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13 septembre 2016 à Saint-Malo – September 13, 2016 in Saint-Malo

13 Tuesday Sep 2016

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Tuesday September 6, 2016

Tuesday September 6, 2016.  Today was the day of the Intra-Muros marché.  Sandy purchased pastèque (watermelon) , melon (cantaloupe), fraise (strawberries), peche plat

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pêche plat (flat peach)

(flat peaches) which are not available in the US, pomme (apples), poire (pears), salad (lettuce), tomate (tomato), pomme de terre (potatoes), and carrotte (carrots). We took a walk on top of the ramparts and happened to luck out and spot a ship in the harbor.  It was just high tide and the ship was waiting to enter the ecluse. It is called the  Nao Victoria and is the replica of the Magellan ship that made the first round the world  voyage in the sixteenth century.  The Nao Victoria has the following dimensions: – length ht = 27 m – width = 7 m – draft = 3.30 m – air draft = 22 m.  Imagine sailing around the world in this tiny, bucket shaped boat.  It will be in Saint-Malo for the next 4 days. Click here  for more information about the ship. While walking around the neighborhood, Sandy met and talked to our neighbors.  They will be returning to Paris on Thursday.

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The Brittany Ferry Bretagne is 6 times longer and 4 times wider than the Nao Victoria.  The Brittany Ferry goes between France and England.  The Nao Victoria circumnavigated the world, almost 500 years ago.

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Não Victoria

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Wednesday September 7, 2016

Wednesday September 7, 2016.  The forecast is for a high temperature of 31C which is 88 F.  Hot for here!  Sandy spotted the van of a painter we had been trying to talk to on her way back from buying our breakfast croissant.  After breakfast Phil walked over to talk to the painter.  They both returned to our apartment so the painter could see what we needed to have painted.  Hopefully he will follow through with his date to return.  We walked to the Sillon beach (Plage du Sillon) to see if we could walk in the water but the tide was too high.  So, we walked back to the Plage de Bon Secours beach to enjoy a lovely walk in the water.  There was a small cruise ship idling, probably waiting to enter the ecluse and we spotted not only one but two cormorants fishing for their lunch. We found out later that the cruise ship did not enter the basin but stayed moored off the Mole.

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Cruise ship anchored just outside the harbor.

Thursday September 8, 2016

Thursday September 8, 2016.  We made it through another hot day yesterday and it was wonderfully cool this morning at 17 C.  Our friends will be leaving for the train station just before 11:00 so we waited to say “bon voyage” to them before leaving our apartment.  We took the 11:10 bus to Carrefour at La Madeleine Center to shop for groceries.  There were very few people shopping and we were back on the bus to return to the Intra-Muros at 12:22.  After lunch Sandy worked on homework and we took a walk to the harbor around 16:30.  Phil spotted two young cormorants fishing for their dinner.  The Corsaire Ferry arrived and departed, and the Condor Ferry was loading passengers and cars.

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The local fish merchant delivering to a group heading out in the boat.

Friday September 9, 2016

Friday September 9, 2016 we spent two hours with Christine on French lessons.  We (all 3 of us) can have an almost fairly normal conversation in French with Sandy only asking for an occasional translation of a word or two.  Much improved from April!  The high temperature for today was 24 C but still felt very warm in the sun. We enjoyed BLT on a French baguette for lunch with a slice of watermelon  (the lettuce and also the tomato) fresh from the marché this morning. Our neighbors that returned to Paris called on the telephone and Sandy answered.  She was able to understand and answer a few sentences in French before panicking and handing the phone to Phil. A first for her and the phone!!

We ate dinner at La Chouamerie restaurant, ranked 14 of the 313 reviewed restaurants on Trip Advisor in Saint-Malo. It opened in 2012 and is just around the corner from us. It was a very pleasant evening.  There were 6 choices for a plat/main dish; a formula fixed menu, and lovely desserts.  Phil had bar (sea bass) and Sandy had beef.  For dessert we tried Lemon Posset and Coulant au Chocolat.  The lemon was a custard/creme anglais and the chocolate/custard was hot and bubbly on top with creme.  They were both delicious!

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La Chouamerie Restaurant

Saturday September 10, 2016

Saturday September 10, 2016 is cool and partly cloudy.  There was a chance of rain for the afternoon and around 3 pm started sprinkling.  All of France is very dry from lack of rain. We could really use a day or two of good soaking.  It continued misting or sprinkling until around 19:00.  It was cool enough that we had chili for dinner. We had a quiet day for sure.

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Flowers in the Place du Marche aux Legumes

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Place du Marche aux Legumes

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Place du Marche aux Legumes

Sunday September 11, 2016

Sunday September 11, 2016 and we woke up later than usual.  So late, in fact, that Simon boulangerie was out of croissants when Sandy shopped for breakfast.  Phil enjoyed a croissant almond instead.  We spent an hour and a half on the beach today.  We walked in the water at high tide since the co-efficient was only 32.  For the first time we walked in calf deep water on the side of the pool.  A co-efficient of 32 just barely covers the walls of the pool. We took our beach chairs and enjoyed an almost “private” beach with hardly anyone there after our walk. It was fairly cool all day with the high temperature only reaching 22 C and mostly cloudy.

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Sandy standing on the wall at the swimming pool when the high-tide was low.

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Wall around the swimming pool.

Monday September 12, 2016

Monday September 12, 2016 was very cool and drizzly when Sandy bought our croissants for breakfast.  The forecasted high was 29 C, hot for here but the morning was great.  We took the bus to the Rocabey post to mail a letter and walked to the Intermarche grocery store for Cheerios, gaseous water, and ice cream.  They actually had 3 check out lanes open today.  A first for our own parking lot behind our apartment building – there was only one car parked there today instead of the usual 11-13 cars all juggling for a spot.  Definitely fewer people around today.

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A couple of kayak classes heading out from the beach.

Tuesday September 13, 2016

Tuesday September 13, 2016.  Sandy shopped at the Intra-Muros marché for vegetables and fresh fruit.  She “played tourist” and walked through town looking in the tourist shops.  After lunch she worked on homework for our tutoring lesson.  Phil stayed in the apartment and took it easy since he was having problems with his foot the last day or two. Around lunch time we heard a lot of thunder and it rained off and on for a few minutes.  Later the sun came out and the temperature reached 27 C.  There were more thunderstorms predicted for later in the night.

2 août 2016 à Saint-Malo – August 2 2016 in Saint-Malo

03 Wednesday Aug 2016

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Wednesday July 27

Wednesday July 27 we took a bus from the Gare Saint-Malo to Saint-Briac-sur-Mer.  It was a 55 min ride through Dinard and Saint-Lunaire.  We hadn’t traveled in that direction before so the ride was interesting.  When we arrived we stopped into the tourism office to pick up a map.  Saint-Briac is much different from Saint-Malo.  There were only single family residences, just a few restaurants, a mini golf course, and beaches with alleyway/paths.  We walked almost an hour to see several beach areas.  It was interesting to see and we were glad it was cloudy and cool.  We had a very nice lunch on the terrace of a brassiere/pizzeria including a profiterole for dessert before catching the bus back home.  We were gone just under 6 hours and tired after our excursion.

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Saint-Briac-sur-Mer harbor

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Chateau du Nessay, Ville de Saint-Briac-sur-Mer

Thursday July 28

Thursday July 28 we heard, then noticed a city truck, pumping something from the sewer behind the apartment next door to us.  Several people walking by the truck complained about the odor.  When we left our apartment we walked in the other direction.  Since we didn’t have tutoring,  we picked up 3 items from Intermarche and bought meat from the butcher in Rocabey.  As we walked through the market there were many additional vendors and shoppers compared to April and May.  Nothing we needed, so we headed home.

After lunch we went to the coiffure for hair cuts then walked to the Place du Lion near the Hôtel France et Chateaubriand to wait for the “waiters race.” At 16:00 about 50 waiters/waitresses were competing in a race through the Intra-Muros.  Each of them carried a round,  metal tray with a glass bottle of 33 cl of flat water and a large glass filled with water.  They had to run through the streets, down a long flight of stairs, and back to the starting point.  They each wore a sign saying which bar or restaurant they represented.  Some of them were dressed in costume, a giraffe suit, masks, and typical ancient attire of beret, black trousers, white, shirt, suspenders, and black or red apron.  Very amusing and interesting to watch.  We know one of the contestants from our visit in 2014. He is now a server at  Charley’s bar which is very close to us. The winners were determined not only by the amount of time to run, but also the amount of liquid remaining in their glass and bottle.  Several competitors came back without a bottle or glass.  We saw city workers later in the afternoon cleaning up all of the glass that was lost when the racers descended the staircase.

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The winner of the “waiters race.”

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A sign of the times.  Most events have an armed military presence.

Friday July 29

Friday July 29 Sandy shopped at our local market for fruit, shopped at the boulangerie for breakfast (enjoyed a croissant almond today) and we were at the bus stop in time to catch the 8:55 bus to E.Leclerc.  They carry a pineapple flavored yogurt that Phil really likes. Sandy likes the price and taste of their coffee.  The coffee is from Brazil. It is the store’s brand and costs 2.10 euros for the equivalent of an 11 ounce size bag.  We shopped, waited for the bus and were back in our apartment by 10:25.  This is the 4th day in a row that is cloudy and cool.  So much better than the 95 F day we had last week!

Saturday July 30

Saturday July 30 we took the 11:15 bus along the beach towards Rotheneuf.  We walked from one the end of the digue/dike towards Intra-Muros.  There were few people out since it was cool and cloudy but we enjoyed ourselves.  It took us an hour to walk back but we did stop and sit at a bench for a while to watch sailboats and the Commodore Goodwill on it’s weekly arrival.  The tide was out and there was an amazing amount of sand and beach.  Around 16:00 we left our apartment.  We took the navette (shuttle) bus from Porte de Dinan to Saint-Servan.  The traffic was unbelievable!  So glad we weren’t driving.  It took forever to arrive at Saint-Servan maire where we got off.  We were there to pick up “takeaway” dinner from Le Paradise d’Asie.  We chose two nems (egg rolls), and a chicken main dish.  We decided to walk home.  As we passed the bus stop we noticed it would be another 19 minutes before the navette bus arrived.  As we approached the ecluse/bridge we heard the alarm go off.  By now it was 17:00.  Sure enough, there was a huge tanker like ship heading towards the ecluse leaving the basin.  It took 12 minutes for the ship to fully enter the ecluse and then two sailboats joined it.  By the time the bridge closed, pedestrian and car traffic were allowed to move again it was 17:20.  That was an extremely long trip for what should have been less than 45 minutes round trip.  New lesson learned – watch the tide schedule before walking to and from Saint-Servan!

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Sunday July 31

Sunday July 31 was finally sunny!  We stopped at the local butcher around 11:00 to buy a poulet roti / rotisserie chicken for dinner.  We spent around 35 minutes at the beach late in the afternoon.  The tide was coming in so the beach area was disappearing rather quickly.  Sandy had a few goosebumps as the wind was quite strong even though it was a brilliantly sunny day.  Phil was too warm since the temperature was 22 C or 71 F. We enjoyed the chicken with tiny new golden potatoes and fresh green beans for dinner.  Our dessert was a caramel and a vanilla choux/cream puff.  Sandy bought them at the Simon macaroon  boulangerie/patissier this morning and they were delicious!!

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Busy day at the beach.

Monday August 1

Monday August 1 and late in the afternoon we decided to take a bus to the end of the digue and walk back.  We took the number 8 bus from esplanade Saint-Vincent.  The bus was very crowded.  Every seat was taken and about 20 people were standing, including us.  We took the bus to the Kennedy bus stop and walked along the digue back to Intra-Muros.

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View of the Intra-Muros from the digue. It was low tide and you can see how wide the beach is at low tide.

Tuesday August 2

Tuesday August 2 we walked to the gare to purchase our bus passes for August.

On the way back we walked through the Saint-Vincent gate and saw that one of the doors was closed.  It was interesting because we had never seen either of the doors closed.

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7 mai à Saint-Malo – May 7 in Saint-Malo

07 Saturday May 2016

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Saturday May 7 and the weather forecast is for a wonderful morning, but the possibility of thunderstorms in the afternoon.

Our day starts with a walk to the esplanade Saint-Vincent to get the number 2 bus.  That bus will take us to the Hippodrome, the horse racing area.  There is to be a big garage sale there today.  We had some time to wait for the bus and during that time our friend Jean joined us at the bus stop.  He was headed to Rocabey for the marché.

Our ride to the Hippodrome bus stop was quick and it was a short 4 minute walk to the Hippodrome and the garage sale.  There is a cost to enter the garage sale, 1€ per person, but for that you also get a drink.

We walked around the garage sale and Sandy spotted a couple of clear glass dishes which will work as either small salad dishes or dessert dishes.  We bought them from the local animal humane society, so it is always nice to support them.

After lunch we took a walk to the harbor.  There were two cormorants fishing in the harbor near where we were sitting.  They are always interesting to watch.  First they float, then they do a surface dive with their whole body leaving the water, and then after a while they resurface usually a good distance from their initial dive.

low tide – cormorants by the pole
focus on the cormorants

We then went to the Place du Marché aux Légumes.  The Place was very crowded.  All the benches were occupied, so we did not stay long.  But it is always fun to look at the flowers.

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Place du Marché aux Légumes

Later in the evening we went out to look at the high tide.  The tidal coefficient was 109 on a scale of 0 to 120, so it was pretty high.  There was not much wind so the waves were very gentle.  The water was very high in the harbor, especially when you compare it to earlier in the day.

The photo on the left was taken at 12:00 today.  The photo on the right was taken at 20:00 this evening.  The pole in the center of the picture on the left is the same pole that is in the right side of the picture on the right. The water level has risen quite a lot!

low tide at 12:00 in the harbor
High tide at 20:00 in the harbor – height of the water on the yellow pole in the right foreground

 

In the basin Vauban we saw a new passenger ship had arrived, the Silver Explorer. It came into the harbor at 19:07 is evening.

Silver Explorer in the basin Vauban

Silver Explorer in the basin Vauban

April 8 in Saint-Malo – 8 avril à Saint-Malo

08 Friday Apr 2016

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Friday April 8 and the day starts out a bit overcast.  No rain is predicted for today, but the sky is gray with some clouds moving about at the lower altitudes.

A walk to Saint-Servan is in order for today.  Today the market is in Saint-Servan.  We need to buy some meat at the butcher.  We also need to check with the florist to see if he has any geraniums in stock.

On the way to Saint-Servan we exited the Intra-Muros at port Saint-Louis, which is the closest exit to our apartment.  Port Saint-Louis faces the Vauban basin so we can always get a good look at the ships which have entered the inner harbor or basin.  Today there is a sailing ship moored at the quay.  It is the TS Royalist, a British training ship.  You can see the gray sky in the background of the picture.

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TS ROYALIST

At the outdoor market in Saint-Servan, the florist is still not selling the geraniums in the type of pot Sandy would like.  We decided that the best thing to do is to go Rocabey tomorrow and ask him a few questions about geraniums.  We will also bring the grocery roller cart tomorrow in case we do find something we like.

The butcher is in the indoor part of the market.  We have been buying most of our meat from the Ferme des Aubriais.  Sandy wanted some ham steak to have with sweet potatoes on Sunday. So we asked the butcher for a thick cut of ham, 1.5 centimeters thick. We also purchased some thinly sliced ham for sandwiches, which the butcher sliced from a different ham.  The last thing we purchased was 500 grams of ground meat.  500 grams is a little more than one pound. The butcher sliced off a hunk of beef from a larger slab, cut the hunk into 5 pieces and then ran the meat through his electric meat grinder.  I guess that makes it pretty fresh ground beef.  Sandy wants to make a batch of chili with the ground meat.

We were in line at the butcher for around 25 minutes.  He is a very poplar butcher.  While

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chicken head at the butcher

waiting in line Sandy was grossed out by the chickens in the meat case which still had their heads attached to the body.  She did however take the time to take a picture of one of the chickens.

We then headed home, but as usual we stopped in the harbor to see what was happening.  The Condor Ferry was moored at its dock and the Corsaire Ferry was just entering the harbor on its return trip from Dinard.  About 3 people got off the Corsaire Ferry and 6 more got on to go to Dinard.  The Corsaire Ferry company is

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Corsaire Ferry (foreground) Condor Ferry (background)

using a new boat this year.

Before lunch we started cooking the chili.  We browned the ground beef and sampled it.  It tasted just fine.  Actually this is our first experience with using ground beef from the butcher.  The tomato juice from E.Leclerc was added along with some chili spice Sandy had brought over in 2014.  A couple of bay leaves were added and we let it simmer for 2 hours.

While it was simmering, we had lunch.   We had the thinly sliced ham as a sandwich and it tasted very good.

The chili turned out just fine.  We will get 3 or 4 meals from the batch.  That will make the meal decision process a little easier.

Sandy discovered a visitor on our outside window sill.  A young Goeland gull had come to visit.  The sun was out and it was getting some good sunshine.

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a young goeland gull on the outside window sill

We then took a short walk so we could buy a newspaper.  The Friday Ouest France newspaper contains the TV guide for the next week, so it was a must to get a paper today.  This afternoon has been bright and sunny, not at all like this morning.  But that is not unusual.  Wait a while and the weather is change.

This evening we plan to go out around 19:30 to see the high tide.  Then we will get a quick dinner at Chez Marcel.  He specializes in kebabs and Belgium fries. Very good fast food.

Well we changed plans and went to Chez Marcel before taking a walk on the ramparts to view the high tide.

wave spay at the top of the wall
high tide waves on the wall

Our picture album for April in Saint-Malo France can be viewed at 2016-04 April in Saint-Malo on Flickr.  The album will open in a separate window.

Our picture album for March in Saint-Malo France can be viewed at 2016-03 March in Saint-Malo on Flickr.  The album will open in a separate window.

31 March in Saint-Malo – 31 mars à Saint-Malo

31 Thursday Mar 2016

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It is the last day of March, the 31st!  How time flies!!

We tried another new food item last night for dinner.  Our local butcher had advertised on his placard that he was selling Quiche Lorraine.  Sandy loves Quiche for lunch and we stopped in to buy some.  While in line, only 4th in line that day, Phil asked what else Sandy wanted in case they were out of the quiche.  We love the carrot rappe (carrot slaw with a lemon vinaigrette) on top of our salad so we decided that would be our second choice.  The lady in front of us asked for a pineapple slaw.  It looked and sounded good so we tried it.  Our taste buds and eyes saw pineapple in a creamy white dressing.  Sandy imagined a whipped cream or cream cheese and pineapple taste.  Fortunately Phil suggested she try it before serving it.  It was quite a surprise to taste a CRAB salad with a little pineapple flavor.  It was very tasty, but should be eaten as an appetizer/aperitif not a side dish with ham.

Today there is supposed to be a disruption in the bus schedule due to supporting a strike in Paris.  We decided to go to the Intermarche grocery store in the Rocabey district because we are

Intermarche in Rocabey

Intermarche in Rocabey

out of Cheerios, milk, and juice. The kind of things you cannot get at the local outdoor/indoor markets. We like to walk through the Rocabey market after shopping at the Intermarche. We like to see what is new and listen to French speakers.  We stopped at the butcher in the indoor market to buy dinner for tonight, tomato farcie.  Tomatoes stuffed with a pork filling.

We ended up taking the bus to the Intermarche, then walking the 1/4 mile to the Rocabey market and then we walked home. It is quite cool with a 27 kph wind, but the sun is shining brightly.

We did have the crab salad with crackers today at lunch.  Very tasty.

In the afternoon we took a short walk to the harbor to see what was happening.  Bordering the harbor is a small park with about 20 park benches which face the harbor.  About 7 are very close to the harbor and the rest are set back about 20 yards.  Today most of the benches were occupied by people sitting around enjoying the strong sun.  We spent about an hour watching the harbor activity and getting some sun.

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Tonight’s tomato farcie dinner.

All our pictures for March in Saint-Malo France can be viewed at 2016-03 March in Saint-Malo on Flickr.  They will open in a separate window.