Saturday, April 25, 2009 (picture of us in St-Malo)
By 9 AM we were well on our way to visit the historic coastal town of De Saint-Malo.
The old center of town called, Intra Muros, was our target. We had plans to find the powerful ramparts that hug the entire town and gives the tourists a rewarding mile walk around the medieval fortifications. Every so often you find access stairs that will allow you to drop down and walk on the beaches, if the tides allow…. this splendid walkway gives you ample photo opportunities, when the tide is in, of beautiful beaches and areas where the waves crash onto the large rocks that sometimes are at the base of these walls.
Today we were fortunate to come at a time when the tide was in and able to enjoy the beauty of many boats out on the water… especially fun to watch were the sailboats with their sails of many different colors. At the end of the ramparts we dropped back down into the town to find the Chateau de Saint Malo Historical Museum. The cost was low so hoping for some information on the war years to be included we went in…… but everything in the museum was prior to the twenty century.
Then we walked back to the Cathedral, St. Vincent of Saint Malo. On the way to the ramparts we had earlier tried to visit this church but found it locked, this time it was open. Our first stop was at the statue of Saint Theresa where we each bought a candle to light for our husbands. Then around on the side of the main altar we found the gravesite of Duguay Trouin 1673-1736, not quite sure who he is except that he had several paintings and a statue in the museum we had just visited. Also saw the grave of Jacques Cartier 1491 – 1557, a native son of St. Malo, who was an discoverer of Canada. Along the sidewalls we saw many photos of the destruction and reconstruction of the church and the town from the war. A memorial sign “Cours Du Siege de Saint Malo – July 13, 1944” was on the wall. On the main altar was a gravesite for Geoffroy De Pontual 1231-1259. Which leads us to believe this church must at least be 12th century.
A very interesting morning and early afternoon, we especially enjoyed our walk along the sea walls. The sun was out but the wind especially up on the ramparts was very cold and brisk. My blood must be very thin as I was wrapped up with 2 jackets, a scarf, gloves and socks…. as Martha walked in just her windbreaker and sandals…. Burrrrr
Saw dark clouds as we turned the car towards home and yep, sure enough by 3 PM we had a good hard rain…. So glad that we were already in our room typing away when that happened and not out trying to walk on some cobblestone road somewhere. But it soon cleared up and at 5 PM we were on our way to the small town of St. Enogat. Parked the car near the church and walked down to the beach area. The tide was not in but it was still a busy place with a lot of people enjoying the sand. What was neat to see was all the big old homes, they were all along the waterfront and the nearby streets, they were now closed up but were advertising on their fences to rent these homes out in the summertime. Am sure you could also rent them now if you wanted but the prime time would be in the summer. Am sure that Martha will have pictures of these homes in her slideshow. This bay, which is off the English Channel, is located around the corner from our hotel town of Dinard. And is full of islands, rocks and lighthouses …… photo taking heaven.
By 6 PM we were seated in the local church “Paroisses Notre Dame d’Emeraude et Saint Enogat de la Rance” honest… that is the full name on top of the Sunday bulletin that I picked up as we went into church….. a lovely church but as we soon found out… I think that half the people with us had colds…. Such coughing and sneezing… thank heavens the priest did not tell us to shake hands with those around us…. He just skipped right over that part of the mass. Back to the hotel we went after mass and the first thing we did was take our last airborne tablets. The cold that I caught in Rome was from the lady next to me at Palm Sunday mass. Airborne has worked well for us in the past so hope that it will keep us well today. Do not want to have a cold for our last 11 days…especially in Paris. Tomorrow we leave on our tour of the Les Chateaux du Val de Loire with the first being in Angers. For the next six nights we will be only one night at each town as we move about the Loire Valley to tour these Chateauxs….. Au Revoir
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