Matthew and I decided to head to St. Malo so that he might experience a least one touristy day on this working vacation. It is about an hour and a half to St. Malo from my house and the drive is beautiful. We passed Mont St. Michel -visible in the distance and the American cemetery near the beaches of Normandy.
We parked 2 km from the walled city and walked to it by way of the board walk along the beach. The beach was amazingly wide and the tide appeared to be going out the entire time we were there. This is not the kind of beach where you can sit in your beach chair in dry sand and watch your children play in the water. There is an incredible distance to cross to reach the water’s edge. Lifeguards here have to be tremendous runners.
The boardwalk was filled with runners, bikers, and strollers. All along the beach were various hotels and b&bs. We chased the sunshine on this blustery day and made it to the ancient city with big appetites. St. Malo is the city described in the beautiful novel, All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. It is a beautiful walled city that is surrounded on two sides by water. The cobblestone streets are filled with beautiful shops, hotels and cafes.
We chose to have lunch at the Cafe Du Lion D’or. Tori and I had been here in May and I knew it was special. We sat outside in the sunshine and had oysters that tasted like the sweetest sea accompanied by beautiful cocktails. Matthew had a grilled chicken salad that was filled with potatoes and topped with a perfectly poached egg. I had moules frites and the mussels were tiny and sweet. There were just so many! I made a respectable dent but I certainly couldn’t finish them. We ended our meal with two espressos which were served with tiny meringues. Magnifique!
After lunch we circumnavigated the city along the wall so we could get a sense of the scale of the place. We saw forts on islands just off shore that stood like sentinels protecting the city. There is a gorgeous salt water pool that had a few brave swimmers doing laps. We saw a large cruise ship and a massive working port with many boats and yachts. Sailboats were racing in the harbor.
Off the wall we popped into shops and saw many stores that sold the products of Brittany. I purchased a traditional yellow, raincoat complete with blue and white striped lining. I stopped myself from buying chocolates at an exquisite candy shop. We meandered until we were tired and a brief rain shower blew in.
We started back for the car with tired feet. I decided I needed to feel the water so we took our shoes off and marched hundreds of meters to the water. Not quite bath water but warmer than any ocean I’ve known in Maine. We found some treasures including Matthew’s find -blue sea glass! I think my mom was with us on this outing. St. Malo is gorgeous and I can’t wait to share it with visiting family and friends!