Ay...matey!

Another interesting little town in Brittany that we visited was the coastal town of St. Malo. Formerly known as the “pirate’s city”, this town has a rather dubious history. St. Malo built its reputation as a fishing and port city in addition to be the home for famous sea dogs, pirates, and paid merchant navies of the French goverbment to harass the ships of other countries.

Today, it’s a bustling town, known for its beaches (by day only), as the tide will come in each evening at a very rapid pace to cover this up. The views are stupendous, especially at high tide.



500 yards offshore is the Ile de Grand Be, a small island housing the military tomb of the great Romantic writer Viscount Rene de Chateaubriand, who was born in St. Malo. The islet can be reached by a causeway (on foot) at a low tide only.









Sunset in St. Malo, as we walked the ramparts of the old fortified port city.





At the edge of the ramparts is the old town, reconstructed after a WWI fire, and the 15th century chateau that was used as the lookout tower for the fort.