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
MK Pagano 
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.
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This is so gorgeous! I’ll actually be going to Normandy in a few months, but I really want to visit Brittany as well! 😀
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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 🙂
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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! 🙂
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What teaching program are you doing? I also taught in France!
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Have you heard of TAPIF?
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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!
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How awesome! I’m definitely looking forward to it then. 🙂
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