So I am sleeping like hell. This is for three reasons. I have managed to forget a medication that helps me get sleepy, my stomach has not stopped waking me with illness, and Matthew is not in my bed. On Monday I “woke” -“called it a night” around 7:00 and looked out the window.

Mornings here are dark until sunrise at around 8:30. Yesterday was gray, misty and shite. I made my bed, started some coffee and told Sophie we were going to go to St. Malo regardless of our sleeplessness or the weather. We both needed an excursion. I packed up the backpack with towels, water bottles, rain jacket, water dish, and some snacks. I relocated Sophie’s little bed from in front of the fire to the shotgun position in my little rental.

We marched out to the car, I typed in the parking area right adjacent to the walled city into Google Maps and we were off. It was dark, wet and miserable but we were doing it anyway. (The spirit of my father at times is very strong.) We listened to French radio and I noticed that the sky lightened as we drew closer to the sea. I still can’t get over the moment when the road turns and off in the distance you see Mt. St. Michel rise like a vision out on the horizon.

We arrived in St. Malo, parked our tiny car, and set off for the beach. Sophie walked the board walk for about a 1/4 mile before getting wise to the smells and sounds and propped herself up on the wall to regard the beach and sea below. Once seen, she was all excited, so we descended the first stone staircase we could find and raced across the sand. I kept her on her leash for the majority of the walk but she was still absolutely thrilled.

She loves to pick up sea weed like it is a game, sniff everything and dig holes. We walked the entire length of the beach (2.5 miles) and then turned back and walked into the sunshine that had crept through the clouds. The sun felt like it was holding my chin up and it felt marvelous. I let Sophie off leash for a bit but she seemed unimpressed so I leashed her back up and headed to the restaurant we always go to right within the gates of the old town.

Sarah’s view

Sophie at the café

The always beautiful but every changing hostess* greeted us and found us a table in the back corner where we could look out on the the terrace. (*It is always a different woman, but they are drop dead gorgeous and exude and effortlessly French style -think messy bun, blazer, red lip) I admired her and tried not to hate her even though I was sweaty, sandy and very frizzy haired. We ate a beautiful lunch and then walked through the city to the other side of the ramparts. I walked out the beach with the swimming pool and it was such low tide that Sophie and walked to one of the islands. S

The sun peaked through the clouds and what a view we had!