MONDAY-25th took the number 6 bus to BricoMarché, the local big box hardware store, to look into ideas to keep Sophie from escaping the apartment. Did not really come up with any good ideas, so we will just have to stay vigilant.
In the afternoon we walked to the harbor.
Threatening skies in the afternoon, but no rain.
TUESDAY-26th had our haircuts at Studio 3 at 10:30. Then we went to the Intermarché Super for our normal big store shopping.
In the late afternoon we took a walk to the harbor and then headed to the Café de L’Ouest to meet our friend Jean-Michel for a drink. He surprised us by bringing crêpes to the resto. So with our Orangina drinks we got to try some very tasty crêpes. The crêpes were from the crêperie owned by the same company, Maison Hector, which owns the Café de L’Ouest. They own 4 or 5 restaurants in the area. Well the crêpes were wonderful, so we will have to try the crêperie in the next couple of weeks. Jean-Michel was giving us a taste of the crêpes which originated here in western France, Brittany.
the Renardthe Renardobviously a helicopterobviously a helicopterobviously a helicopterthe Renard, a replica sailing vessel and a modern helicopter, both by the harbor
WEDNESDAY-27th We did a long walk on the digue in the morning to see the sights.
Sights we saw on the digue Wednesday morning.
In the afternoon we went to the boules court and then to the harbor. There were a lot of people traveling back and forth between Saint-Malo and Dinard which is on the other side of the bay of Saint-Malo. It is a 15 minute boat ride.
A lot of people coming and going on the shuttle boat between Saint-Malo and Dinard.Fishing boat unloading its catch at the harbor.Sights at the harbor this Wednesday afternoon.
THURSDAY-28th was the day the city water department decided to tear up the street about 30 meters from our apartment building. They made a lot of noise to replace about 3 meters of pipe.
tamping down ground after the repair and before laying the asphalt
In the morning we walked to the Rocabey marché for meat; sausages, beef and sandwich ham.
a magpie on our way to the Rocabey marché
In the afternoon we walked to the boules court where we saw the vans from the BACKROADS bicycle tour company. They are a common sight here in Saint-Malo in the summer. Bicycling is a very popular activity in the area of Brittany.
BACKROADS cycling tours, a common sight in the summer
FRIDAY-29th And without any demands on our time we took a walk to the Bas Sablons area of Saint-Malo. It is the area just south of us that has the big harbor for pleasure boats. There we explored an area which we had not visited for at least 5 years. We found a nice resto/bistro to have a drink before returning home.
resto/bistro we foundviews from the end of the pier on the Bas Sablons side of the harbor.
In the evening we met our friend Guy for drinks. We met at a resto/bistro across the street from the train station which was about the same distance from both of our apartments. The Cuisine de rue is a small resto/bistro which was perfect for our needs. We had Oranginas, beers and chips. We were able to catch up with what was new with Guy. It was a very nice evening.
SATURDAY-30th and we took the bus to Rochebonne and returned via the digue.
In the afternoon we were at the harbor as the Commodore Goodwill left for its next stop.
SUNDAY-31st the last day of the month. An overcast day without sun in the morning. We took the number 9 bus from the esplanade Saint-Vincent to the Kennedy bus stop in Rochebonne. Then we walked along the digue on our way home.
Our balcony with Sandy’s great looking geraniums!Pictures from our walk on the digue on this last day of July.
Now that you have made it this far you have a choice on how to continue. Below is an album of photos from this week titled 2022-07-31 week album. There are two ways you can view the photos.
The first way is to click on the title area of the album. So click on the 2022-07-31 week album and the album will open in FLICKR.
The other way is to click on the right >arrow in the area below. Clicking on the arrow will show the next photo in the album.
Monday afternoon walk to the harbor and mole
Monday afternoon walk to the harbor and mole
Monday afternoon walk to the harbor and mole
Tuesday afternoon walk to the harbor
Tuesday afternoon walk to the harbor
Tuesday afternoon walk to the harbor
Tuesday afternoon walk to the harbor
Tuesday afternoon walk to the harbor
Wednesday morning walk on the digue
Wednesday morning walk on the digue
Wednesday morning walk on the digue
Wednesday morning walk on the digue
Wednesday morning walk on the digue
Wednesday afternoon walk to the harbor
Wednesday afternoon walk to the harbor
Thursday morning walk to Rocabey marché
Thursday morning walk to Rocabey marché
Thursday afternoon at the boules terrain
Finishing the water pipe repairs
Finishing the water pipe repairs
Finishing the water pipe repairs
Finishing the water pipe repairs
Finishing the water pipe repairs
Finishing the water pipe repairs
Finishing the water pipe repairs
Friday morning walk to Bas Sablons
Friday morning walk to Bas Sablons
Friday morning walk to Bas Sablons
Friday morning walk to Bas Sablons
Friday morning walk to Bas Sablons
Friday morning walk to Bas Sablons
Friday morning walk to Bas Sablons
Friday morning walk to Bas Sablons
Friday morning walk to Bas Sablons
Friday morning walk to Bas Sablons
Friday morning walk to Bas Sablons
Friday morning walk to Bas Sablons
Saturday morning walk on the digue
Saturday morning walk on the digue
Saturday morning walk on the digue
Saturday morning walk on the digue
Saturday morning walk on the digue
Saturday morning walk on the digue
Saturday morning walk on the digue
Saturday morning walk on the digue
Saturday morning walk on the digue
Saturday morning walk on the digue
Saturday morning walk on the digue
Saturday afternoon at the harbor
Saturday afternoon at the harbor
Saturday afternoon at the harbor
Saturday afternoon at the harbor
Sunday morning walk on the digue
Sunday morning walk on the digue
Sunday morning walk on the digue
Sunday morning walk on the digue
Sunday morning walk on the digue
Sunday morning walk on the digue
Sunday morning walk on the digue
That is all for this week in Saint-Malo.Au revoir.
The Intra-Muros braderie, sidewalk sales and flea market, is all day today and tomorrow. Our friend Marie Dominque and her twin daughters were at the Place du Marché aux Légumes at 5h30 this morning to set up their items for sale. The girls are now 16 years old and have a lot of toys, stuffed animals, and a little clothing to sell. They use the money for spending all year. Their parents have a few household items and pictures for sale outside of their hotel. We walked around quite a bit, looked at lots of things, but didn’t buy a thing.
pirate-play-raft – the local toy store had this raft ready for Sandy, she declined a ride
We spoke to our neighbor, Madame Dominque, from upstairs and the “Parisian guy” at the end of our street. The “Parisian guy” sells old post cards at many of the braderies.
It drizzled off and on all afternoon. Sandy finished washing our french doors both inside and outside. They are the doors leading to our balcony and have an overhang.
mardi 6 août 2019 – Tuesday, August 6, 2019
On our way out this morning we saw Jean-Michel, our neighbor from #6 on our street. We hadn’t seen him for a couple weeks and wondered if he was out of town. He lives on the 4th floor of his building (the equivalent of 5th in the USA) and complained about the heat during our couple of hot days. He’d just returned from swimming and said he prefers the Plage du Sillon.
We purchased fruit and legumes at the marché. We also stopped at the florist and purchased some lovely small roses.
small red and white roses
small red and white roses
The beach, Plage du Sillon, was named France’s most beautiful beach last year. This year it is number 2 in France. We’ve taken many pictures up and down and love to walk on it.
In the afternoon we had a little walk by the harbor. The town is very crowded.
Sandy in the foreground wearing robin egg blue getting ready to head into the crowd.
mercredi 7 août 2019 – Wednesday, August 7, 2019
Sandy reads the Saint-Malo tourism site daily to see what events are happening. Today she read, again, about a special fishing event. When the tide is low enough, the city offers fishing lessons for catching EELS! The site encourages people to bring headlamps, wear boots, and to try to be quicker than the eel. It’s not an event we will partake. Ugh!
We took a 5 kilometer walk on the digue. We saw quite a few different activities going on at the beach this morning.
ocean walkers, people wearing wet suits walking chest high in the water
sailing students, a group of children taking lessons on sailing boats
people flying kites
people on paddleboards
kids getting a lesson on how to surf
wind surfers
people surfing, or at least trying to surf
three dogs – dogs ride behind their owner’s bike in a trailer
1 ocean walkers
2 sailing students
3 flying a kite
4 paddleboard
5 learning to surf
6 wind surfers
7 surfers
8 three dogs in their bike trailer
At the boules game this afternoon Philippe, Gavroche the Scottish Terrier owner, introduced himself to us. Guy, the player from the town of Nancy in the east of France, also introduced himself. Geneviève, the female player who teases all of the guys, introduced herself. Geneviève told us we were the “spectateurs fidèles” loyal spectators. We’ve been called worse things 😀.
Pierre told Phil again that he had to play boules with them next year.
It was another beautiful sunny day around 24C (75F).
jeudi 8 août 2019 – Thursday, August 8, 2019
Looks like rain on our way to the boulangerie. We dropped off recycling, garbage, and glass and noticed water coming up from underneath the street across from the recycling area. It was running down the street towards the harbor. It must have been going on for a while since there was quite a stream of water heading down the hill. Hopefully someone will notice a broken pipe. Most of France is under water conservation due to lack of rain since early spring and they won’t want any water to go to waste.
Today was Sandy’s day to visit her French teacher Christine in the Paramé area of Saint-Malo. Phil got to do the grocery shopping.
After lunch we walked to see if they were playing boules. They were not! We did see Madam Yvonne reading under the trees. We stopped to say hello and she invited us to sit with her. Phil explained how important it was for Sandy to listen to the conversation. She agreed and was happy to help Sandy improve her listening skills. Yvonne also told us she has a house in Rennes (an hour away) and spends April to mid September each year in Saint-Malo. She was 88 years old and had taken a trip to California when she was 80.
vendredi 9 août 2019 – Friday, August 9, 2019
Sandy read in the newspaper Ouest-France that there are strong wind warnings for this afternoon, evening, and strong waves on the ocean. There was a red flag flying at the Plage du Mole meaning it is hazardous to be in the water. We also read where all nautical activities should be well planned and preparations taken. It was advised to securely attach all tents and marquees.
red flag at the life guard station indicating dangerous surf
We saw the sailing ship Renard (Fox) depart from the harbor and were glad we weren’t onboard. It will be a rough, rocky sailing.
the RENARD (FOX) setting out from the harbor
Christine invited us to come for an aperitif this evening at the “usual” time of 18h. We had a very nice time with Christine and her husband Michel. They served champagne, cherry tomatoes, rillette du pork, chips, cake with ham and vegetables inside, and melon de Charentais.
melon de Charentais – By Marius Kant – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
A Charentais melon is a type of cantaloupe melon, Cucumis melo var. cantalupensis. It is a small variety of melon, similar in flesh to cantaloupes, but with a more fragrant smell. It was developed in western France around 1920 as a more refined cantaloupe. Most are now produced in North Africa, with some limited production in the United States.
Michel insisted on driving us home in his Citroën station wagon. It is always good to have a chauffeur.
samedi 10 août 2019 – Saturday, August 10, 2019
On our way back to our apartment from the boulangerie we met our neighbor Madame Bertin’s brother. Her brother’s name is Jacques-Louis and he is a fluent English speaker. He is retired now, but he told us he had worked in the U.K. and Saudi Arabia for ARAMCO. Interesting.
We took a short walk to the basin and found that a nice sail boat was moored there. The FS BELLE POULE is a French navy training ship. It is actually classified as a schooner.
schooner FS BELLE POULE
French naval jack with the cross of Lorraine
The french words “BELLE POULE” translate to “BEAUTIFUL HEN”. Here is the story behind the name.
The name Belle Poule derives from an incident in 1533. Francis I was presented with the keys of Toulouse by Paule de Viguier, the baroness Fronteville. Paule was a young girl known for her beauty, and Francis nicknamed her la belle Paule. The name became altered over time to belle poule through the difference between French and Occitan pronunciation.[1] The name was later adopted by a Gironde corsair for his vessel, giving rise to it as a ship name in the French navy. Another version of the story is that Francis called her belle poule, as a play on words. The word belle is “beautiful”, while poule is a reference to her name, Paule, but also means “chick”, which in French, as it was later in English, can refer to a young girl.
Again this morning the wind is strong. Sandy read in the newspaper Quest-France that a tornado touched down on the border between Luxembourg and France. It damaged over 100 homes and is quite rare there. There were many train delays due to downed power lines caused by the wind in the north and west of France.
We took a walk on the beach. The wind was at our backs as we started out, but was in our face on the return. The wind was so strong that there were small waves of sand blowing along the beach. In the water, the waves were breaking hard against the small exposed islands.
waves breaking against the small exposed islands a few hundred feet from the beach
A music festival taking place this weekend called “No Logo” also experienced wind delays . Since they are primarily using tents for stages, etc., it wasn’t safe for festival goers to be allowed onto the site until the wind calmed down.
“No Logo BZH is steadily establishing itself as one of the top reggae festivals in Europe. Spread across three glorious days in the historic port city of Saint-Malo in northern France, the festival maintains a sense of independence and, as its name suggests, is all about the music.”)
The crowd was really thick today on the Rue de Dinan, the main road in the Intra-Muros.
We did not take on the crowd. We took a short cut through a series of side streets.
dimanche 11 août 2019 – Sunday, August 11, 2019
Just after noon we walked over to the QUAI SAINT-MALO to attend an artisans exhibition called “MALO MÉTIERS D’ART.” We walked around and found two vendors which had some items we really liked. This was the first year for each vendor at the exhibition.
After attending the artisans show we walked over to the restaurant B’Art à Thé. We had a wonderful mid-afternoon meal.
Phil’s mystery fish item
Sandy’s bruschetta
citrus cake and red fruit cake for dessert
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