lundi 29 juillet 2019 – Monday July 29, 2019

The temperature in our apartment this morning was 20C (68F). So much better than a few days last week. The forecast in western France is for very strong winds this afternoon and evening-up to 100 kph (62 mph). That should significantly affect the high tide today.

We wanted to walk along the digue (seawall) this morning and walked towards the Esplanade Saint-Vincent where the bus stop is located. A bus #8, which follows the coast was parked at the stop. We decided to take it to the end of the digue and then walk back. Convenient! Usually this bus is jam packed with people wanting to go to various beaches. Not today. We got off at the Kennedy bus stop and walked along the digue. The tide was out, lots of sea weed at this first beach but very breezy. It was the only place along the entire 4 kilometer walk that we saw a significant amount of sea weed.

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Once we reached the Intra-Muros most all of the parking spots were full. Only the underground location had a line to enter and showed spaces remaining. We read in the paper that yesterday was the “change-over weekend” where people vacationing for the month of July were returning and people coming to vacation for August were arriving. We couldn’t see any difference or increase in numbers yet.

We had a nice if brief visit to the Plage du Môle to cool off in the ocean.

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mardi 30 juillet 2019 – Tuesday, July 30, 2019

It rained over night, but we didn’t hear a thing since our building is made from granite. The weather forecast was for rain and wind this afternoon.

As we walked past the basin this morning we saw the Spanish ship El Galeón Andulucia. It had come in yesterday for a 4 or 5 day visit.

We decided to walk to Saint-Servan, stop at the market, then head to the beach near the Solidor Tower where there is a brocante, an antique sale and flea market every Tuesday. Sandy wore a jacket for the first time since the evening of the July 14th fireworks. The wind hit us in the face as soon as we exited Intra-Muros. It was a constant 25 kph from the southwest with gusts around 40 kph. We held on to each other as we crossed the bridge. There seemed to be a lot of empty parking lots today. Maybe people returned home or stayed away with the weather forecast.

At the marché Sandy wanted round zucchini, having seen so many last Saturday. None today! She bought a yellow pepper and normal shaped zucchini instead. There were only about one third of the usual exterior stalls at the market. We also purchased a little meat at the butcher.

We walked towards the beach in Saint-Servan. Again, the wind was very strong. At the Solidor brocante only about half of the normal amount of displays were outside today.

We walked back over the bridge to return and decided it was too windy to stay outside any longer. We felt like we had fought the wind the entire 4 kilometer trip. In the afternoon there were at least 3 different rain showers. None of them lasted very long or were very strong but the wind continued.

mercredi 31 juillet 2019 – Wednesday 31 July 2019

The last day of July! Where did our time go and how could tomorrow be August already? Lovely cool but sunny morning. The wind from yesterday has moved on. Sandy read in the local paper about two events yesterday. The first, a sailboat with 4 passengers had capsized in the wind and had to be rescued by helicopter. The second, a swimmer, had to be rescued. Both articles repeated warnings to everyone to be aware of the weather when entering water either on foot or on a boat. Ditto for Michigan!!

Sandy met with Christine today. Christine’s daughter, who lives in Paris, is getting married on 12 September 2020 in Saint-Malo. The next year will be exciting for them.

Our afternoon walk again proved interesting. No boules game, possibly due to the wet court, but there was a lot of action on the ramp leading to the ocean. Since this is the 75th anniversary of the Liberation of France there are lots of activities to commemorate the event. There was a group of men dressed in American army uniforms from WW II, a jeep, a tow truck, another vehicle, and the landing craft docked a little way out into the water from the ramp. All of the vehicles appeared to be from the WW II period. We watched, along with many other people, while the soldiers backed the vehicles down the ramp, waded into the ocean, and parked the vehicles on the landing craft. The landing craft had it’s front ramp lowered into the water and indicated it was from Normandy. With all four vehicles, plus a group of men, it moved off slowly into the English Channel. It was bound for Granville on the Cotentin Peninsula in Normandy.

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We will have more about the World War II reenactments as we get closer to the date of the liberation of Saint-Malo by the American Army under General Patton on August 17, 1944.

jeudi 1 août 2019 – Thursday August 1, 2019

Cool, humid, and cloudy this morning. We purchased new monthly bus passes and started to walk to the Intermarché. Along the basin we saw the Etoile du Roy and the Le Français leaving the basin for their trip to Paimpol where there is a large festival scheduled for the next few days.

Paimpol is also home to the bi-annual “Festival du chant de marin” (sea shanty festival) which attracts thousands of visitors over three days in August.

Wikipedia contributors, “Paimpol,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Paimpol&oldid=897649307 (accessed August 4, 2019).

We did our shopping at the Intermarché grocery store and stopped at the Rocabey market. Sandy purchased two cordon bleu pieces and a piece of Comte cheese by herself. All went well.

As we walked to the bus stop to return, one of the lady boules players arrived. We greeted her and she responded with a smile and a “bonjour”. Nice to be recognized.

Our local paper, Le Pays Malouin (the Malouin country) had many articles concerning the military reenactments which use equipment like we saw at the harbor ramp yesterday.

Chez Marcel was our choice for dinner tonight. They are famous for kebabs. Not the “shish kebobs” that are well known in the USA but shredded lamb, shredded lettuce, fresh tomatoes all piled high in a pita type flat bread. The kebabs are served with belgian style fries and are delicious with their “fait maison” (home made) white sauce.

After eating we enjoyed an ice cream cone, chocolate for Phil, and rhubarb for Sandy from Sanchez as we waited for entertainment. Each Thursday night in August the Les Corsaires Malouins singers sing “Sea Shanties” from the area. To be included as a member of this group you not only have to have been born in Saint-Malo, but also still reside here. There were about 14 singers present last night.

vendredi 2 août 2019 – Friday August 2, 2019

Today was a day of high tide with a co-efficient of 100. We walked to the Porte de Dinan to see the ocean before shopping at the boulangerie. There were only 4 rows of stones showing at the top of the wall. Good thing there was little wind today or there would have been a lot of flooding. There were several warnings in the newspaper reminding tourists to be careful where they park. We’ve seen many cars underwater due to careless parking during a high tide.

Stopped in to visit with our friends Marie-Dominique and her husband Michel at their HÔTEL QUIC EN GROIGNE. Their hotel is listed as #1 hotel in Saint-Malo. We stayed with them the first two times we visited Saint-Malo for vacations back in 2010 and 2011. They were fine and so is their family.

Our next stop was the post office for stamps and a quick stop at a gallery where we purchased two inexpensive watercolors of the local area. We want to replace two pictures in our bedroom in Michigan and these will look great.

We stopped at the boutique named Entre Mer et Plage to buy a key caddy. We found one made out of metal with three sailboats. Very appropriate for here.

Finally we stopped to see our friend Jean-Louis Jacob at his pottery boutique. Sandy purchased a candle for us to take to Michigan and another small gift. He had new fabric bags this year with his logo and Saint-Malo-Quimper on the front. He gave us two since we are good friends and also customers. It was a successful and enjoyable morning.

After watching the boules game for over an hour we headed to the harbor to check out the tide. This mornings 4 rows of stones showing turned into 28 rows of stones showing this afternoon. In fact, the entire wall was out of the water.

samedi 3 août 2019 – Saturday August 3, 2019

On our way to Saint-Servan this morning, we stopped to look at the high tide. It was about the same level as yesterday with a co-efficient of 104.

Saint-Servan was having their summer street wide flea market and we love to look at everything. We didn’t buy a thing, but wandered through the streets for over 5 kilometers, just browsing.

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On the way back from Saint-Servan we walked through the Solidor area by the harbor. It always seemed like we walked here at low tide, but today it was a beautiful high tide.

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Before going to the apartment, we stopped at the harbor and saw this interesting site, a dog getting off a boat with its life jacket on. Cute and its owners care about its safety.

And we also saw the new rescue boat for the fire department.

We watched the boules game in the afternoon and Pierre talked to Phil about joining them as a player next year. Sandy always thought Pierre had been a professor and Phil asked him. He taught music, especially the coronet. Another player, Philippe owns a white Scottish Terrier named Gavroche. He is a darling dog and very photogenic.

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Lots, and lots of people with children in town today.

dimanche 4 août 2019 – Sunday August 4, 2019

Happy Anniversary to us! 46 years of marriage today.

We walked to Rocabey to look at the braderie (flea market) sponsored by the Handicapped Society of France. It is a very small event with only 4 tents. The items for sale have been donated by families when someone dies. There was a table full of books, religious artifacts, linens, and antiques / old, but not antique, household goods. Sandy always wants to teach them to organize the linens, but they just heap 4 folding tables with everything. If you’re looking for a pillowcase you literally have to search through dozens of other items. You might be lucky and find something or not.

We walked back along the ocean just after high tide. There was almost no beach all up and down the coast.

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The weather forecast listed the air quality here as “Excellent!” today. We think it’s excellent everyday.

For our mid-afternoon 46th Wedding Anniversary dinner we again ate at the B’Art à Thé on the Place du Marché aux Légumes. We had a nice surprise, we got to taste the chilled cantaloupe melon soup. It was very good. The meal was delicious!

How to view additional photos.

You can view an album of photos by clicking one of the following links. The photo album will open in a new browser window with the photos.

Click here for all the July photos in France

Click here for all the June photos in France

Click here for photos of La Roseraie Saint-Anne

Click here for the photos in Paris