Wanderlusty Wednesday: Saint-Malo
In honor of the fact that I’ve just started reading this book (and so far, it’s amazing), today I’m going to talk about one of my favorite little places on earth: Saint-Malo.
Saint-Malo is a walled port city in Bretagne, or Brittany, France. You should go there.
Why?
You can get there easily by train from Paris. It’s a great place to stay while exploring the area around it–you can hop a bus to the famous Mont-Saint-Michel, a ferry to the less famous but still amazing Channel Islands, which include Jersey (the namesake of my home state!) and Guernsey (the setting of this beautiful book).
Also, Saint-Malo is just a beautiful, amazing place, all by itself.
When I first visited I didn’t even know this city had sustained damage in World War II–that’s how well it’s been restored. You feel like you’re walking through the fifteenth century.
At low tide, you can wander the beaches and climb all over the rocks…
…it has pretty yellow lichen on its rocks, and nice messages written in the sand…
…you can wander the ramparts and pretend you’re a medieval soldier–or just take in the beautiful views…
… and the town inside the walls is adorable, with narrow little cobblestoned streets, boutique hotels, and amazing seafood…But pay attention to the tides:
Because for part of the day, the beach looks like this:
… and then later that same day, it looks like this:
I’m really enjoying learning more about Saint-Malo in my book. I know I’m going to be devastated when the Allied bombers arrive, though since I spent a year living in a town where the destruction was even worse, I guess I should be used to it when visiting this region of France, whether through the pages of a book or in person.
I’ve been to Saint-Malo twice and I fully intend to go back again someday. Can you imagine living there? One can only dream…
All photos taken by me, April 2004 and April 2007
This is so gorgeous! I’ll actually be going to Normandy in a few months, but I really want to visit Brittany as well! 😀
Ah have so much fun!! Saint-Malo is right on the edge of Normandy, and it’s a great base for seeing Mont-Saint-Michel, so if you’re going there, you can just hop right on over! Where else are you going? I recommend Giverny, Caen, the beaches (I know a great little tour company if you need it), Honfleur, Bayeux, Etretat, Rennes … the list goes on 🙂
I really want to go to Giverny (the place of Monet’s home!). I’m not sure if I’ll have the time to travel around France, because I’ll be teaching in the meantime, but I’ll definitely make an effort to check the other places out when I can! 🙂
What teaching program are you doing? I also taught in France!
Have you heard of TAPIF?
Yes! That’s the program I did. They may have changed it in the 8 years since I was there, but I only worked 12 hours per week, plus the schools have lots of holidays–10 days at Touissant, 2 weeks each at Christmas, February break, and Easter. Which leaves a massive amount of time for travel. And Normandy is really easy to get around by train–make sure to buy a carte 12-25 to get your youth discount!
How awesome! I’m definitely looking forward to it then. 🙂
Looks like a pretty place! I’ve been hearing a lot of good things about that book, so I’ll definitely have to check it out.
[…] Reading: All The Light We Cannot See. Finally. The prose is amazing, the characters compelling, and it takes place in one of my favorite tiny cities. […]
[…] All the Light We Cannot See This was lovely and haunting and beautifully-written and deserves every ounce of praise it’s gotten. I keep wondering when people are going to get tired of World War II stories, and the answer is, I don’t think they are, as long as talented writers like Anthony Doerr continue to bring them to live so vividly. It’s sad, as expected, but also hopeful. Just read it. And then, when you’re done, come with my on my journey back to Saint-Malo. […]
[…] took a day trip to this island while in one of my favorite cities in the world. It’s a quick, easy (though not cheap–I believe tickets were around 80 […]
[…] I do have to admit I am biased to this kind of story. I lived in France, in a town that was even more completely destroyed than Saint-Malo, and I have visited Saint-Malo twice. […]
[…] and take a stopover in Saint-Malo […]