Current Position
48 38 91N
002 01 35W
St Malo
St Malo? Love it. It was the home of the privateers - a band of legalised up market pirates. Their very fast fighting ships were known as Corsairs. This was how the wealth of St Malo was created along with its extensive sea trading. To this day, there is still pride and recognition of that privateer history. We left St Malo with the romance and fighting spirit of the privateers coursing through our veins, but alas all we are on the lookout for is decent WiFi !!!!
Our mooring was right under the original walls of this amazing city which are floodlit at night and make for a magical romantic backdrop. To find a marina in such a stunning location is very rare indeed. The walls were built during 2 different historical periods: the original walls, built from the 12th century were enlarged and altered up to the 18th century and miraculously survived WW2 destruction, unlike the rest of the city - 80% of which was totally destroyed. Can you believe that every block of stone was meticulously numbered and over a period of 10 years St Malo was rebuilt. What a feat. We walked the ramparts - a 1754 metre circuit - taking in magnificent views and in the evening enjoyed the ambience of the floodlights from our cockpit. St Malo is a shoppers paradise. Exquisite boutiques, beautiful narrow streets full of intimate eateries. We enjoyed a fabulous " seafood fest" and I actually managed to handle a spider crab and eat it!!! My fear of crabs goes way back to my childhood - a story for another time!!! Throw in some stunning architecture and you have a truly beautiful city which has not been spoilt. We thoroughly enjoyed our time and regretfully decided to move on. We wanted to head off at 8.25 am the next morning - very precise but that was the time the lock opened, so we joined the queue and got into the lock ( we now knew how it all worked so it was much easier than the entry) and having got out the other end we set our course for St Cast Le Guildo, along the Emerald Coast. Apply named for the colour of the water.
Song for this post: Street life by Randy Crawford
Thought for this post : The French are very quiet and unassuming. They are very polite and watching the youngsters greet each other with kisses and hand shakes is a joy.
Highlight for this post: Has to be the beautiful setting in which we found ourselves.