I enigmatically said that I might not write about sweet chestnuts this week and that was because I knew that I would be writing about our visit to St Malo. Because of Poirot's eye drops, we can be away from home together for a maximum of 36 hours, which limits where we can get to. Last year's holiday was a night in Paris. This year we needed to see the sea, and we timed our visit impeccably, to avoid school holidays and catch the fine weather which broke today.
When we arrived, it was high tide, so we couldn't walk out to the National Fort, let alone the Grand Be or Petit Be, but we could walk around the ramparts admiring the views, watching boats and ships come into port and people bathing and catching a last top up of their tan by the outer ramparts. The low sun meant that cafes were shaded inside the walls, but still inviting.
It was impossible to resist the temptation of café society inside the walls, so we had a coffee and the most amazing hot chocolate - a quantity of boiling milk poured over a large blob of chocolate, and you are left with a spoon to decide how much to eat and how much to stir into the milk!
We stayed at a favourite hotel inside the ramparts. The hotel has no restaurant, so we are free to roam the town in search of good food and good drink. Our dinner, once we had got over the shock of how much eating out costs at the seaside nowadays, was excellent, and we also visited our favourite pub twice during the evening, once for aperitifs and once for digestifs. Well, we were on holiday!
The following morning, once we had checked out, we went back to the café society zone for breakfast - HUGE croissants and strong coffee and a glass of water.
We then went out to the beach as the tide had gone out, to try to fly the kite we had brought with us. Such was the fine weather, that there wasn't a strong or consistent enough breeze to get the kite to fly. It wanted to but there just wasn't enough oomph to the wind, so instead we settled for walking out to the rocks and taking photos back towards St Malo centre.
St Malo was a major port in times gone by, and close to the Channel Islands too, so a favourite target of the British and Dutch navies. As a result, Vauban spent a lot of time thinking about its defences. The National Fort, the Petit Be, the ramparts themselves were all part of this defensive ring, as was the Fort that sticks out on the horizon, similar to Fort Boyard, but predating it I believe.
Anyway, from the beach, we went round the coast to Cancale, to admire the oyster beds and walk out along the harbour wall.
You can buy oysters from those beds at a small market at the end of the harbour wall, and if that is what you want, the vendors will open them for you, and you can sit on the wall, eat your oysters and chuck the shells over the wall onto the beach. But NOT the lemon wedge you are provided with - that has a special bin!
We didn't do that, we went to another favourite haunt, Chez Victor, for our lunch. John needed a vat of mussels and I rather fancied a crab, each washed down with a glass of sauvignon, and served with the style and elegance that we have come to expect from Victor.
And then it was time to buy a box of oysters and dash back home to Maine et Loire to give Poirot her eye drops, after an amazingly refreshing and very enjoyable escapade by the sea. We had the oysters for lunch today - some hot with bacon and prunes as Angels on Horseback, and some raw. This is a bit of an experiment as 5 years ago we were poisoned by a dodgy batch bought locally and haven't dared try them since - fingers crossed!
But after all that fun, there are serious things to attend to - making the Christmas puddings (starting shortly) and sifting through the 850 files from a trail camera I brought in. It was watching a crossroads of wildlife paths, and from what I can see, pine martens, badgers and deer have been cavorting there through the summer. So you know what I will write about next time!
Have a good week!
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