A day in St. Malo.

After spending a lot of the previous day in the car, the Pattons and I decided to hang out around St. Malo day after we arrived. We started out by walking in a random direction and hoping to get to the old city center. We apparently walked in the opposite direction and wandered around some charming neighborhoods before finally making it to the old city (Intra-muros is what the old city is called, although that just reminds me of intramural sports, which seems somehow very un-French and not related to a quaint old city at all).

Anyways, our first stop was an old fort that was outside the city walls. It wasn't open for the season yet, but we had fun exploring the rocks and tidepools, as well as finding shells! Since babycakes was in the backpack and couldn't get her own, I kept her liberally supplied with seashells, which was entertaining for both of us.

After the fort, we walked on the ramparts of the city wall to see what there was to see. There were numerous monuments to various Corsairs (basically French pirates), which explains the pirate ship we saw the day before.

All this pirate business reminded me of the time Ruth and I were in Wales, and our B&B owner in all seriousness accused the French of sending pirates to burn their sheep at night. I just love traveling!

We also walked through a cathedral with really some of the most beautiful stained glass I have seen.

We finished our tour on the city walls, had a nice lunch at a creperie, and did some shopping for souvenirs and clothing. Shopping in France is so much less expensive than in Switzerland, so I quite enjoyed it!

Overall, it was a nice, relaxing day of wandering around St. Malo. I really enjoyed seeing the old buildings and the way the city was designed to co-exist with the ocean.

A travel day between Normandy and Brittany.

After our museum day, it was time to pack up and head to our next stop: St. Malo. We stopped briefly in Coutances to see the cathedral, but it was chilly and rainy, so we pressed on. The drive was really wonderful, especially after we got to the coast. We drove through all sorts of unbearably cute little villages by the sea with stone houses draped in wisteria. I definitely enjoyed this area of France so very much!

Along the way, we stopped at a scenic overlook called the Point du Grouin, and we saw a pirate ship! (It was most likely a tourist pirate ship, given that it was towing a safety (or prisoner??) boat behind it, but you never know!)

We eventually made it to St. Malo and got viciously lost attempting to find our flat, but eventually made it, after being parked outside of the wrong building for 20 minutes or so. Apparently our street was not always the same name, making it rather confusing. After a longer drive, it was nice to be able to settle in to the new place and just hang out. The flat had a nice kitchen (induction stove!), and we had fun cooking dinner together.

What our flat did not have, however, was heat, or lights in the bathroom, or shades on the bathroom window, or a shower curtain. Which meant that the flat was consistently ~60 F, once the sun went down we were brushing our teeth in the dark, and we showered in a sitting position so that we weren't giving the neighborhood a show. It was a quirky sort of place, but I guess you just have to roll with the punches when traveling.

Any day that involves cute villages and pirate ship sightings is definitely a good day!

Around St. Malo.

While in Brittany, the Pattons and I are staying in St. Malo, and we spent a day wandering around the city.

We went in to the cathedral and saw some of the most beautiful stained glass that I've seen.

I love the feel of these French coastal cities and how quaint they are!