(Saint-Malo, Brittany, France)
The Breton city of Saint-Malo is located on the English Channel, a couple of hours (by very slow trains) southwest of Bayeux. We decided to stay here for a few days because of its famous walled old town. We also knew that there was a laundromat (as we were at the halfway point of our trip) and that there was a connection to Jacques Cartier. That was enough to give it a look!
Jacques Cartier was a Breton explorer who claimed (what is now) Canada for France. He was born in in Saint-Malo in 1491, and it is not difficult to see the architectural inspiration for the old parts of Quebec City. Saint-Malo may rely heavily on tourism today, but it originally appears to have grown rich from seafaring and, well, piracy.
Visitors are drawn to both the walled city and the city’s many sandy beaches. We’re not really into the beach scene, but we did appreciate the cool breezes coming in from the sea. We missed that in both Rouen and Bayeux.
The walled city is larger than most and can also make you feel rather claustrophobic. The streets are very narrow and the buildings are all very high. While this creates shade during the day, it also seems to have stopped me from taking a lot of pictures within the walls (known locally as “intra muros”).
Another reason I didn’t take many pictures in the city itself was simple: it was very crowded. It has been a very warm summer so far in northern France and I think a lot of people were escaping the inland heat. In fact, we have yet to see a drop of rain on our trip. You’ll notice that there is a fair bit of glare in my pictures: the sun was relentless, and the sun also doesn’t set until about 11:00 p.m. at this time of year. We can’t complain: it’s better than relentless rain!
There aren’t a lot of specific “must-see” sights in Saint-Malo: the main thing is to walk on top of the city walls. A complete circuit takes about an hour, with stops, and gives some new perspectives on the narrow streets. Alas, I can’t show them to you, as I left my camera’s memory card in our hotel room when we went for an extended walk on the walls!
Coming up: a boat journey from Saint-Malo!