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.

Saint-Briac-sur-Mer harbor

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.

The winner of the “waiters race.”

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!

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!!

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.

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.