paris.

We then took the CDGVAL back to Terminal 3 and rode the RER B train.  The trip was direct, with no stops and only took about 30 minutes.  We arrived at the Paris Gare du Nord without trouble.

Our next step was to take the number 26 or number 43 bus to the hotel.  We got lucky and a 26 bus was at the stop.  Using the tickets we had already purchased we took the bus to the hotel.  The trip was only about 10 minutes.

Checking into the hotel was easy.  Around 18h00 we headed out to visit the Galeries Lafayette Haussmann which was about a 15 walk from the hotel.  Well a couple of wrong turns caused us to walk a bit extra, but no harm.  After all it is still Paris!

After the Galeries Lafayette we walked back toward the hotel.  We ate at a nice restaurant called Abradavio which was only a couple of blocks from the hotel.  Sandy and I recognized the waiter from our visit here a couple of years ago.  A very nice man.

If you are looking for pictures of France you will have to click on this link 2018-France.  Our 2018-France album at the Flickr website will open in a new window. We have not sorted all the photos to put in the blog since there are almost 750 pictures currently out there. Maybe we’ll get around to it later.

vendredi 18 mai 2018 – Friday May 18, 2018

Day 2 in France, Paris and a trip to Bourron-Marlotte

Why a trip to Bourron-Marlotte?  Well Caron B was born in France.  Her father was in the US military at the time.  She and her parents lived in France for a little while before returning to the USA. Bourron-Marlotte was and is a little village near Fontainebleau which was the site of the US military base where Caron’s father worked.  Many of the US military personnel were housed in Bourron-Marlotte.  Caron had not returned to France so this was her chance to see the village where she and her parents lived.

We planned the trip to Bourron-Marlotte.

  • take the number 7 Paris metro line to Opera station
  • take the number 24 Paris metro line to the Paris Gare de Lyon train station
  • take the RER R train to the Bourron-Marlotte Gerz train station
  • play it by ear from here

We started out around 9h30. All went well and by approximately 11h15 we were standing at the Bourron-Marlotte Gerz train station with no taxis in sight.  Phil talked with a man and found out that it was about a 15 to 20 minute walk to the center of Bourron-Marlotte.  The man was Portuguese and was very helpful. We also talked with the train station attendant and got the same direction.

So we took a walk into Bourron-Marlotte.  We walked past farm fields, past horses and donkeys, and past the entrance to the Château Bourron estate.  We will have to save that for another day.

Our first stop was at a brasserie called Le Martingo.  We got some soft drinks and had a nice rest in the shade.  Then we started walking again.  We were headed for 151 Rue Général Leclerc.  Leclerc was a hero of the French army in World War II.  The street we were on was Rue Général De Gaulle.  De Gaulle was the leader of the French army in World War II.  He later became president of France.  The map showed us that Rue Général De Gaulle turned into Rue Général Leclerc in the middle of town, so we were headed the right way.  Our walk took us past the local Office de Tourisme where we stopped in and checked our directions.

A few minutes later we came to the address 151 Rue Général Leclerc.  The house Caron had lived in had been torn down.  She already knew this from viewing the location on Google Maps.  The house had been replaced with a modern looking home from perhaps the 1960s.  There is a high wall and high shrubs around the house and little could be seen.  We could see through a window in the house that someone was home. A small cow bell was hung on the gate and Caron rang it a couple of times, but the person in the house did not seem to hear it.  So after a few photos we headed back to the restaurant for lunch.

We had a very nice lunch at the Le Martingo.  By this time it was 15h00 so we headed back to the train station.  We got back to the hotel around 17h30 without any excitement.

samedi 19 mai 2018 – Saturday May 19, 2018

Day 3 in France, Paris

The plan today is to visit Notre Dame in the morning and then figure out the afternoon while eating lunch.

As usual the line to get into Notre Dame was quite long.  Sandy guided Caron and Donna through the process, but did not accompany them into Notre Dame.  She and Phil kept busy people watching by the statue of Charlemagne until Caron and Donna returned from their visit.

With all of Paris to see and just a few days to get it all in, we decided to investigate one of the hop on hop off bus tours, Big Bus.  We ended up purchasing the two-day Big Bus ticket which included a Seine boat ride.

So for the rest of the afternoon we took the Big Bus around Paris.  It was actually quite nice.  Each person was given earphones to plug into the audio description of the sights.  They had about 8 languages covered.

dimanche 20 mai 2018 – Sunday May 20, 2018

Day 4 in France, Paris

Today we will use the Big Bus to get us to the Arc de Triomphe.  It was fun taking the bus again and we did not have to wait long to get into the Arc de Triomphe.  The only issue was that while we thought there was an elevator we could not find one.  We ended up walking up a +300 steps to the top of the Arc de Triomphe.  It is a wonderful sight to look out over Paris and the massive roundabout below.

After the Arc de Triomphe we walked down the Champs-Élysées to the Cafe George V.  We got an outdoor table and had a nice lunch.

We returned to the Big Bus stop by the Arc de Triomphe and saw more of the city.

lundi 21 mai 2018 – Monday May 21, 2018

Day 5 in France, Paris

At 6h30 we took a taxi from the hotel to PARISCityVISION at 2 rue des Pyramides for our day trip to the D-Day memorials in Normandy.

Our tour took us to the following locations in Normandy.

  • the D-Day memorial museum in Caen
  • the Pointe du Hoc where the US Army Ranger Assault Group landed
  • Omaha beach where elements of the US Army landed
  • Juno beach where the Canadian Army landed

It was a very interesting tour and very emotionally moving.  We returned to the hotel at 21:30 that evening.

mardi 22 mai 2018 – Tuesday May 22, 2018

Day 6 in France, Paris

Today is PARISCityVISION Skip the Line Tour of the Eiffel Tower.  We took a bus to the Eiffel Tower area and walked around until we found the meeting place for our tour.  The tour was not due to start until around 16h00.  So we looked around and did some souvenir shopping.

Around lunch time we stopped at a local restaurant and had a very nice lunch.

The weather forecast was for afternoon showers.  As the day progressed the sky got more and more overcast until it was a dark gray.  As we started out with the tour group it became pretty dark and started to sprinkle.

By the time we got to the second level of the Eiffel Tower it had started to rain.  Rather than stay at the second level we took the elevator to the Summit.  Here it was really raining hard and small hail was accumulating on the floor.  So we were at the top of the Eiffel Tower in a thunderstorm.

We still managed to look around the Summit level.  We got to see more storms coming our way which was quite interesting.  We eventually found the Champagne Bar at the Summit and had a flute of champagne to celebrate.  Then back to the ground level.

It continued to rain as we walked toward what we thought was the nearest bus stop.  It was close, but it was also not operating due to road construction in the immediate area.  So we headed to the next stop, but that was about 10 minutes away.  By the time we arrived there we were pretty wet. At least the temperature was in the 70’s F.

The bus ride home was interesting.  By this time it was around 17h30 and there was a lot of traffic.  The bus got caught in a traffic jam at the Opera.  We were stopped there for almost 20 minutes.  A tour bus from Italy was trying to go the opposite direction and the driver was getting frustrated.  Twice he got out of his bus to direct Parisian drivers to move their cars in an effort to unblock the jam.  Caron saw another Parisian directing traffic.  He was NOT a policeman.

Rather than going to the hotel to dry off, we walked towards the hotel and headed to the Abradavio restaurant for dinner.  We even ate inside the restaurant to try to warm up from being so wet.

We had intended to take our Seine boat ride after the Eiffel Tower tour, but with the rain it was a washout.

mercredi 23 mai 2018 – Wednesday May 23, 2018

Day 7 in France, Paris

So today is the day to do some laundry.  Donna and Caron were going to explore the Opera area which was near the hotel.  Sandy and Phil had made plans to visit their friends in Chennevières-sur-Marne a suburb of Paris.

To get to Chennevières we took the Paris metro line 7 from Cadet to Opera to take the RER A train to Chennevières.  We were early for our 14h30 visit to our friends apartment, so we had lunch in a very nice restaurant near the train station.

According to the map, we had about a 20 minute walk to our friends apartment.  Unfortunately the map did not indicate that much of the walk was straight up the side of the valley created by the Marne River.  So after a 40 minute breathless walk we found our friends apartment.  We had a wonderful and emotional visit with them.  It was well worth our time to get to Chennevières.

If you are looking for pictures of France you will have to click on this link 2018-France.  Our 2018-France album at the Flickr website will open in a new window. We have not sorted all the photos to put in the blog since there are almost 750 pictures currently out there. Maybe we’ll get around to it later.

jeurdi 24 mai 2018 – Thursday May 24, 2018

Day 8 in France, Paris and then on to Strasbourg

We took a cab to the Paris Gare de l’Est for our train to Strasbourg.  Unfortunately our train was a victim of the labor strikes being held by the SNCF (French state train company) workers.  We were able to get on the next train and had to just spend a couple of hours in the train station waiting.

We had a short 10 minute walk from the train station to our hotel.

For dinner we went to an interesting Alsace restaurant called L’Ami Schutz (Friend Schutz).

vendredi 25 mai 2018 – Friday May 25, 2018

Day 9 in France, Strasbourg

As has been the pattern in the past when flying to Europe, Phil has always developed a sinus infection a few days after arriving.  So, today is the day the sinus infection really set in and disrupted his stay.

Sandy took over the translation, navigator and tour guide duties that she had shared with Phil.  So while he stayed in the hotel room, Sandy, Donna and Caron toured hot Strasbourg.

Strasbourg is in the Alsace department in eastern France.  Alsace has bounced back and forth between France and Germany for the last few hundred years.  It is very close to Germany, only separated for it by the Rhine River.  But being this far east it is affected by continental air masses which come in from Germany, Poland, Russia, etc.  So the weather is often hot and humid in the summer.  And so it was during our visit.

The ladies walked through an outdoor market featuring ready to eat food, fresh vegetables, fruit, cheese, and meat.  They inquired at the tourist office about visiting the Strasbourg Notre-Dame Cathedral and the astronomical clock, and a boat ride on the river Ille.  They took a “petite train ride” learning about the area, and “Petite France” the historic part of Strasbourg.  We bought our lunch at the French department/grocery store Monoprix and took it back to the hotel to eat.

We had reserved a half day wine tour while still in the USA which was scheduled for the afternoon.  Donna, Caron, and Sandy met the tour guide and two other Americans in front of the post office.  They enjoyed 4 hours of driving through the Alsace region, stopping at two family run vineyards and sampling 4 or 5 different varieties of wine at each location.  Phil, rested in the hotel.

samedi 26 mai 2018 – Saturday May 26, 2018

Day 10 in France, Strasbourg

Phil is still not feeling well, so the ladies are on their own again.

Today the temperature was 29 C – very hot!! The ladies walked to the Strasbourg Cathedral to reserve spaces for the astrological clock presentation at noon.  Reservations are only available each morning until space is sold out.  Sandy relied on her French to ask questions and make reservations.  She thanked the lady at the Cathedral for speaking slowly and clearly. Her practice all winter on Duolingo French (a language app) had helped.

After making the reservation for the clock, they walked to the Batorama boat tour office.  They reserved spaces for the 15h00 tour that afternoon.

There was a flea market going on so they walked through all of the tables and looked at everything.

Then it was time for the noon astrological clock presentation which was very interesting.

Sandy left Donna and Caron on their own for lunch so she could check on Phil back at the hotel.  She again purchased lunch at the Monoprix while Caron and Donna ate burgers and fries at a cafe.

The boat ride in the afternoon was on an enclosed, air-conditioned boat with glass sides and ceiling.  It sailed by the European Capital building and many other interesting places.

dimanche 27 mai 2018 – Sunday May 27, 2018

Day 11 in France, Strasbourg and then on to Saint-Malo

Up early to walk to the Strasbourg train station for our train to Saint-Malo.  This train ride was pretty uneventful.  Our Strasbourg train took us to Rennes and from Rennes transferred to another train for the last hour to Saint-Malo.

The biggest problem on this leg of the journey was the lack of taxis at the Saint-Malo train station.

When we got to our building at 4 Rue de la Coudre in the Intra-Muros part of Saint-Malo we found Monsieur and Madame Roussel waiting for us.  We had rented the Roussel’s ground floor apartment for Bill and Caron.  So now Caron and Donna were able to use the apartment.  Phil rested and the ladies enjoyed dinner at one of the local restaurants on the Place de Marché aux Legumes.

If you are looking for pictures of France you will have to click on this link 2018-France.  Our 2018-France album at the Flickr website will open in a new window. We have not sorted all the photos to put in the blog since there are almost 750 pictures currently out there. Maybe we’ll get around to it later.

lundi 28 mai 2018 – Monday May 28, 2018

Day 12 in France, Saint-Malo

Sandy went early in the morning to get Phil a doctor appointment at 11h15.  The doctor was impressed with the severity of Phil’s sinus infection and prescribed mass quantities of antibiotics and vitamins.  A visit to the pharmacist completed his morning.

Sandy, Donna, and Caron took a city bus to the Intermarche grocery store.  We bought items for breakfast, lunch, and essentials.

mardi 29 mai 2018 – Tuesday May 29, 2018

Day 13 in France, Saint-Malo

Sandy, Donna, and Caron shopped for fruit at our neighborhood market.  Sandy was glad to see Monsieur Alix, vegetable and fruit vendor, and he recognized her immediately.  They took a city bus to the Saint-Servan Rosarie to look at the beautiful rose garden.  Then they walked down hill to the marché to buy meat.  The butcher and his assistant were glad to see Sandy and they asked about Phil.

Next Sandy took Caron and Donna to the Condor Ferries office to see about visiting the Channel Island of Guernsey.  They were able to reserve spaces and a hotel for Friday night, returning at 9:30 pm Saturday.

mercredi 30 mai 2018 – Wednesday May 30, 2018

Day 14 in France, Saint-Malo

The ladies toured the Saint-Malo castle museum and walked out on the sand at low tide towards Fort National island.

In the afternoon Phil felt well enough to accompany them on a bus ride to the La Cite d’Alet.  It poured rain on the bus ride but the sun came out by the time we arrived and it was a lovely afternoon.   We walked on top of the Alet which has a the German bunker with a museum.  The walk on the Alet goes past 6 German at the military pillboxes, each pillbox weighs 47 tons. The wonderful ocean views are in contrast to the military relics.  It was a long walk home but we stopped at a beach cafe for ice tea and lemonade before returning to our apartment.

jeudi 31 mai 2018 – Thursday May 31, 2018

Day 15 in France, Saint-Malo

The ladies wanted to take an Island cruise on the Corsaire ferry but found out it wasn’t available until 4:30 pm.  So, they took the boat across the bay to Dinard.  They walked through the market, admired the 4 story bell epoque mansions, cliffs, and had lunch at a beach cafe.  They took the ferry back in the afternoon.

vendredi 1 juin 2018 – Friday June 1, 2018

Day 16 in France, Saint-Malo

Donna and Caron took the Condor Ferries ferry to Guernsey for an overnight stay on the Channel Island. Phil and Sandy took the bus to the Intermarche for another grocery store trip.

samedi 2 juin 2018 – Saturday June 2, 2018

Day 17 in France, Saint-Malo

Phil and Sandy took the bus to Paramé to shop at the market for meat.  The butcher and his assistant were glad Phil was feeling better.

Donna and Caron returned from their trip to Guernsey.  The ferry arrived a couple of minutes late at around 21h00.  We met them at the ferry terminal and walked them back to the apartment.  The reports from Guernsey were good, including a high tea, a nice hotel, and a visit to a castle.

dimanche 3 juin 2018 – Sunday June 3, 2018

Day 18 in France, Saint-Malo

We went to lunch at the Hotel Brasserie Armoricaine.  The Armoricaine is a traditional French restaurant.  White table cloths, old-fashioned decor, traditional Sunday menu and a professional wait staff.  We had a very nice lunch as we always have had in the past at this restaurant.

lundi 4 juin 2018 – Monday June 4, 2018

Day 19 in France, Saint-Malo

Sandy joined Donna and Caron for lunch and some tourist shopping. Back at the apartment Phil made meatballs.

We had Donna and Caron over for dinner this evening enjoying the meatballs with spaghetti.

mardi 5 juin 2018 – Tuesday June 5, 2018

Day 20 in France, Saint-Malo and a trip to CDG

We all took a taxi at 9h30 to the train station.  Caron and Donna’s first leg of the trip back to CDG was on the local Brittany TER train.  That train would take them to Rennes where they would get on the SNCF TGV train for the trip to CDG.

Later in the day Caron called from their hotel at CDG.  They didn’t have any problems getting on the second train in Rennes. However they got lost in the train terminal at CDG.  They went up and down escalators and asked for directions. The escalators are hazardous with luggage and you can easily lose your balance. Caron fell down the escalator with her luggage landing on top of her.  Donna yelled for help and another traveler stopped to help them up.  They finally made it to the hotel and were ready for a rest.  Caron was a bit bruised but a trip to the hospital was not needed.

mercredi 6 juin 2018 – Wednesday June 6, 2018

Day 21 in France, CDG and Reykjavik, Iceland, and Chicago, Illinois, USA

Caron and Donna left France almost two hours behind schedule.  Apparently there were weather related delays at CDG.  They were flying WOW airlines to Reykjavik with a connecting WOW flight from Reykjavik to Chicago.  WOW airlines got them on the flight to Chicago and they landed at Chicago O’Hare Airport a couple of hours late.  But they made it!

A special note should be made that according to Caron’s Fitbit, Sandy, Caron and Donna walked around 5 miles each day in France!

So ends the three week soujourn of Caron and Donna.  Well done!

If you are looking for pictures of France you will have to click on this link 2018-France.  Our 2018-France album at the Flickr website will open in a new window. We have not sorted all the photos to put in the blog since there are almost 750 pictures currently out there. Maybe we’ll get around to it later.

 

9 octobre 2016 à Saint-Malo – October 9, 2016 in Saint-Malo

10 Monday Oct 2016

Posted by in août poster 2016 - August 2016 post, octobre poster 2016 - October 2016 post

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , ,

Saturday October 1, 2016

Saturday October 1, 2016 is drizzly and only 13 C when Sandy shops for our breakfast.  Our dinner last night at Diver’s Cite was delicious!  But, we discovered that their little white male dog thinks the terrace is just like being outside in the way of “marking” his territory.  It will make me think twice next year before asking to be seated on the terrace.  We wanted to look at local Bretagne gifts and took the bus to the area near the Aquarium to shop at the Atelier D’Emelie.  We stopped at the Carrefour La Madeleine first to buy super-glue then got back on the bus.  It was just one stop to the Atelier D’Emelie, but the bus was at the stop and it would have taken us 5-10 minutes to walk.  As we approached the shop we could see the shutters were closed.  The sign on the window said they were closed indefinitely.  What a disappointment!  Sandy had searched the tourism site just before we left to make sure they were open.  She sent a note to the tourism center informing them of the closure.  Their reply was, since the tourism site was unable to reach anyone by phone they couldn’t remove the listing, but they did indicate that the shop might be re-opening in the fall.  At least others will see the note and call before leaving home.

Sunday October 2, 2016

Sunday October 2, 2016 is again drizzly when Sandy shops for breakfast.  The high temperature for today was 16 C.  Our apartment is also cooling down and with windows closed is just above 20 C (68 F).  We took a walk over the ecluse (lock) and walked along the beach towards the Tour Solidor in Saint-Servan.  The tide was out, way out!  The sun was trying to peak through a large bank of clouds but the day was pretty cloudy until we were almost home.  Then it was a bright sunny day.  There was very little wind but the air still was fresh and clean.

fluffy-cloud_29951686312_o

At the Plage Solider with a dark set of clouds passing + approaching

fluffy-cloud_30064886175_o

Beautiful white cloud floating over Saint-Servan

After we returned Sandy made eggplant parmesan and spaghetti for dinner.  Delicious!  We talked to our son over FaceTime and were even able to see his kitty.  She appears to be a bit larger than when we left last March.

Monday October 3, 2016

Monday October 3, 2016.  Sandy shopped at La Fournee Malouine for our breakfast and the propritrice told her they would be closed the next two days.The low temperature was 8 C. Good thing Simon boulangerie is only closed on Monday.  After breakfast we took the #8 bus to the Kennedy stop (north end of digue) and walked back.  The sun felt nice and warm, there was little wind, the air was clean and so clear we could see for miles.  This is one of our favorite walks as we are directly on the ocean front the entire way home.  It was a good day to enjoy chili for lunch.

Tuesday October 4, 2016

Tuesday October 4, 2016 is very chilly as we walk to the bus on our way to Christine’s house for tutoring.  Phil wore a jacket and Sandy had on a fleece sweater with a jacket on top.  After getting off the bus, Sandy wore her gloves and ear bands on the walk to Christine’s house. Fall is here!  The forecasted high temperature was 19 C but the wind was very strong making it feel much cooler. We haven’t turned the heat on yet, but Christine said their’s had been on at night.  As we walked out of Christine’s front yard, Phil grabbed Sandy’s jacket to keep her from being hit by a car.  Sandy recognized the driver as Anne B our realtor (immobilier) that helped us buy our apartment here.  We talked for just a minute as Anne was already late for an appointment.  How funny to see her in a residential portion of Parame. On our walk back to the bus, we saw a kumquat plant in Christine’s neighborhood.  It must have gotten fairly cold last night because the heat turned on in our bedroom.

kumquats_30109236055_o

Kumquats

29995129592_e3d0922c3a_o

Kumquat blossom

Wednesday October 5, 2016

Wednesday October 5, 2016.  The predicted high temperature for today was 20 C although the day started very cool.  We took the 9:20 #8 bus to the Courtoisville stop to shop at the Carrefour Market.  We were almost out of everything except yogurt, so we had to buy some food.  We purchased cabillard  (cod)  to have for dinner, salad, some fruit, and a few other items.  Just two small handheld recyclable bags, so not too much.  It takes 5 minutes on the bus to reach the store but we missed the bus returning by 3 minutes.  Rather than wait 35 minutes for the next bus, we took a different bus to the train station (gare) and waited to transfer.  However, there must have been a delay on several other lines because we waited 15 minutes then two different lines showed up at the same time.  Both of them were going to the Intra-Muros.  Oh well. Phil is wearing his heavy coat that he leaves here and Sandy is wearing a fleece jacket underneath a nylon jacket and gloves.  After lunch we took the recycling, glass, and garbage to dispose of then walked out to the harbor.  The tide was low so there was a lot of “muck” or mud visible with sea weed laying on top of it.  We watched a seagull, probably a goeland pick up sea weed with it’s beak, move it or throw it to another spot, then eat something that was hidden underneath.  He was a very smart gull.

trimaran-in-the-harbor_30098937286_o

Quiet afternoon by the harbor at low tide.

Thursday October 6, 2016

Thursday October 6, 2016 is almost cold.  The low temperature was 8 C with a sensation of 6 C.  Sandy shopped for a croissant for Phil’s breakfast and the boulanger at Simon saw her coming down the street.  He had a warm baguette waiting for her as she entered the boulangerie.  Great service here! Late in the afternoon we walked to the harbor.  It was very windy and we were glad to be in full sun.  The high temperature reached 17 C.

sandy-feeding-the-gulls-on-the-digue_30065268901_o

Sandy feeding the gulls on the digue

looking-down-the-digue_30114745966_o

Looking down the digue

Friday October 7, 2016

Friday October 7, 2016 the low temperature was 8 C when Sandy walked to the boulangerie.  She could tell that it was much cooler as this was the first time that the door to the boulangerie was closed.  It wasn’t even hot inside with the ovens running, so it must have been cool outside.  After breakfast we walked to Saint-Servan to shop at the marché.  The ship Hamburg entered the ecluse (locks) while we were eating breakfast and they were taking walking tours and bus tours of people to sites as we walked by.  Since so many vendors are on their annual conge (vacation) here, Sandy tried new stands and new foods today.  She bought red grapes  from Italy without seeds, brown mushrooms, and tangerines.  All of them are a different variety than we are used to.  The omelette Sandy made for lunch was delicious.  The “new” mushrooms were tasty, yet seemed to have a forest type flavor, if there is such a thing.  They were definitely stronger than white mushrooms, but good. It was cool enough that Phil turned the heat on in the living room and dining room in the evening.  Much better!

30165787685_7b7eb76920_o

Some interesting cauliflower at the marche this morning

29547954363_f1550859db_o

Cruise ship HAMBURG in the basin

Saturday October 8, 2016

Saturday October 8, 2016  was warmer than yesterday.  It was 12 C when Sandy shopped for our breakfast.  After breakfast we walked to Saint-Servan.  The city had organized a “National day of commerce” to feature the boutiques and invite the community to shop in a new neighborhood.  Sandy thought she had seen a few items she’d like to take back to the U.S. so we headed there.  We wanted to take the navette bus from Porte Saint-Vincent but missed it by 30 seconds.  It pulled away as we arrived at the stop.  We walked there and back for about 4 kilometers.  The two shops Sandy wanted to visit were both closed for their annual vacation.  Instead she purchased a pizza from the Au Panier Italy and we enjoyed the pizza for lunch.  One of the shops reopens Tuesday so she has time to visit.  Later in the afternoon we walked to the harbor.  Sandy is continuing to feed left over bread to birds and took a few slices with us.  We watched a man row his dinghy back to the ramp, put it on his trailer and went full speed up the ramp.  A very funny thing happened though, he was almost to the top and the trailer came unhitched.  Good thing a pedestrian saw it and kept it from rolling back down the ramp.  Someone might have been hurt.

29566267244_7167769d0b_o

Sun glistening off the harbor – a dark cloud moving left to right kept the sparkling water moving away from Saint-Malo toward Dinard

29566310073_ed0274c547_o

Dark clouds moving over the harbor from left to right.

30195434195_f64dd68524_o

A Pie (magpie) near our bench at the harbor

29566280104_4d1c8ed5e6_o

A sparrow is the benefactor of Sandy’s old bread feeding

Sunday October 9, 2016

Sunday October 8, 2016 is 11 C when Sandy walked to buy our breakfast.  There is very little wind and it feels cool and fresh.  In the afternoon we took the recycling to the center and walked up and down rue de Dinan on the main street.  We were looking for gift ideas to take back to the U. S.  It was easy to walk around because the streets were not crowded.  Very enjoyable!  We saw a couple of things worth considering but only one of them was made in France.  Seems silly to buy something made in Spain when we’ve been in France for 8 months.  We’ll think about our options and decide tomorrow.  Sandy cooked a pork roast for our Sunday dinner with new potatoes, peas, and apple sauce.  For dessert we had caramel ice cream.  Delicious!  This is our last week in France.  There are many things to be put away, washed, and organized.  We’ll need to take two days worth of clothes to wear in Paris, and probably one set of clothes for our first morning back in Winona.

29915898510_2dd0623950_o

Place du Marché aux Légumes