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France 2010
Day 10 - 11th October - Brittany: St Malo (Part 1)
Today we visited various towns in Britanny. The first was St Malo.
Hôtel de Ville
Carousel
Drain cover with the motto of the town: "Semper Fidelis" ("Always Faithful" in Latin)
Porte St Vincent
Breton Speciality: Kouign Amann (pronounced "Kweeg'h Ah'mahn")
It's a sweet pastry with layers of pastry soaked in syrup. I quite liked it.
St Malo: Rue Porcon de la Barbinais
Menu of a snack place
I was still feeling a little sick, so I visited a pharmacy, only to find that a box of 24 Strepsils cost more than 6€. So I passed and stuck with my Tesco capsules (1 pound!).
"Pourquoi ne pas agir de l'intérieur ?
Près de 7 femmes sur 10 ont minci, tests à l'appui"
("Why not act on the inside?
Almost 7 women in 10 lost weight, tests show")
I'm not holding out hope that these were double-blind studies.
Then there was a bakery with more interesting stuff than the one where I'd only taken pictures of the Kouign Amann:
Rue de la Vieille Boucherie ("Road of the Old Butcher Shop)
Rue du Puits aux Braies ("Road of the Breeches to the Well" [???])
(I tried Googling to find out the meaning of the road name and got an Adult Shop listing)
Alley
Map of toilets. The most amusing part of this (apart from the translation of "Profitable Automatic Public Toilets" and "Kept and Free Public Toilets") was that they distinguished between pay and free toilets.
It was 12 degrees. Maybe she wasn't cold.
Almost-Live Seafood: you can still see some langoustines (scampi) moving
Fresh from the sea. On the right are Moules de Bouchots from Mont-Saint-Michel
Rue de l'Orme ("Elm Road"). This was also a street with all the groceries, which was appropriate as it was off Place du Marché aux Légumes (Vegetable Market Square).
Porte St Louis
Town wall and parking
Top of town walls
Nice roof garden
St Malo harbour
Wall Walk
Fortified quasi-tower on wall
The Fleur-de-Lys makes a great shape for a haldberd, don't you think?
St Malo reminded me of Crete - a town made of stone, the coast and ferries.
Causeway
Harbour view of St Malo
There was a staircase in the sea. Even at low tide, where would one climb it to? Maybe it was for getting off a boat.
Wall and Harbour
The other shore. That should be Dinard.
Cannon
Commemoration of Jacques Cartier, explorer of Canada. He came from Britanny. Indeed, he was born in St Malo!
Disgusting modern statue
Seagulls
Town wall and sea
Islands in bay
This was a very strategic location for a café. The café was recommended by the Routard guides 2006-2010, but unfortunately it was a bit too early to eat (11am)
Islands in Bay
More nice architecture
Cowabunga!
"DANGER ! par fortes marées" ("DANGER! From strong waves")
2 more famous citizens, among whom is "François-René de CHATEAUBRIAND, Enchanteur"
Among other things, this guy named the Chateaubriand steak. But he seems to be more famous as the father of French Romanticism. I was wondering why he was commemorated as an "Enchanteur", but that also describes "Personne dont le beau langage, les manières séduisantes peuvent tromper" or "Personne qui sait charmer, séduire".
Galette Saucise (Sausage Galette)
I much preferred crêpes. And this had mustard, wth.
I saw a lot of specialists, but no GPs. Maybe the hypochondriac French go straight to the ones who matter.
I saw more lapdogs in France than in all the other countries I'd been to.