From La Giro to the north coast

Having been kicked out of La Giro yesterday (Reginald said that another school group was coming, but I think he was just tired of us), we drove north through Rennes (where we, of course, stopped to eat and it started to rain). Rennes has a long and interesting history and was a "village of wood" (I guess because of the availability of wood from surrounding forests) until fires in the 18th century burned a great deal of the town. Louis XIV dictated that it be rebuilt out of stone rather than wood. Some of the wooden buildings still stand - or, rather, lean:

From Rennes, it was on to our B&B about 30 km from St. Malo, where it continued to rain. Our friend from La Giro, Anne-Marie, found it for us. The place is called Licorne Pourpre or the Purple Unicorn. Here is the view:

We unloaded our stuff and headed for St. Malo via the coastline of the Bay of Mont St. Michele... in the rain. Still, it was a lovely drive. We stopped on the bay north of Cancale to scarf some fresh seafood (most of which Dan ate because there were many slug-like creatures and he loves those) and, of course, to have a drink. It was local cidre for me and pastis for Dan.



We drove on to St. Malo (did I mention the rain?) and went into the walled city.






St. Malo dates from around the 6th century AD and is famous for its corsairs, which is a fancy name for pirates. It's also the birthplace of Jacques Cartiers, the explorer, and the burial place of the writer, Chateaubriand. We had a delicious meal of modules frites and cidre followed by a walk of the ramparts. We were pretty damp by the time that was all over, so we headed back to the B&B and were in by 10 pm. Of course, it was still light.

We are heading back to St. Malo this morning and then will head to Rouen.