Viewing 14 posts - 1 through 14 (of 14 total)
  • Tell me about St. Malo
  • bitasuite
    Free Member

    Off to France on the ferry tomorrow and we’ve got a day in St Malo. We’ll have the car. What’s worth seeing?

    I plan on buying cheese/booze. I imagine wine will be very cheap. Is there anything else I should be looking out for? I’m keen on Belgian beer so I’ll probably pick some of that up too if it’s a good price.

    Any advice on where to go/eat/buy appreciated.

    Thanks

    SaxonRider
    Full Member

    It was the launch city for La Nouvelle France back few centuries.

    We learnt this song in French school growing up:

    [video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brjfDndqGYk[/video]

    I’d say HTH, except that I really do. If you’re at all interested in history, you might give a thought to the idea of those brave men and women getting aboard the wooden ships and setting sail across the Atlantic.

    Without, of course, neglecting the Belgian beer.

    🙂

    jambalaya
    Free Member

    St Malo is best explored on foot. Around the city walls and in the streets inside. Perhaps a stroll around the inner basin in the harbour. Depending upon the tide you can get onto the beaches too. Make sure you get a decent lunch, seafood obviously and/or some gallete (savoury crepes) and cider.

    Can’t say I’ve seen much Belgian Beer on sale there.

    Have fun, I’ve spent many happy times there after arriving on the annual yacht race run from Cowes for the July 14 weekend.

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middling Edition

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middlin...
    Latest Singletrack Videos
    justatheory
    Free Member

    Galettes & cidre for lunch!

    jambalaya
    Free Member

    8)

    Not sure what wines you like but some ideas for cheap and decent quality

    Dry white – Touraime (we paid €3.10 a bottle for the wine for my daughters wedding) from Loire so fairly local
    Muscadet – super dry good with fish

    Cremont – cheap fizz, from Borgogne or Alsacse for a drier champagne style, other regions for sweeter. Also a Blanc de Blanc – in supermarkets for €5 and great for Christmas

    Good solid red – Cotes du Rhone (Guigal is good and should be €8 a bottle, other producers cheaper)
    Chinon is a red from Loire area and not seen so much in UK

    There will be lots of cheap Bordeux – €3-4 a bottle

    unovolo
    Free Member

    Nice place to visit and best done on foot at said before, plenty of bars and eateries situated in the city walls.

    There is a very interesting bar(La Java) full of puppets and all sorts of tat all over the interior, another one has a pulpit inside(think it was called Apothecary?).

    Beaches are nowt special , spent a day and half there the other year for a TDF stage.

    MrOvershoot
    Full Member

    jambalaya – Member
    Dry white – Touraime (we paid €3.10 a bottle for the wine for my daughters wedding) from Loire so fairly local

    I take it geography isn’t top of your list!

    Touraine Loire to St Malo is like Cornwall to Birmingham

    suburbanreuben
    Free Member

    Last went to St Malo about 10 years ago. We met Segolene Royal in a pub. She played pool with my daughter. Following a very frosty ferry journey the next day the missus informed me I was dribbling…

    jambalaya
    Free Member

    @MrO 😀 my French geography is pretty good actually. Lived in Paris for over a year and back there for a few months now. Kept my boat in Brittany for 2 years and have raced up and down the North and South coast extensively. The Loire is the closest major wine region to St Malo and in French geographical terms given the size of the country is pretty close. Brittany is better known for Cider and dairy products plus of course the seafood.

    jambalaya
    Free Member

    @suburban that’s a top story 😀

    I can’t say I agree with her politics but she is very easy on the eye

    freeagent
    Free Member

    St Malo is Fab.
    Park up outside the city walls (cheap – 1 euro per hour) and walk in.
    lots of interesting shops and nice restaurants.
    The little train which does tourist tours is actually quite good, especially if you’ve got kids with you.
    Beach is great if the tide is out.. St Malo has the highest tides in Europe, we’ve seen waves crashing over the road when it is really stormy.

    MrOvershoot
    Full Member

    jambalaya – Member

    @MrO my French geography is pretty good actually. Lived in Paris for over a year and back there for a few months now. Kept my boat in Brittany for 2 years and have raced up and down the North and South coast extensively. The Loire is the closest major wine region to St Malo and in French geographical terms given the size of the country is pretty close. Brittany is better known for Cider and dairy products plus of course the seafood.

    Yes I know about Loire (lived just outside Mazieres-de-Toiraine) & I know about Brittany (lived in Carhaix Plouguer) but its still around 270k from the Touraine region to St Malo

    You are right about the Breton cider though 🙂

    atlaz
    Free Member

    You’ll get some Belgian beer in the supermarkets but it’ll be the bigger brands. That said, there are about 90 different ones in my local supermarket so choosing can be a bit of a long job so maybe less choice is better.

    The big supermarkets are your best bet for cheap wine or good wine which is cheaper than you’d pay in the UK. It’s entirely possible to get a bottle of wine for under 1e or a bottle of wine which would cost you 50 quid in the UK for under 30e. Just need to decide which end of the market you’re shooting at.

    As for food, definitely galettes with a jug of DRY Breton cider

    burko73
    Full Member

    The cite d’alet area is nice up on the hill by the marina. You can see where the German fortifications got mullered by the invading allied army. Pretty spectacular and a nice walk.

    There are some lovely bars around the coastline there on the south side of the little headland and some great restaurants and lovely French streets and buildings. There’s a really lovely shopping street up there where all the locals shop etc very upmarket.

    Its a great city and walls and ramparts are amazing. Bit touristy in the main entrances to the walled city though. There’s a good underground car park right by the main entrance to the walled city that we used before the pop you on our camper.

    Cancale is nice as well just 20 mins to the east of st Malo for seafood.

Viewing 14 posts - 1 through 14 (of 14 total)

The topic ‘Tell me about St. Malo’ is closed to new replies.