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Thursday, March 13’Th
I get
up very early to catch a train from Bayeux towards Rennes. After 2 hours
I jump of, just to jump on another one going to St. Malo.
St. Malo is in Brittany, and a nice and strange place. The old St. Malo
which is also called the closed city – or “Intro Muros” – has a gigantic
wall around it. It used to be an island, but is now a part of the
mainland. But it is pretty strange to cross the city-harbor on the walk
from the railway-station to the city-center.
check in at Hotel de L’Univers. Not as fancy as my accommodation I Bayuex, but
very nice anyway. |
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Then it’s time for my first walk around St. Malo. This will be a walk
through the city-center, and then half the way around on top of the
walls before it is lunchtime.
Later a
visit to the Casino in St. Malo before I head along the beach to the
rich part of St. Malo called Sillon. St. Malo is a major resort for rich
Parisian’s during summer. After some time I turn around to head back.
The tide is low so you can walk pretty far out on the beach called Grand
Plagne on the way back. The difference between high tide and low tide is
enormous at this place. At the end I also visit the old Fort National
from the 17’Th century. At high tide it’s in the middle of the sea, and
at low tides you can walk out there. |
Friday, March 14’Th
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It’s a
halfdaytrip to Dinan today. First a 1 hour trip by bus – then 3 hours in
Dinan – and then back with the bus.
Dinan
is a nice old town. Just like St. Malo, it’s surrounded by a city-wall.
At the bottom of the city the river La Rance is running, and there’s a
very idyllic part of the town called Port de Dinan. It was some monks
that established the town back in the 9’Th century. |
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I get a
map at the tourist-office that gives you 3 different walks around town.
I choose to combine them, and therefore start with half of the
city-wall, before heading down a trail to the river and the “port”,
which only consist of small yachts. From down there it’s uphill via Rue
de Jeruzel, with old houses and a cobblestoned road. It looks like a
place that is hell during season, but is pretty nice right now. Uphill
you are back in Dinan center, with the usual number of huge churches and
more alleys.
Finally I take the last part of the wall, before heading for the bus
terminal and the bus heading back for St. Malo. |
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The
second trip of the day is a afternoon-walk in St. Malo. I’m heading
through the small streets, seeing the usual cathedral and end up by
walking to the small island of Ile de Grand Be about 100 meters of the
beach at St. Malo. You can walk to the island because the tide is low.
When the tide is high, the road out there is under water, and if caught
out there, you’ve got a 6 hour wait before you can return. Thankfully
they’ve put up a sign telling when it’s ok to go there – and when it’s
not. The locals use the island for their afternoon stroll as well, and
for walking those thousands of dogs they all seem to have. By the way –
the famous writer Chateaubriand is buried at Ile de Grand Be.
The
last walk of the day is less touristy. It’s a walk around the busy
harbor of St. Malo. Here you’ll find ships and cranes unloading them –
and no tourists at all. |
Saturday, March 15’Th
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My
plans were to take a bus to Mont St-Michel today, but the
weather-forecast is nasty, so that will be tomorrow instead.
The weather in the morning is nice though, so I head for a long walk to
the suburb of St-Servan south of St. Malo. There’s a large marina and a
huge fort – Fort de La Cité – from the middle of the 18’Th century. It
Germans built some bunkers there as well during WW2, as part of the
Atlantic-wall.
There’s
also a nice tower from the 14’Th century – Tour Solidor – but
unfortunately it is closed today. But anyway it’s a nice part of the
city, very good for a walk among the locals.
At noon
the sky gets darker, so I head back for the center. When I get there
it’s pouring down. |
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So the next thing will be indoors. St. Malo’s city-museum is placed in
Chateau de St. Malo, just opposite my hotel. The museum is pretty
boring, but the castle is nice, and seeing the museum is the only way to
get inside the castle. From the top there’s a great view of the city –
and you’ve got a roof above you, so you don’t get wet. People that are
walking down on the plaza in front of the castle certainly do.
The
rain continues, so all I can do is to cross the plaza to my hotel, and
find some rugby on the TV.
At 5 it stops, and I can take a small walk around town, before heading
back to the hotel just to find out it has been invaded by the Americans.
There’s a huge number of Americans all with extremely large suitcases
waiting for check-in. |
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Sunday, March 16’Th
The bus
leaves at 10 to 9 for Pontorson. That takes about an hour. From there
it’s a 15 minutes bus ride with another one to Mont St-Michel, which is
where I will spend this day.
Mont
St-Michel has got a long history. It all started in 708 where Aubert,
the Bishop in Avranches, build a small church on the top of Mont-Tombe.
Over the years this was a primary target for the pilgrims, and in the
10’Th century some Benedictine monks settled at the place. At the same
time they started to build a small village at the bottom of the hill.
Since the place has grown bigger, and today Mont St-Michel is one of the
tourist-highlights in the whole of France. |
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The
walk uphill is at tourist-hell. Souvenir-shops and restaurants, where
there is no reasonably mix between quality and price. But when you get
to the top you must be impressed. I’m here on a Sunday – Palm Sunday –
so at 11.30 there’s a service run by the monks and nuns at the place.
See the show here
Afterwards I take a walk around the whole complex. There are cloisters,
crypts and chapels. There’s also a huge treadmill, where some prisoners
worked in the old days, to move all the huge stones up the hill for
building the place even bigger. |
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I spend
a few exiting hours up here, before going back to the souvenir-hell at
the bottom. As it starts to rain, I decide to take a bus back to
Pontorson a little before schedule. That gives me an hour to kill in
Pontorson before heading back to St-Malo at 4.30 – and arriving there at
5.30. |
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To Paris |