St-Malo is super nice! It had a welcoming festive mood to it when you arrive. Getting in the intramuros feels like going to Disneyland or Universal Studio. There are lots of tourists walking around and looking happy. I see mostly couples, old and young though I didn’t see any Asian at all except for the two of us. Inside is full of cafés, creperies, and of course, souvenir shops. We got in at 6pm but the sky is still very bright. It normally doesn’t get dark here until about 10pm so it’s hard for me to reconcile that the shops are already close when it still feels early. St-Malo is a walking town with not much thing to do but walk around, and eat crepes, and shopping. We climbed the wall of intramuros to see the sea and port. The view is really nice. We read that there are a couple of beaches nearby which are probably really nice, if you’re a polar bear!! It’s also a shopping area as there are branded shops all over.
Brittany is known for its crepes. I think it was even born there and they’re really good. So we had them for lunch and dinner, main course (farine de blé noir) and dessert (de froment). Since the main attraction really is the food, and we don’t need to pay for any entrance fees like in the Loire, we decided we wanted to eat good food. We ordered a bottle of red wine, the Merlot. The young waiter, seeing that we look like fragile ladies, told us there are only big bottles (75cl) for the Merlot, which of course we saw in the menu! There are some other types where you can order half bottle (37,5cl) or the half liter local produce in unmarked bottles. We nod at him confirming our order, and fearing we don’t understand French, struggled in English complete with gesture, big bottle only? Oui! D’accord!
This is how small the town is, the following day, Sunday, Claire went to hear mass. I stayed about town and checked out the shops, and before the mass ended, I must have circulated the area 3 times and feel like I’m old friends with the crepe guy at the corner! We agreed that she will call me when the mass finished, turned out she didn’t have to as we just bumped into one another in the street!
If you’re not on a honeymoon or in hideaway with your mistress, staying for 2 days in here is a bit too much. You can arrive early in the morning, stay for a night and it’ll still be enough. As we can see the shop only so many times, we stayed in our hotel room in the afternoon and watch TV. So we are actually quite updated with the election and together with the French people, await the announcement of the new president at 20h.
Dinner at Le Margeaux was cozy, because it was freezing outside, everyone was inside. So we sit côte-a-côte with everyone, in our small table and whisper while we eat. A little after 20h, the silence was broken with a telephone ring. The lady went out to accept her call and when she came in, everyone was looking at her expectantly and she announced, Sarkozy, 53%.
