Marvelous Saint-Malo, France

Ahh, the beautiful seaside town of Saint-Malo. Tis a shame we hardly spent enough time visiting you, for what we saw suggested a longer stay would be incredibly worth it. Located along the northern shores of France in it's western most region, Brittany, and is one of the most charming seaside villages we've visited.

Alas, my inability to edit myself caused us to have very little time here, and even fewer daylight hours, but what we saw we liked very much. We had arrived the night before after a long day of exploring Mont St. Michel, having originally started in Honfleur in the morning. By the time we arrived in Saint-Malo, it was time for bed, and the next day, we had a long day as we were headed for the Loire Valley. While I don't regret visiting Saint-Malo, I do regret that we only had such little time to do so.

Come along for our short by pleasant journey of this northern French seaside town, as we explore all that we could in what little time we had.

We started off at our hotel, Le Nouveau Monde Hôtel et Spa (read more below), and decided to get up early and go for a walk along the main avenue that ran along the beach.

Even though we were up at the crack of dawn, the pictures make it seem like we were up and about super early. Since we were so far north, and so far at the end of the time zone, sunrise at this time of year was around 8:45am. This was handy, as it allowed us to get to see the city in such beautiful light, without having to be up and at 'em in the wee hours of the morning.

The late sunrise allowed me to capture the Etoile du Roy, a three-masted frigate in all its silhouette glory.

Right across the street is the Château de la Duchesse Anna, or Saint-Malo Castle. The Duke of Brittany started building the castle in 1424, in order to maintain his hold over the region. It was later the home of Anne, Duchesse of Brittany and queen consort of France.

These days, there are carnival like rides in front of the castle, which were all sadly closed during our early morning stroll. The building is also used as a city hall.

Adjacent is the entrance to an enclosed portion of the city. We opted to wander in and take a peek, as well as seek out a place for breakfast.

We were in luck, because immediately upon entering this section of the city, cafés greeted us instantly.

We opted to eat al fresco at Café de St. Malo, and have a quick French style petit dejeuner.

After breakfast, we opted to walk around this small street a little more.

We then decided to check out the ramparts that were right there, and see what the view looked from atop this elevated area of the city.

Below, looking out in the direction that we originally came from.

Back on level ground, we knew we had to get going, but still had time to leisurely walk back to the hotel and enjoy the beach and structures along the way.

I loved that even though this area is so far north and on the chilly side of things, there were still a variety of palms to admire.

Heading back towards our hotel, we caught a few glimpses of Fort National, built in 1689 to protect the city.

During high tide, you are not able to walk to the fort, but we only caught it during low tide hours. It must look even more amazing, floating out in the sea so close and yet seemingly so far away.

Though we didn't have time to visit the fort, we kept taking opportunities to admire it whenever we could.

We continued our walk down the beach, admiring the large tree trunks jutting out of the ground. Are they used as some sort of dune system? I'm unsure.

A little further out, you could see Fort de la Conchée, commissioned in 1689 to protect the city from English invaders. As evidenced by all of the fortifications on the city, it is apparent how important Saint-Malo was to France during this time period.

The name of this beach is Grande Plage du Sillon, and its largeness certainly lives up to its name!

Not only were we blessed with amazing lighting, but the low tide also led to a light covering of the sand by sea water, allowing for lots of reflections.

After our walk along the beach, we returned to our hotel to say a fond adieu to Saint-Malo.

Our time here might have been limited, but the magical scenery remains one of my favorite memories of our trips to France. I would gladly go back to Saint-Malo at the drop of a hat, to see and experience more of this charming seaside town, and I look forward to opportunities where I might be able to make that happen.

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Le Nouveau Monde Hôtel et Spa

Ben and I arrived at Le Nouveau Monde Hôtel et Spa (or The New World in French) very late at night. This didn't allow us to take advantage of the resort's great location or amenities as one would hope, or even enjoy a seaside sunset view. Still, we did appreciate the views in the morning, and the room was quite comfortable, with all the amenities one would hope for.

Should we find ourselves back in St. Malo, we would look up this hotel again without any hesitation. The location was great, the accommodations comfortable, the views stunning - all the things that make for a wonderful stay at a seaside location. Just be sure to avoid our fate and give yourself more time than we allowed.

We booked a Supérieure Mer (superior ocean) room, which gave us prime beach front views. While the balcony wasn't huge, it was big enough for admiring the seaside in front of us, as well as views up and down the coastline.

Below are pictures of the interior of the room, taken the night we arrived (so already dark). Not the biggest room we've stayed in, but plenty of comfortable furnishings, nice décor, and who doesn't love a toilet with spiffy lighting?

Overall, we enjoyed our brief but enjoyable stay here. Next time, though, we want to be sure to use the pool on property, so we'll be sure to book a longer stay.

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La Pataterie

As I've written about in my posting about Verdun, I have a soft spot for France's pomme de terre (potato) themed restaurant chain, La Pataterie. Leave it to the French to have a potato chain - je suis très sérieux, j'adore cette ideé.

As I've also mentioned above, we had a very very very busy day, and when it came time to figure out our dinner plans driving from Mont St. Michel into Saint-Malo, while Ben had his heart set on seafood (due to the town's location on the sea), the convenience and familiarity of La Pataterie won out at the last moment.

This is still a big bone of contention - I am writing this post 7 years after we spent the night in Saint Malo, and Ben still talks about how I forced him to go to a potato restaurant by a seaside town, and we both laugh about it. He did just say recently, once I brought this back up and sent him the pictures included here, that he was okay with it since he got his oysters elsewhere, and we both agree that we would definitely enjoy a good baked potato under different circumstances (his being not in a seaside town known for its seafood, and me being, well, any day).

Was it the best meal we've ever had in France? Of course not. Was it convenient? Sure. Would we do it again? Maybe? Depends on whether we knew we would be arriving so late to Saint-Malo and had a better plan in advance (since the French do love to eat dinner much later than we Americans typically do), and how tired we were. Oftentimes, I find that when I'm traveling, the more tired I am, the more likely I am to rely on convenience and familiarity. Et désolé, mon amis, La Pataterie is both.

Vive la pomme de terre!

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Saint-Malo Details

Located along the northern shores of Brittany, France's northwestern region, Saint-Malo is a charming seaside town worth more than just a few hour visit. As I've been mentioning in other postings, my earlier mode of travel - to see as much as possible as one can - often means cutting important things out. Spend more time in Saint-Malo than we did, as it's a place we would happily return to when we get another chance.

It's about an hour drive to Mont Saint-Michel, making it a possible place to stay and do day-trips radiating out from. Whatever your plans, be sure to add Saint-Malo to your itinerary!

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Days of this trip: December 3rd - 4th, 2015