May 5th, 2024

We had a nice quiet sea day on Saturday and our last day playing Mah Jongg. Since we were having a special brunch today on the pool deck which started at 10am we had a couple of people who did not show but when we texted them to come get a group picture they came.

Our Mah Jongg group. A few got off along the way and we had some newbies who are not newbies anymore.

The brunch was excellent and included a little bit of everything. Chicken wings, omelettes, oysters, lobsters, pasta, meat pies and a ton of other stuff. Bloody Marys and Mimosas were being liberally passed out.

The pool deck for the brunch

A lot of people started packing but we mainly read and enjoyed a leisurely cloudy, cold sea day. We did have dinner in Manfredi’s with Linda, Michael x 2 and Kathy. The chef made a special dish for us at our request.

Our wonderful waiter Raul decided to be in the picture and unbeknownst to us we got photo bombed by Belle.

We anchored very close to Saint Malo, France and we were doing the included tour which was a walking tour of the town. About 300 people went on a tour to Mont Saint Michel which is a 2 hour bus ride in each direction. We had been there in 2019 so we did not go.

Saint Malo is a walled city in the north of France which was destroyed in both World Wars. Supposedly more bombs were dropped in Saint Malo than any other city in France during world War II. The buildings range from the 1500s to the 1900s.

Some of the narrow cobbled streets and inside the church in town.

Our ship anchored

The entrance to the city and one of the houses

The other thing about Saint Malo is the tides. At low tide there is a 40 foot difference in the water level. There are several island that you can walk to during low tide but it is easy to stuck out on the island if the tide comes back in and covers the walkway.

All of these boats are on sand during low tide and when high tide comes they float again.

You can see how large the beach is during low tide.

The National Fort which you can access easily during low tide

Another view of the fort

Some boat pictures.

We walked the wall of the city which goes all the way around and at one point our guide told us that 20,000 people lived behind the walls. Now there are about 2,000.

The city walls

Along the walls they use oak tree trunks as breakers for the waves. They have been doing this for 100s of years.

They built this sea water pool so that during low tide people did not have to walk over rocks and sea weed to get to the water. That is a diving platform at the deep end. Our guide explained that the water is usually a little warmer than the sea. We did see some locals swimming while we were there.

I took this photo from the balcony during high tide and all you can see of the pool is the diving platform.

After the tour we went back into the walled city and found a place that served sandwiches on fresh French bread. A lot of the locals were going in to buy their bread and pastries so we figured it must be good.

Our lunch place

I liked the art on top of the door. The regulations in the city changed after they had a fire and the doors could not be wooden so our guide showed us where this white door was metal but once you entered the courtyard the structure of the house was still wood.

After we had lunch we walked around town and looked in the shops and then the sun came out so we took another walk around the wall.

Lots of beaches

You can see the walkways to the other islands

A storm off in the distance

We went back to the boat around 4pm. We knew all the people coming back from Mont Saint Michel would be later and we did not want to get in a long tender line.

With the sun out the walled city was beautiful

A couple more boat pictures

There were lots of people out sailing and you can see all the sailboats in one of the many harbors we passed.

Tonight was also the night that the crew did their farewell to the guests for the evening entertainment. We have 3 ports left and our next stop is Honfleur, France. Several people are taking the 3 hour ride into Paris. We thought about it but it is a 6 hour bus ride for a 3 hour visit so we opted to enjoy Honfleur.