| St Malo for a Weekend |
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It was too good an offer to turn down. Ferry to a village port in northern France and back, one night's stay on board the ferry and one night in a hotel in the village for under £200. We just had to go. It was a bit of an ask, to leave work in London at 5pm and get to a ship in Portsmouth for an 8:30pm sailing, so we decided to take Friday and Monday off work. Friday, so we could take our time getting to the ship, and Monday, so we could recover and get the housework done once we got back. Portsmouth wasn't much to see. We wandered past H.M.S. Warrior and H.M.S. Victory then headed to the port for the ferry to St Malo. The ferry was better than we expected, and we even had a TV in our room, and loo, shower, and 4 bunks. There were four restaurants, a couple of bars, some duty-free shops, pokie machines, video games, cinemas, etc, etc. We sailed at 8:30pm, and after watching the city light drift into the distance we retired to our room. When we woke in the morning we discovered a channel on the TV which was the view from the bridge, looking straight ahead. This was handy as our room was below the water-line, and was in the middle of the ship anyway. By the time we had showered we could see St Malo in the distance. Shortly after 7am we were walking past the old city walls, heading to the hotel to drop our bags, and before 8:30am we were settled in an out-of-the-way cafe beside a little park, breakfasting on pain ou chocolate and jus d'orange. The French really know how to eat, and presentation is always fabulous. A chocolatier we stumbled across had virtual sculptures in solid chocolate. They were the sort of thing it would be a shame to break up and eat. Talk about the ultimate conundrum for chocoholics!! After breakfast we walked all the way around the ramparts from Porte Saint Pierre, on the sea side, clockwise, then back down into the streets to explore. After much wandering in the heat, some beautiful pastries for lunch, a couple of drinks at a bar, lots of wandering through shops, we headed back along the beach front to the hotel. After a cool drink in the courtyard, Janet laid down for a nap, and Ian headed out to walk further slong the beach, sight-seeing, all the way to where the kite-surfers were zipping back and forth past a windsurfing competition. After a lovely meal of coquilles St. Jacques (scallops), monkfish, l'agneau (lamb), tartine-au-citron, and various cheeses, at La Table D'Henri on the waterfront, we watched the sun set over the Fort National, then staggered back our room to watch TV programmes we could not understand. Next morning, after some more pastries, we headed back to the ferry for a day trip back to Portsmouth. After watching St Malo drifting away in the distance, we whiled away the hours doing crosswords in the piano bar, reading the Sunday Times in our room, and eating from one of the on-board cafes. We docked at Portsmouth at 7pm, got a taxi to the Portsmouth and South Seas train station, and were back home with the fluffies shortly after 9pm. All in all, a lovely time. Ian looks like "lobster man", and Janet is a bit burnt beyond her make-up, but we are happy and relaxed. Plans to return to St Malo as soon as possible have been scuppered by the realisation we are going to need more money than we thought for our trip to the South of France in October, and the idea that we should also try other ports along the Normandy / Britanny coast that the ferrys also travel to. |