This post is dedicated to my experience at Saint-Malo, which is a port and resort town about an hour north of Rennes. I tried to include a lot of pictures in this blog post. As the old adage goes, "a picture is worth a thousand words", and I took a lot of pictures!
Exploring the city and its history
As part of my trip, I went on a guided tour with other students. We walked throughout the town, checking out various tourist sites, such as the Cathedral, Old Fort, and Corsair House to name a few. This tour lasted about 2 hours before we were released around noon to explore the city autonomously. Since our tour bus was not leaving until 5 PM, we had a lot of time to explore the city. I decided to explore the city with Jason, an Irish lad from a small town a few miles outside of Dublin.
Of course, as a history major, one of the aspects that I appreciated the most about Saint-Malo was the rich history behind the city. As the Corsair House tourist attraction may imply, Saint-Malo was a haven for privateers, who were royally sanctioned pirates during the time of the Ancien Régime (the term for the Kingdom of France period which lasted until the Revolution of 1789).
The Cathédrale Saint-Vincent de Saint-Malo or Saint-Malo Cathedral was located at the center of the town and is an architectural marvel in itself. The stained glass was clearly made by an artisan and the organ music playing in the background certainly added to the atmosphere.
Click on the slider to navigate between the photos!
Saint-Malo continued as a relatively low-key port town until the Fall of France during WW2. Owing to its ideal location along the English Channel, and existing ports and naval infrastructure. Nazi Germany made the sleepy town of Saint-Malo into a major naval base. As a result, it became the target of significant Allied bombing, which ultimately destroyed approximately 80% of the city. The buildings in "Old Town" (which remains a significant tourist attraction) are apparently the surviving 20% that was not destroyed during the war. There rests a memorial for those who lost their lives during the war and those who ultimately perished in Nazi concentration camps.
The design of the buildings reminded me of Chinatown in Honolulu, with shops on the ground level and people (often the business owner) living on the floor above the shop. The buildings' designs took me by surprise as they were relatively high-density and reached 3-4 stories.
Post-war development began in earnest in the 1950s. As a result, there are a lot of new developments that surround the core of Saint-Malo (the old city). This was clearly observable as we entered the city on our tour bus. American-style strip malls and modernist architectural design mixed in with suburban landscapes highlight the recency of many of the constructions which form a perimeter around the old city.
Jason the exchange student from Ireland and I absorbed the sights, exploring virtually every inch of the city. At one point, we sat down at a bench fringed by trees, overlooking the Saint-Malo Marina, and began talking story about all kinds of things, such as education in Ireland, our career goals/aspirations, why we chose to study at a French business school, etc.
Food
I know that many people love reading about food, so I decided that I should dedicate a large section to this topic.
Of course, as I was in Saint-Malo, I knew that I had to sample the local goodies. You can see some gâteau breton in the first slide, made in Saint-Malo. Generally, the gâteau breton is a cake made of shortbread dough and may be filled. It is hard to describe, but perhaps can be seen as a shortbread cookie on steroids... much closer to the "stuffed" cookies you might find in Hawaii and elsewhere. I tried kouign-amann, on the suggestion of my former high school French teacher "Madame" who insisted that it was a "must try." Buttery, flaky, and sweet, I am glad that I took my teacher's advice. Although you can find kouign-amann in Hawaii at La Tour Cafe, nothing beats eating freshly made kouign-amann in Brittany, the original region of the famed pastry.
As we prepared to leave, I tried some chocolate ice cream from one of the many concession stands right outside the walls of the Old Town. The ice cream man stuffed the cone with ice cream and did not just place a scoop at the top of the cone, which I appreciated. The ice cream was surprisingly rich, with a very strong chocolate flavor, which took me off guard, as it was only about 1 euro or so.
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