After much rumination on where to spend a weekend outside of Paris (but still in France), we headed to St Malo. (We tossed around somewhere in the south of France, as well as other cities in Brittany, but we were limited by the TGV destinations since we didn't want to rent a car.)
So we ended up in
St Malo, a walled city at the end of a river on one side and beaching into the English Channel on the other. The city has a rich history and was once inhabited by privateers (also called "corsairs"), who ventured out to extort from the ships on the channel.
St Malo is also surrounded by rocky islands that can only be reached at low tide. It makes for a beautiful view.
Looking from the walled city toward the Grand Bé island.
The old walled city overlooking the beach at sunset.
Monument to those who perished in WWII.
We must have covered all of these beaches in our walks.
Hey! Leave the dogs out of it!
Byron gets his shot.
Here we are at the
Fort National, which was built to protect the city of St Malo and is now a museum. Note the water coverage at high tide. Hope you like to swim!
But look now! Low tide means you can stroll right up there! And stroll we did...
Leather boots on a wet beach...
need drying out afterward.
Later the same day (in different shoes), we hit up the
Grand Bé. This is the island where the writer
Chateaubriand is buried. Look at the path that is underwater most of the day.
On the Grand Bé, there are tidepools galore...
and mussels ripe for the picking.
Not to mention beautiful scenery.
Here lies Chateaubriand.
The next day was bright and sunny. Here you can see the Grand Bé with the
Petite Bé behind it. (It seems like a lot, but there are only two Bés.)
Beach swimming pool.
Pretty jetty.
Even the manhole covers are beautiful.
And I leave you with some cats.
