From the distance, the walled city of St.Malo seems imposing, but once within its walls and on its cobbled narrow streets its quaintness is charmingly modest. With its 18th century buildings, and equally historic shops and restaurants one gets a sense of having traveled back in time. Indeed St. Malo's castle dates dates from the 14th and 15th centuries so we did go back in time somewhat. As always I still had to come up with a story to sell to my children - more to my six year old that my pre-teen- as the history offered by the tourist guide books doesn't beguile enough to warrant sufficient enthusiasm. This weekend's story was about the pirates. The history of the Corsaires, effectively state-sponsored pirates, had my son curious enough to want to go exploring in St. Malo.
Mostly we walked, ate - there is always much eating to do on these trips- and walked some more. The stretch of beach with the old city as background, and the ocean with its lighthouses and jugged coastline offering the perfect postcard view was beautiful. We went on the weekend of the unexpected big freeze, that saw us driving though light snow on the way, and arriving four hours later to blistering cold winds. Determined to make the most of it we bundled up and took in most of St.Malo is 48hours. As always I came back with memories of the food experience - moules frites bien sûr, cider, vin chaud, and the buttery goodness of koning aman, a Breton pastry that is so delightful it begs to be savoured again, and again - which I enthusiastically did.It was a great weekend getaway, and just a mere four hour drive from Paris.
More pictures here.
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