St. Malo

Well I have to admit the weather has not been the greatest for the last few days.  Overcast and rainy.  When I got here I mentioned how lovely it was that the sun was out every day even when it was cold.  I guess I queered it because it is still cold but now the sun never shows itself.  You know it's there somewhere because it's light outside, but the actual orb is hiding.

To get back to my trip on Friday.  After leaving Mont St. Michele, I did not want to leave the area because I had heard of this walled city right on the coast--St. Malo.  It was only about 35 minutes away so I drove there.






Here's what it looks like from a vantage point I was not actually able to get to, but you get the idea.  It's sort of on an island just offshore and was probably impenetrable from most attackers.

I parked outside the walls but later found I could have driven right in.  The city was very quiet--apparently it's more of a summer destination since it is right on the beach.

I parked right beside a big ship.  I don't think it was old, probably for tourists and summer guests.

There are quite a few ships and boats docked right beside the city.  I can imagine the traffic must be pretty heavy in the summer.

It was quite dark inside the walls, and very quiet.  But there were plenty of restaurants open.

I could even have had a pint at an Irish pub.

Or indulged other needs perhaps.

But I decided to have lunch in this place when I saw it from the back.  It was up on the city walls.

Apparently it used to be a guard house.  I had a dry gallette but that was OK.  The view was lovely.  After lunch I took a walk around the wall.  There were forts in all directions.

What look like islands in the water--or maybe ships-- are actually forts.

And more.

The biggest was on the other side of the city.  It think the name was Fort Royale.

Apparently this is a big beach town.  But it's a different kind of beach than say New Jersey.  The water is very shallow and when the tide is low the beach is enormous---when it is high there is virtually no beach.

Perhaps you can get an idea of what it's like from those two shots.  There is obviously a huge area of resort hotels and summer residences to take advantage of the beach here.

I have to say the color of the water was beautiful.  More like the Bahamas than the Atlantic.  I think that's because it is so shallow.

Back to the walled city....here's some pictures of the wall itself.

At the place where the city is farthest out toward the water is a statue of someone who I had never heard of, Robert Surcouf.

He certainly looks dashing.  Turns out he was a privateer--a pirate really.  But he was a hero because he plundered British ships for France.  He became very rich and was very generous to the city of St. Malo.

There was another statue that I thought was cool--Francois-Rene.

Turns out he was a writer.  The French are very proud of their writers.

It's always been interesting to me how coastal cities have their own climates because of their closeness to the currents.  And here's an example of that.

Palm trees on the side of the city walls.

A very interesting visit.  I kind of wish I had come in the summer--but maybe I will return then.