Onward to France

Yesterday’s post was late and pictures were added even later, so you might want to scroll down and view/review it.

Cloudy and rainy when we got up at 6:30 today.  We had to leave the Eulah House before 8:30 breakfast time, so they left breakfast in our room:  fruit, cereal, milk, yoghurt, bread, etc.  We showered, gobbled, and loaded the car to return to the St Helier Ferry Port for our 9:00 sailing for St Malo.  It was mostly a smoother crossing, but when I went to the Men’s Room, there were two Brits retching their brains out.

I bought two liter bottles of Smirnoff’s Lime Vodka (the only vodka brand they had) in the ferry duty free shop – two liters for ₤24 (do your own conversion).  That’s for use when we get to our house in four days time.  We disembarked at St Malo on time.  Immigration was a breeze.  Still overcast with the odd streak of blue, so we decided to do a drive.

Drove immediately to Cap Frehel and walked around.  It wasn’t raining and there were patches of blue sky, but it felt like a force ten gale blowing.  Fantastic views!  No sooner had we finished walking around the cape and a squall hit.  Had we still be out, we would have been drenched.

Next we drove to St Cast le Guildo, a pleasant little town.  First stop was at an Intermarché, our supermarket chain of choice, to buy some tissues, some wine, some paper towels, and some lunch.  Picked up a baguette, some cheese, and some apples.  Then we drove to the beach at St Cast for lunch on a bench.  (Hint: French bread is grand unless you buy it at a Supermarket – only boulangeries after today!)  It was a bit windy, but the sun was out and lunch was good despite the mediocre bad bread.  Next we drove to Point St Cast for more glorious views under mostly sunny skies.  Then it was on to another beach for a walk on the sands.

It was time then to head to Dinan, our home for tonight and tomorrow night.  We found Dinan easily enough; not so our B&B, La Mainson Pavie, which is located in the center where the streets are narrow and cobble stoned.  We finally just parked in the underground parking lot in town and set search on foot.  It was a short walk from the garage and we had driven right by it and its illegible sign. Owner Camille showed us to our digs, a beautiful room overlooking the Cathedral from one end and a nice outdoor patio from the other.  Our car was down the road, and the room is up two treacherous flights of narrow stairs, so we fetched only small bags from the car.  It turns out La Maison Pavie is the birthplace of Auguste Pavie, a French explorer of, among other places, Indochina.

Dinner tonight was at the B&B, prepared by Camille’s husband, Jerome.  First off, plenty of delicious French bread!  We started with a salad of freshly picked spinach with chicken and Parmesan cheese.  Then the main was wonderful salmon en papillote in a delectable sauce. That was followed by a cheese platter: a goat cheese, a hard cheese, and a deliciously ripe Camembert.  Finally, tarte tartin with ice cream.  Of course it was all accompanied by a nice French red wine.  Dining with us were Michael and Brian, a married couple from Sonoma, CA, and we had good conversation.