France - Thursday to Sunday (Home, St Malo, Marché Noël & Home)

Thursday, 30 November 2017

A quiet but fruitful day at home.  I nearly got all my exchanges done for the coming year, as all of a sudden positive responses started to come in.  I will keep you posted when they are firming up.

Friday, 1 December 2017

Friday started very cold and it was NOT the day to go out, but since I didn't know I did go anyway. :-)

My bedroom windows were frosted over big way and so was the windscreen of the car.  Scrounging around for a scraper I found a spray can for defrosting windscreens, but that didn't do too much, so scraping I did.  By the time I got the windows clear enough to see through, while I had the car idling to get the heater to fill the interior with warm air, I my hands were pretty cold, but not too cold to grip the steering wheel, so off I went, to St. Malo for a second time.

Had the sun been shining at home, it didn't last and before I knew it I'd hit threatening dark clouds and the rain came pouring down.  However, since I had had the plan to turn around on my way to Le Mont Saint Michel and the weather had cleared I was hoping for a repeat of the performance today.  Well, I had run out of luck, the rain cleared, but came back ever so quick and this was an ongoing matter all the way down to St. Malo.

Anyway, to keep a long story short, I got there alright, found a parking spot very quickly (no surprise on a day like that!) and could walk right into town.  This time from the other side that when I visited with Patricia.  I had parked close to the castle on the west side and close to town as a result.  I had planned to also find a few caches, and as they were strategically planted at the various gates into the town, I hit my first one upon entering.  Found it too!  But not before I had had a look over the town walls across the water. 

It sure was a cold and rainy day, and not only that, it was downright stormy.  I had my hands full holding my camera still against the wind coming from the English Channel and was nearly blown right through the gate upon entering the town.

Castle on the west side of town

Then I found my fist cache of the day:

#1800 - Saint Malo # 1 - Porte Saint Vincent (cache)

I hadn't been to this part of town and had a lot of exploring to do, but holding an umbrella in the blustery wind was not going to happen, so in the end I didn't do as much as I had planned to.  I had to let go of two caches as well, as they were both on the exposed side of town and it got too much when even my glasses got blown off my head!  

On my way I passed a little place that sold crêpes and since it was lunch time and I also wanted to warm my cold hands, a crêpe for lunch it was.  Then I walked on and past a restored fishmonger place:

I did get to see a few more nice parts of town though on my way to the eastern, and more protected side.

L'Hotel de Ville (City Hall)

On the southern ramparts

Then on the eastern side (the lee side today) it was all quiet again and even the sun came out momentarily.  My chance to look for a cache that had eluded Patricia and me before.  We had looked near the gate at ground level, but the cache was on top of the ramparts.  Which I had guessed later and it checked out to be correct.

#1801 - Saint Malo #4 - Porte de Dinan (cache) 

The next gate was too exposed and there were too many people around, so I couldn't search for long.  Instead I walked to the next and last one and this was a different and tricky one, although placed by the same cache owner.  Upon first inspection it looked like an electricity box of some sort, but the hint in the description said: no danger!  So, I took my chance, grabbed it and bingo!  It was the cache container, hidden in the wall and made to look connected to another, real one further up the opening.

#1802 - Saint-Malo #2 - Grand'porte  (cache)

By then I was cold and tired enough of the wind and rain to look for a place where I could have a cup of coffee and some peace and quiet....  I found the one where Patricia and I had been before, a cosy little place where they also spoke English, which is very helpful, but.... by now, ordering a café au lait is not the hardest thing to do anymore. ;-)

After I have warmed up sufficiently to brave the elements again I decide on one last walk to inspect the Hotel de Ville a little closer before I go and find the car, and I find myself at the entrance of a historic museum.  I was in luck too, as it was the first Friday of the month and the announcement said that the museum was free every first Friday of the month!  Well, I enjoyed another good hour at the museum, which was very interesting indeed.  Of course mainly local history, but I like any kind of information about the places that I visit and this was no different. 

The museum, formerly the castle

This cabinet really are bunk beds behind doors

View from the top of the castle tower

The walled city of St Malo originally

When I had finished at the museum it really was time to go home, because the winter days are getting shorter and the weather was inclement, with warnings to be careful on the roads as there was the expectancy of hail and of course, in this cold weather, also frost.  As I am very weary of black ice I didn't want to drive home in the dark.  Daytime was bad enough...

I made a quick detour past the Marché Noël (Christmas market) and then found the car.  Stopped off at the supermarket on the way home and relaxed with a pre-cooked dinner when finally home.

It was a bit early still.  Not all of the stands had opened yet.

Saturday, 2 December 2017

Another cold start of the day.  Wonderful pictures painted by the frost on the windows:

I had planned to have an easy day at home, but sometimes those planes don't work out.  Not that I had anything to worry about.

Jean-Pierre came upstairs to tell me that there was a Marché Noël in the village and did I want to join him and Michèle in the afternoon?  Of course I would!  And Michèle was also going to the farm to buy apples.  I could come as well, so I did.  I love to have fresh apples straight from the orchard rather than the ones from the supermarket that have most likely be in a cold store and are a year old!  I decided to make some apple sauce this time as I had plenty of time on my hands.  I bought some really nice sweet apples, so I didn't even have to add sugar.  Michèle bought a few kilos to make apple jelly.  I had never heard of it, let alone tasted it, so she would drop me off a jar the following day.

There are surprisingly many English speaking people in this little village.  I regularly talk to one of the girls at the supermarket.  Just for a chat, but also handy to have somebody who you can ask difficult questions!

At the Christmas market there were a couple from England, who seem to live half the year here, and the other half in England.  They sold delicious vin chaud (mulled wine) which I finally tried.  I have seen it at every place that I have visited, it being so popular during autumn and winter, but I always had to drive, so I couldn't/wouldn't have any.  And there also was this lady from the USA and I had already seen/heard another couple speaking English at the supermarket earlier.  They were at the market as well.  Not that I needed to talk to everyone.  I rather had a haphazard chat with the people behind the stands and one of the ladies let me have a taste of some kind of chutney mad of pumpkin and figs.  Really nice, but since I am travelling shortly I didn't want to go home with too many items, so I couldn't buy any.  

After strolling past all the stands we finally arrived at the corner where Santa waited for children to have their photos taken or even receive a present.

Michèle wanted to take a picture of Santa and me, so I obliged and than she had to as well! Santa happened to speak English very well too.  He told me he had worked on the boats in Australia in the 60s.  Santa does get around, doesn't he? ;-)

An angora rabbit, kept for its wool, which was sold at the market

Sunday, 3 December 2017

What can I say?  Another quiet day at home.  I feel like I have seen everything there is to be seen and just want to vege out on the couch.  I have started a new book and besides finishing my blog I don't feel like doing much else.  I have to do the washing though, but the machine is doing the hard yakka.  I can just sit down and relax while the wood stove is burning a lovely warm fire....