OT:True confessions-A cruise to nowhere-17

[OrmontUS]

thematic pavilions (polar, tropical and one concentrating on Brest’s temperate zone) that explores the world’s oceans. The Tourist Information Center sells both discount tickets for the Océanopolis (18 Euros instead of 22 Euros) and discount round trip bus tickets to get to the site (1.60 Euros instead of 3.20 Euros). The ride on Bus #3, picked up outside the Tourist Information Center takes about 20 minutes (pick up a bus map at the tourist center)…

Another “big sight” in the town is the Recouvrance Bridge, a massive drawbridge 64 m/210 ft. high.

Free Wi-Fi from the port was available from our cabin’s veranda, so after gobbling some, I left my laptop and tablet aboard.

The Oceania ship, once more, has excelled compared to what we would expect from Holland America Line, by providing a free shuttle bus stopping at four stops – the Tourist Office, Brest Castle, the City Center and Quay de la Douane. If you are walking from place to place, make sure you know EXACTLY where to find stops you may not be taking the bus to. Also be aware that it is only about a mile walk downhill from the Tourist Office, (along rue de Siam, parallel to the tram tracks) along a street lined with interesting shops, to the Naval Museum. It is about another mile, along the coast, to the place where the cruise ship is docked (or pick up the ship’s shuttle bus at the “Les Iles” bus stop located on Il Jean-Marie Le Bris, one street north of Quay de la Douane.

Brittany’s most famous local delicacy, the Breton crêpe, is the main culinary feature apart from seafood. There are many crêpe restaurants - called crêperies around the town square. Breton apple cider is often used as one of the ingredients. Crêperie La Chaumine (16 rue Jean Bart – across the river) is a great place to try these. Le Pompon (93 rue de Siam) is a wonderful sweets and cookie shop on the main commercial street. Traditional biscuits sold here are called Traou Mad, and are full-fat butter biscuits, similar to Scottish shortbread are also common.

We have rented a car and are going to spend the day driving around the Finistere portion of Brittany with a couple of Canadians from Vancouver Island. Hertz gave me a free upgrade to a Mercedes SUV/minivan (not sure how to describe this thing) with an automatic transmission. Shifting gears was a bit strange as they were changed by manipulating a lever on the steering column which lit up letters corresponding with the gear you were in.

The diesel had a disconcerting habit of completely shutting off when the car was stopped and immediately starting up as soon as the accelerator was touched. The engine was super quiet (especially considering it drank diesel oil - called gazoil here) and we ended up getting about 37 miles to the gallon (after a series of complex conversions from kilometers per liter). We have decided to take the N165 expressway to Quimper and then on, through Audierne to the national park at Pointe du Raz, a rugged spit extending into the sea.

We left the rental company (which was a bit hard to find and wasted some time as Hertz’s published address did not exist) at about 10:00 AM for the 1 ½ hour drive to Audierne. As we headed into the national park at Pointe du Raz (entrance for a car is 6 euro) it started to pour. The landscape is reminiscent of the moors of Scotland with clumps of Scottish broom, and wild flowers (most a bright yellow) poking out from the clumpy grass and rock outcroppings. It is a scene where I expect a herd of short legged sheep, a border collie and a shepherd with a loud whistle to appear at any time. As we took the ten minute walk along the path to the craggy 300 foot cliffs down to the maelstrom of water crashing over and running between the rocks below (with lighthouses scattering into the distance), the dark clouds thicken and with long rolls of thunder the lightning flashes downwards lighting up the cliff at the end of the world.

Fortunately we are wearing Gortex shell jackets so only our pants and sneakers (finally got myself a pair of Five Fingers) got wet. On the walk back, the rain abated and the wind quickly dried our pants. As we drove back towards the ship, we stopped at Audierne to catch the tail end of the Saturday street market (it shuts down at 1PM) where the local farmers and artisans sell their produce, cheese’s, breads, wine and so forth.

We ended up stopping into a crêperies. We each picked one out (mine was whole wheat with seafood, my wife got an apple one flambéed with Calvados apple liqueur, one of the Canuks got a cheese and tomato and the other got a sweet one with some sort of caramel sauce) and washed them down with hard cider on tap. As our time had about run out (the ship was sailing at 4:30 PM), we did not stop at Quimper on the way back (but it looks like it is worth spending time there next time we are in the neighborhood as it is full of medieval buildings).

As we neared Brest, I pulled into an E’Lecet for diesel fuel to top off the rental car’s tanks and show the couple from Canada what a REAL supermarket looks like. For those of you who have never seen one of these places, the French locate their large supermarkets on the outskirts of their towns. These places are immense (about the size of a Costco store) and carry every imaginable food product, including about a dozen counters selling various types of prepared foods (from many nationalities and styles), baking, what we would call catering, etc. They also have large (reasonably priced by European standards) gas stations. You have to wait for the guy who used your pump before you to drive to a “toll booth” and pay for his gas before you begin pumping. After you fuel up, you drive to the same “toll booth”, give your pump number and pay the bill. This place had about 20 pumps with a line at each one but it went pretty fast. Besides the gazoil (diesel) we used, there is “standard” 90 octane petrol/gas (used by trucks) and “high test” 96 octane petrol/gas used by autos of all sizes.

The bad news is the gasoline is very expensive. The good news is that the engines are apparently tuned to the higher octane and cars typically get much higher gas mileage in Europe than similar models do in the States. While some of this may be due to pollution control gadgets required to meet US emission standards, the European standards, while different from ours, are just as tough, so I guess much of this is a social election to either use more of the cheaper gas - or less of the more expensive gas.

It is hard to believe the changes since we left Florida (God’s waiting room?).

The next time we visited here, it was also Sunday and by the time we got back from our drive, the local market and restaurants were shutting for the day and we decided to “do” the town this time. We bypassed the first two shuttle stops (though we heard from others afterwards that the Oceanopolis was fantastic) and headed to the large street market at the City Center. The variety of locally produced French food was awesome and ranged from cheeses to fish soup to sausages to vegetables, etc. etc. There were handicrafts, clothes, exotic spices and all manner of other “stuff” for sale as well.

My two purchases were containers of concentrated fish soup and another tube of Genie hand-laundry soap in a small supermarket. They were out of cans of duck confit and the canned fish soup (the base of bouillabaisse) that I wanted to take home, now comes in cardboard containers – just riskier to carry in suitcases.

We then took the shuttle another stop to the Quay de la Douane and had a fantastic tower of cold seafood (fruit de mer) at the “La Maison de l’Ocean” at 2 Quay de la Douane. The platter of seafood for the six of us measured about 80cm with a second tier measuring about 50cm and had all sorts of seafaring critters piled on shaved ice and seaweed. The restaurant was packed with locals having a Sunday seafood feast – and for good reason. If you visit Brest, and if you like seafood, this is a “must do” type of meal.

Saint-Malo, France
“No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow”. ~Lin Yutang

Note: There are two main pedestrian entrances into the town (and a number of other gates for cars). The first, by land is, is near the permanent Tourist Center building and the carousel at the Porte St. Vincent and the other near the Gare Maritime used as a tender pier at the Port St. Louis.

Modern St Malo traces its origin to a monastic settlement in the 6th century and Saint-Malo was named for the 6th century monk who converted the locals to Christianity. St. Malo was built during the Middle Ages with the same grey stone as the Mont St Michel as a fortified island at the mouth of the Rame River.

Despite past lives as a fortress and the site of a monastery, St-Malo is best known for the corsairs who used it as a base during the 17th and 18th centuries. During wartime, a decree from the French king sanctioned its seafaring mercenaries to intercept British ships and requisition their cargo. During peacetime, they acted as intrepid merchant marines, returning from Asia and the Americas with gold, coffee, and spices. Walking the ramparts and cobblestone streets, it is hard to imagine that 80 percent of St-Malo was destroyed in World War II. What you see today is thanks to a meticulous, decades-long restoration.

In theory, this sounded like a wonderful town but reality poked a hole in our plans. It turns out that the beautiful weather has drawn everyone to the beach today and there was not a single available parking place anywhere near the Intermuros historical district. I REALLY tried, but after about forty minutes of driving in circles I gave up and we headed to Cancale a picturesque fishing village, the “Oyster capital of Brittany. Miraculously I found a parking space, but since we were not in the mood for oysters or mussels (the two gastronomic staples around here), our stay consisted pretty much of a walk along the beach.

A cruise stop at Saint-Malo is the place that the cruise line sells expensive excursions to the Normandy beaches and to Mont St. Michel. We probably spent about the same during our week of driving in Normandy last summer as you could spend on a day’s excursions on the ship (if you selected the most expensive options, at least).

Well, if at first you do not succeed, try again ?

Once a haven for pirates/corsairs and privateers harassing and taxing English shipping, it was also an important port in the voyages of New World discovery. Cartier sailed from here to Canada in 1534. Soon after, Saint-Malo began to flourish as a trading port, not only in the furs sent back from French Canada, but also due to becoming an important port specializing in cod fishing off the coast of Newfoundland. As ship owners grew wealthy, they built beautiful homes in town, first of timber and then, increasingly, of granite. As the town grew in importance, high walls were built to ensure security.

Walking the ramparts and cobblestone streets, it is hard to imagine that 80 percent of St-Malo was destroyed in World War II. What you see today is thanks to a decades-long restoration program. While St-Malo encompasses the communities of St. Servan and Paramé, most tourists head for the walled city, or Intramuros. The two best beaches are Plage de Bon Secours, near the northern tip of the Vieille Ville (old town), and La Grande Plage du Sillon,a longer stretch of sand at the eastern edge of the Vieille Ville.

The 15th-century Porte St-Vincent, with a Belle Epoque carrousel just in front of it, is the main entrance to St-Malo Intramuros. In front of this entrance is a tourist information office with free Wi-Fi. Through the gate you’ll find the rue St-Vincent with its tourist shops selling typical Brittany specialties such as fish soup and fish pates and restaurants selling crepes, waffles and shellfish. Ahead is the Cathedral, home to the tomb of local son, the explorer Cartier. The spire was rebuilt in the 1950’s after being destroyed during WWII and the church now has a set of modern stained glass windows to replace the originals, destroyed in the War. You can then walk past the French Resistance Monument and take the circuitous walk to the Castle overlooking the Porte St-Vincent.

There is a well-hidden Carrefour supermarket in a basement off of St-Vincent and a clean, free toilet built into a tunnel into the city’s wall near the Porte St-Vincent.

Walk to your right past the restaurant terraces on place Chateaubriand and you’ll find a portal which leads to steps up to the ramparts (free access). Built and rebuilt over several centuries, some parts of these walls date from the 14th century. Weather cooperating, they’re an ideal place to start a walking tour and take in sweeping views of the English Channel and the Fort National.

About halfway around, just past the huge Piscine Bon-Secours (otherwise known as the Olympic Pool), you’ll see an islet called the Ile du Grand-Bé; during low tide you can walk to it and visit French Romantic novelist Chateaubriand’s tomb. His last wish was to be buried here, where he’d “hear only the sounds of the wind and the ocean.”

The Petit Bé & Grand Bé are small islands just off the coast. The Petit Bé is home to an old fort that was used by the French army to defend the strategic port of Saint-Malo until 1885. The Grand Bé is, as its name suggests, the bigger of the two and is accessible by foot from the mainland at low tide. The famous French writer and local hero François-René de Chateaubriand is buried on the Grand Bé and making the hike up to Chateaubriand’s tomb is a popular thing to do in Saint-Malo. While there is an intimidation series of fairly coarse stone stairs heading to the top of the fort, there is also a benign sloped walkway on the right side leading up to a WWII bunker on the top where there used to be an anti-aircraft installation. The low tide window is about four hours long and, if the water approaches within 3 meters of the walkway, it’s time to beat a hasty retreat to the mainland (or spend the night on the island). DO NOT try to make the crossing if the path is submerged as the currents can be dangerous here.

For a broad selection of fantastic sweet crepes (my wife got honey/lemon/almond) and savory buckwheat galettes – pretty similar to a crepe which has all its borders folded towards the center as far as I’m concerned (I had cheese and smoked salmon with an almost raw egg on top), accompanied by a view from the top of the ramparts, head to Le Corp de Garde (3 Montee Notre Dame – the lower level door is locked, but if you look at the edge of the building, you’ll see a staircase to the top of the ramparts where you will find the entrance to the restaurant).

If you visit Saint-Malo there’s really one thing you need to taste, aside from crepes, and that is definitely not for calorie counters, One famous local bakery is Les Délices du Gouverneur.(6 Rue Porcon de la Barbinais) and, at the same address, you can try at Kouign-Amann, well, kouign-amann (butter bread), a Breton cake consisting of layers of dough, butter, and sugar.

And for a fantastic journey into the world of pastries, biscuits confections and chocolates, head to Maison Galland (4 rue Broussais) – we shared a slice of fruit/honey/nut tart.

Also, try the (slightly alcoholic) local apple cider – available both in bottles and on tap.

This is an interesting town for a stroll of a few hours, but once seen, does not demand that you go far out of your way to see it again. That said, it is a pleasant place.

[OrmontUS]

Not sure how that happened.

This is the whole post:-)

Jeff

The story has started to include COVID again as our good luck in avoiding the disease becoming a factor aboard over the last few months has suddenly begun to change and accelerate towards the worse.

Starting with the dropping of the mandatory mask protocol COVID cases have started popping up aboard the ship. There has been only a half-hearted attempt at contact tracing and most of the testing has been voluntarily asked for by passengers after hearing rumors of someone they associated with being isolated. Unfortunately, not all passengers go for testing – usually saying either they feel OK or that they have previously had COVID – neither of which is an indication of whether they are currently infectious. While the ship doesn’t divulge information, based on anecdotal evidence, by the end of the week over 15% of the passengers (and an unknown number of the crew – but waiters have become sparser in the dining rooms) and presumably there are a number of carriers wandering around.

Everyone aboard is theoretically vaccinated and many (most, I would think) have had booster shots (we have each had two boosters, the second acquired while the ship was docked in Miami). Even so, while some of the COVID cases seem asymptomatic or mild, a number of them have their recipients pretty sick and the ship’s doctor is not treating them other than by addressing symptoms with anti-histamines, pain killers and such. OTOH, our paying extra for a veranda cabin so that we would have access to the outdoors if infected, was a waste of money as those who are infected are relocated to veranda cabins if not already in one.

Based on this, I have decided to cease playing face-to-face duplicate bridge for now.

The laundry seems to have started shrinking my clothing (or maybe the food is having the same effect?).

Anyhow, we’re having a couple of sea days on our way to Scandinavia and it looks like we will be touring the Baltic (Ex-St. Pete) after all.

So, what have we been up to the past week?

Jeff
Portimao, Portugal
Portimão is the leading fish-canning center in the Algarve. The aroma of grilled sardines that used to permeate every street has abated and the once-colorful fishing boats that used to unload their catch here at the port have moved to a terminal across the river.

We left Seville later than originally anticipated and thus have arrived here at about noon. This is a modest Algarve town with a stretch of nice beaches lines with the expected fish restaurants.

High-rise buildings, hotels and vacation condominiums ring the area, but the once colorful streets of the core of the old town are deserted and many storefronts are shuttered.

There are still some shopping opportunities along shopping streets, such as Rua Comerciale and Rua Vasco da Gama, which offer goods like hand-knit sweaters, hand-painted porcelains, and pottery, but the center of gravity of the town has followed the tourists to the beach.

There are a number of restaurants in the town center – a couple of Indian and a couple of Chinese ones stand out.

It’s more fun to take the ship’s shuttle bus (or walk) down to the Praia da Rocha beach, 3km (1 3/4 miles) south of Portimã, where you can find a table at one of the moderate-cost eateries. Their specialty is, of course, chargrilled sardines, which taste like nothing you get from a can. They make an inexpensive meal accompanied by chewy, freshly baked bread; a salad; and a carafe of regional wine. If you walk to the beach, you can explore the ruins of the 16th-century Fortaleza de Santa Catarina, Avenida Tomás Cabreira, which was constructed for defensive purposes (not a big deal, but a “take what you can get” thing).

If you’d like to go sightseeing, you can take a taxi and visit Ferragudo, a suburb of Portimão, 5km (3 miles) east and accessible by bridge. The sandy beach lies to the south, and kiosks rent sailboards and sell seafood from a number of waterside restaurants. In the center you can see the ruins of the Castelo de São João, which was constructed to defend Portimão from English, Spanish, and Dutch raids. There’s no need to return to Portimão for lunch.

The last time we were in the Algarve area was during the mid-1980’s and the area has become a Mecca for the pale skinned Germans and Scandinavians. Logos remains the main tourist town and Sagres the main site.

Back then, the thing to do in Lagos was to see the sardine fishermen off-load their catch on the beach at dawn. Later in the morning, we hired one of these guys at the beach to take us in his outboard powered boat to explore the grotto caves along the coast. He seemed more interested in turning his binoculars towards sunbathing (topless) Swedish women on the nearby island beaches.

A drive to Sagres will take you to the spot (on a tall cliff on the far western point of the “chin” of the Iberian Peninsula where Prince Henry the Navigator had his navigational school which launched guys like Vasco de Gama on his explorations. Financed by a 20% commission on all profits, the Prince’s small caravel ships carried the conquers of Madera and the west coast of Africa as well developing the first sea trade route around Africa to India (and founding, among others, the colonies of Angola, Mozambique and Goa). The Pousada Sagres hotel is a popular government sponsored location on the Sagres cliffs which we were fortunate enough to stay in. As a note, the unique traditional method of fishing from the cliffs involves extremely long lines to the water in conjunction with porous bucket nets to hoist the catch to the top of the cliffs.

Vigo (Santiago de Compostela), Spain

“Your favorite occupation? Travel in contested territory. Hard-working writing and reading when safely home, in the knowledge that an amusing friend is later coming to dinner.” ? Christopher Hitchens, Hitch-22: A Memoir

I woke at about 7:30AM – or at least that’s what my watch said – to a pitch black sky. Last night, as massive rolling of the ship took place, there was a card telling us to set our watches an hour ahead – and I called the ship’s reception desk to make sure that they left us a card with the right directions but, sure enough, it gets light at about 8AM in the morning here (and got dark at about 5:30PM). The morning is chilly and while the last time we were here we were doomed to wearing our jackets all day as summer is behind us and winter loomed, it is now spring time and we look forward to the day warming up.

With some 300,000 inhabitants, Vigo is the largest city in the Galician region of Spain. This was once an area that belonged to the Celts and was ethnically connected to both Scotland and Bretagne (France) – including using bag pipes as “musical” instruments.

Vigo boasts one of the world’s largest fishing ports, for starters. Tokyo’s fishing port is larger, but only if taking into consideration fish that is intended for purposes other than human consumption. The city supplies half of Europe with fish and fishing boats are plentiful. The harbor is filled with rafts of mussel farms.

The big deal around here for many passengers is the 55 miles/88 kilometers trip to Santiago de Compostela with its famous cathedral. Roman Catholics consider Santiago de Compostela to be the world’s third most important pilgrimage site (after the Vatican and Jerusalem). The town features not only a well-known cathedral – the Catedral de Santiago de Compostela — but also a very old university. Santiago de Compostela is also worth visiting for its architecture.

While most who went there took the cruise ship’s bus excursions, taking the train would have burned 2-3 hours in each direction for us. Since we had enjoyed Vigo the first time we visited, we figured we’d hang around the port instead.

Across the street from the cruise terminal we dropped into the Tourist Information center for some high performance free internet. We used an ATM/Bancomat attached to a bank to get some Euros at what might be an advantageous exchange rate (I’ve been collecting some each day for the past few. Our friends found the money changers in Spain to be far more greedy than those in Portugal and did not exchange dollars to Euros).

Hack to avoid a climb: Vigo is built on the side of a mountain and the best way to get into the middle of town is to enter the large Casino mall near the cruise terminal and take the escalators or elevators to the top floor. You can then take a bridge to the upper level of the town.

Walking straight ahead will bring you to the Cathedral (opens 10:30am) and continuing forward, turn left through the Puerta del Sol, one of the original city gates through a surviving portion of the wall. On the other side of the wall, you’ll see Semola, a small cafe serving great pastries/quiches/sandwiches/coffee and a good place for a snack or lunch (if you can find a table).

Ahead you will see what looks like a large stainless steel modern sculpture of a griffin (I was told it was a mermaid) on a tall column to the left. That is near the entrance to Principe Street (later becomes Urzaiz Street), the main shopping pedestrian street. Amid the usual Corte Ingles, Mango, Zara and so on are unique stores like Sargadelos (Rua Urzaiz, 17) which sells beautiful local dishware and pottery (at high prices). Also located here is the MARCO (free admission), the region’s Museum of Contemporary Art.

The streets parallel to Rua Proncipal/Urzais, as well as the cross streets, are also lined with shops of all descriptions. Keep your eyes looking up as the architecture of the buildings along these streets are full of wonderful examples of different epochs.

The first time we were here, the wonderfully attractive pedestrian commercial streets were decorated for Christmas and lined with temporary market booths selling assorted handicrafts (but not anywhere as nice as the one we had browsed through in the Canary Islands).

Back-tracking to the Plaza do Rei sets you up for the pretty strenuous climb up stairs to the Parque do Castro and its castle at the top of the hill behind town.

From there we wandered around Vigo’s old town peeking into shops selling traditional lace and other hand-made products.

We tracked down a tapas place named Picadillo on Rua Fermin Penzol, but we were about 30 minutes early (they open at 1:30PM), so we dropped into a nearby SPAR supermarket (a chain which has reached deep into many African countries as well). Our friends were able to buy saffron (far cheaper in Spain than most other places in the world – we already have a stockpile from previous trips) and a bottle of local wine (which they smuggled aboard our ship after decanting it into a water bottle).

We considered eating at Tarugo (Rua Carral 9) until we found out that a mexilloneria served primarily mejillones – which turned out to be mussels – a food my wife is not fond of. We ended up snacking on chicken and tuna empanadas, followed by deserts at the Martinez Delicatessen (Rua Carral, 15) which were great, but spoiled our appetites for the tapas bar.

Heading down towards the port/fish market, to the left of the bridge back to the Casino, is a set of stairs down to Rua Teofilo Lloriente in the A Pedra area where oyster shuckers and seafood restaurants are plentiful (where I do admit to eating a plate of fresh seafood on our way back to the ship). Afterwards, there is another set of stairs which brings you back to the port.

For those who miss walking through greenery, when walking outward on Ruya Principe, make a left on Moreno Street and in three blocks you’ll come upon the Compostela Square, which runs parallel to the waterfront for quite a ways.

The city’s main museum, the Quiñones de León Museum, is about an hour’s walk away from the coast, so out of range for this trip, but we’ll likely visit by taxi next time we visit.

With the sea as its closest neighbor, the Museo do Mar de Galicia (Museum of the Galician Sea) puts focus on the importance of the sea to this region of Spain. The exhibitions include an aquarium that reproduces the three primary ecosystems of the Galician estuaries and a large-scale model of a mussel platform. VERBUM – Casa das Palabras is an interactive museum related to all aspects of human communication. The museum is designed as a cultural and recreational space where visitors can participate actively while exploring the elements included in the exhibition. These musweums are located about five kilometers, along the coast, to the west of the city.

I found Vigo to exceed my expectations.

Brest, France

“The man who goes alone can start today; but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready.” – Henry David Thoreau

The major ports along the Bay of Biscay include, in Spain, Aviles, Bilbao, Gijon and Santander and the French ports of Bayonne, Brest, La Rochelle, Bordeaux and Nantes. The continental shelf sticks far out into the bay and much of it is shallow. During the months of October through March it is often buffeted by gales exceeding 113 km/hr.

During our May approach, our ship has been bobbing like a cork and, during the night, the sound of the wind blowing past the ship has sounded like the wail of a banshee.

Brest is the largest city in the Finistere department of Brittany and the second largest naval base in France (after Toulon) and is home to the French Naval Academy (École Navale). Strategically located near the western tip of the Breton Peninsula, Brest has an obvious military history. Among its landmarks are the heavily fortified Chateau de Brest and the rotund 14th century Tour Tanguy tower.

Built on the foundations Gallo-Roman fortifications, during the Middle Ages, the history of Brest was the history of its castle. Then Cardinal Richelieu made it a military harbor, its walls were redesigned by Vauban and Brest grew around its arsenal. During the second part of the 20th century when allied bombers destroyed the center of the city in an attempt to destroy a large German submarine base.

In recently renovated rooms, the town’s rebuilt 15th century castle now houses the Naval Museum. In the exceptional setting of the castle of Brest, the National Maritime Museum houses a unique heritage reflecting the history of the fortress, the Arsenal of Brest and the French Navy through 17 centuries of history.

After the Second World War, Brest was rebuilt on a geometric pattern and the town seems to have been rebuilt using a vast quantity of concrete. Brest is now a major university town.

Located at the Moulin Blanc port, about 5km from the cruise port, the city’s Océanopolis, one of Europe’s largest marine aquariums, displays more than 1,000 different aquatic species. This giant aquarium has 3 thematic pavilions (polar, tropical and one concentrating on Brest’s temperate zone) that explores the world’s oceans. The Tourist Information Center sells both discount tickets for the Océanopolis (18 Euros instead of 22 Euros) and discount round trip bus tickets to get to the site (1.60 Euros instead of 3.20 Euros). The ride on Bus #3, picked up outside the Tourist Information Center takes about 20 minutes (pick up a bus map at the tourist center)…

Another “big sight” in the town is the Recouvrance Bridge, a massive drawbridge 64 m/210 ft. high.

Free Wi-Fi from the port was available from our cabin’s veranda, so after gobbling some, I left my laptop and tablet aboard.

The Oceania ship, once more, has excelled compared to what we would expect from Holland America Line, by providing a free shuttle bus stopping at four stops – the Tourist Office, Brest Castle, the City Center and Quay de la Douane. If you are walking from place to place, make sure you know EXACTLY where to find stops you may not be taking the bus to. Also be aware that it is only about a mile walk downhill from the Tourist Office, (along rue de Siam, parallel to the tram tracks) along a street lined with interesting shops, to the Naval Museum. It is about another mile, along the coast, to the place where the cruise ship is docked (or pick up the ship’s shuttle bus at the “Les Iles” bus stop located on Il Jean-Marie Le Bris, one street north of Quay de la Douane.

Brittany’s most famous local delicacy, the Breton crêpe, is the main culinary feature apart from seafood. There are many crêpe restaurants - called crêperies around the town square. Breton apple cider is often used as one of the ingredients. Crêperie La Chaumine (16 rue Jean Bart – across the river) is a great place to try these. Le Pompon (93 rue de Siam) is a wonderful sweets and cookie shop on the main commercial street. Traditional biscuits sold here are called Traou Mad, and are full-fat butter biscuits, similar to Scottish shortbread are also common.

We have rented a car and are going to spend the day driving around the Finistere portion of Brittany with a couple of Canadians from Vancouver Island. Hertz gave me a free upgrade to a Mercedes SUV/minivan (not sure how to describe this thing) with an automatic transmission. Shifting gears was a bit strange as they were changed by manipulating a lever on the steering column which lit up letters corresponding with the gear you were in.

The diesel had a disconcerting habit of completely shutting off when the car was stopped and immediately starting up as soon as the accelerator was touched. The engine was super quiet (especially considering it drank diesel oil - called gazoil here) and we ended up getting about 37 miles to the gallon (after a series of complex conversions from kilometers per liter). We have decided to take the N165 expressway to Quimper and then on, through Audierne to the national park at Pointe du Raz, a rugged spit extending into the sea.

We left the rental company (which was a bit hard to find and wasted some time as Hertz’s published address did not exist) at about 10:00 AM for the 1 ½ hour drive to Audierne. As we headed into the national park at Pointe du Raz (entrance for a car is 6 euro) it started to pour. The landscape is reminiscent of the moors of Scotland with clumps of Scottish broom, and wild flowers (most a bright yellow) poking out from the clumpy grass and rock outcroppings. It is a scene where I expect a herd of short legged sheep, a border collie and a shepherd with a loud whistle to appear at any time. As we took the ten minute walk along the path to the craggy 300 foot cliffs down to the maelstrom of water crashing over and running between the rocks below (with lighthouses scattering into the distance), the dark clouds thicken and with long rolls of thunder the lightning flashes downwards lighting up the cliff at the end of the world.

Fortunately we are wearing Gortex shell jackets so only our pants and sneakers (finally got myself a pair of Five Fingers) got wet. On the walk back, the rain abated and the wind quickly dried our pants. As we drove back towards the ship, we stopped at Audierne to catch the tail end of the Saturday street market (it shuts down at 1PM) where the local farmers and artisans sell their produce, cheese’s, breads, wine and so forth.

We ended up stopping into a crêperies. We each picked one out (mine was whole wheat with seafood, my wife got an apple one flambéed with Calvados apple liqueur, one of the Canuks got a cheese and tomato and the other got a sweet one with some sort of caramel sauce) and washed them down with hard cider on tap. As our time had about run out (the ship was sailing at 4:30 PM), we did not stop at Quimper on the way back (but it looks like it is worth spending time there next time we are in the neighborhood as it is full of medieval buildings).

As we neared Brest, I pulled into an E’Lecet for diesel fuel to top off the rental car’s tanks and show the couple from Canada what a REAL supermarket looks like. For those of you who have never seen one of these places, the French locate their large supermarkets on the outskirts of their towns. These places are immense (about the size of a Costco store) and carry every imaginable food product, including about a dozen counters selling various types of prepared foods (from many nationalities and styles), baking, what we would call catering, etc. They also have large (reasonably priced by European standards) gas stations. You have to wait for the guy who used your pump before you to drive to a “toll booth” and pay for his gas before you begin pumping. After you fuel up, you drive to the same “toll booth”, give your pump number and pay the bill. This place had about 20 pumps with a line at each one but it went pretty fast. Besides the gazoil (diesel) we used, there is “standard” 90 octane petrol/gas (used by trucks) and “high test” 96 octane petrol/gas used by autos of all sizes.

The bad news is the gasoline is very expensive. The good news is that the engines are apparently tuned to the higher octane and cars typically get much higher gas mileage in Europe than similar models do in the States. While some of this may be due to pollution control gadgets required to meet US emission standards, the European standards, while different from ours, are just as tough, so I guess much of this is a social election to either use more of the cheaper gas - or less of the more expensive gas.

It is hard to believe the changes since we left Florida (God’s waiting room?).

The next time we visited here, it was also Sunday and by the time we got back from our drive, the local market and restaurants were shutting for the day and we decided to “do” the town this time. We bypassed the first two shuttle stops (though we heard from others afterwards that the Oceanopolis was fantastic) and headed to the large street market at the City Center. The variety of locally produced French food was awesome and ranged from cheeses to fish soup to sausages to vegetables, etc. etc. There were handicrafts, clothes, exotic spices and all manner of other “stuff” for sale as well.

My two purchases were containers of concentrated fish soup and another tube of Genie hand-laundry soap in a small supermarket. They were out of cans of duck confit and the canned fish soup (the base of bouillabaisse) that I wanted to take home, now comes in cardboard containers – just riskier to carry in suitcases.

We then took the shuttle another stop to the Quay de la Douane and had a fantastic tower of cold seafood (fruit de mer) at the “La Maison de l’Ocean” at 2 Quay de la Douane. The platter of seafood for the six of us measured about 80cm with a second tier measuring about 50cm and had all sorts of seafaring critters piled on shaved ice and seaweed. The restaurant was packed with locals having a Sunday seafood feast – and for good reason. If you visit Brest, and if you like seafood, this is a “must do” type of meal.

Saint-Malo, France
“No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow”. ~Lin Yutang

Note: There are two main pedestrian entrances into the town (and a number of other gates for cars). The first, by land is, is near the permanent Tourist Center building and the carousel at the Porte St. Vincent and the other near the Gare Maritime used as a tender pier at the Port St. Louis.

Modern St Malo traces its origin to a monastic settlement in the 6th century and Saint-Malo was named for the 6th century monk who converted the locals to Christianity. St. Malo was built during the Middle Ages with the same grey stone as the Mont St Michel as a fortified island at the mouth of the Rame River.

Despite past lives as a fortress and the site of a monastery, St-Malo is best known for the corsairs who used it as a base during the 17th and 18th centuries. During wartime, a decree from the French king sanctioned its seafaring mercenaries to intercept British ships and requisition their cargo. During peacetime, they acted as intrepid merchant marines, returning from Asia and the Americas with gold, coffee, and spices. Walking the ramparts and cobblestone streets, it is hard to imagine that 80 percent of St-Malo was destroyed in World War II. What you see today is thanks to a meticulous, decades-long restoration.

In theory, this sounded like a wonderful town but reality poked a hole in our plans. It turns out that the beautiful weather has drawn everyone to the beach today and there was not a single available parking place anywhere near the Intermuros historical district. I REALLY tried, but after about forty minutes of driving in circles I gave up and we headed to Cancale a picturesque fishing village, the “Oyster capital of Brittany. Miraculously I found a parking space, but since we were not in the mood for oysters or mussels (the two gastronomic staples around here), our stay consisted pretty much of a walk along the beach.

A cruise stop at Saint-Malo is the place that the cruise line sells expensive excursions to the Normandy beaches and to Mont St. Michel. We probably spent about the same during our week of driving in Normandy last summer as you could spend on a day’s excursions on the ship (if you selected the most expensive options, at least).

Well, if at first you do not succeed, try again ?

Once a haven for pirates/corsairs and privateers harassing and taxing English shipping, it was also an important port in the voyages of New World discovery. Cartier sailed from here to Canada in 1534. Soon after, Saint-Malo began to flourish as a trading port, not only in the furs sent back from French Canada, but also due to becoming an important port specializing in cod fishing off the coast of Newfoundland. As ship owners grew wealthy, they built beautiful homes in town, first of timber and then, increasingly, of granite. As the town grew in importance, high walls were built to ensure security.

Walking the ramparts and cobblestone streets, it is hard to imagine that 80 percent of St-Malo was destroyed in World War II. What you see today is thanks to a decades-long restoration program. While St-Malo encompasses the communities of St. Servan and Paramé, most tourists head for the walled city, or Intramuros. The two best beaches are Plage de Bon Secours, near the northern tip of the Vieille Ville (old town), and La Grande Plage du Sillon,a longer stretch of sand at the eastern edge of the Vieille Ville.

The 15th-century Porte St-Vincent, with a Belle Epoque carrousel just in front of it, is the main entrance to St-Malo Intramuros. In front of this entrance is a tourist information office with free Wi-Fi. Through the gate you’ll find the rue St-Vincent with its tourist shops selling typical Brittany specialties such as fish soup and fish pates and restaurants selling crepes, waffles and shellfish. Ahead is the Cathedral, home to the tomb of local son, the explorer Cartier. The spire was rebuilt in the 1950’s after being destroyed during WWII and the church now has a set of modern stained glass windows to replace the originals, destroyed in the War. You can then walk past the French Resistance Monument and take the circuitous walk to the Castle overlooking the Porte St-Vincent.

There is a well-hidden Carrefour supermarket in a basement off of St-Vincent and a clean, free toilet built into a tunnel into the city’s wall near the Porte St-Vincent.

Walk to your right past the restaurant terraces on place Chateaubriand and you’ll find a portal which leads to steps up to the ramparts (free access). Built and rebuilt over several centuries, some parts of these walls date from the 14th century. Weather cooperating, they’re an ideal place to start a walking tour and take in sweeping views of the English Channel and the Fort National.

About halfway around, just past the huge Piscine Bon-Secours (otherwise known as the Olympic Pool), you’ll see an islet called the Ile du Grand-Bé; during low tide you can walk to it and visit French Romantic novelist Chateaubriand’s tomb. His last wish was to be buried here, where he’d “hear only the sounds of the wind and the ocean.”

The Petit Bé & Grand Bé are small islands just off the coast. The Petit Bé is home to an old fort that was used by the French army to defend the strategic port of Saint-Malo until 1885. The Grand Bé is, as its name suggests, the bigger of the two and is accessible by foot from the mainland at low tide. The famous French writer and local hero François-René de Chateaubriand is buried on the Grand Bé and making the hike up to Chateaubriand’s tomb is a popular thing to do in Saint-Malo. While there is an intimidation series of fairly coarse stone stairs heading to the top of the fort, there is also a benign sloped walkway on the right side leading up to a WWII bunker on the top where there used to be an anti-aircraft installation. The low tide window is about four hours long and, if the water approaches within 3 meters of the walkway, it’s time to beat a hasty retreat to the mainland (or spend the night on the island). DO NOT try to make the crossing if the path is submerged as the currents can be dangerous here.

For a broad selection of fantastic sweet crepes (my wife got honey/lemon/almond) and savory buckwheat galettes – pretty similar to a crepe which has all its borders folded towards the center as far as I’m concerned (I had cheese and smoked salmon with an almost raw egg on top), accompanied by a view from the top of the ramparts, head to Le Corp de Garde (3 Montee Notre Dame – the lower level door is locked, but if you look at the edge of the building, you’ll see a staircase to the top of the ramparts where you will find the entrance to the restaurant).

If you visit Saint-Malo there’s really one thing you need to taste, aside from crepes, and that is definitely not for calorie counters, One famous local bakery is Les Délices du Gouverneur.(6 Rue Porcon de la Barbinais) and, at the same address, you can try at Kouign-Amann, well, kouign-amann (butter bread), a Breton cake consisting of layers of dough, butter, and sugar.

And for a fantastic journey into the world of pastries, biscuits confections and chocolates, head to Maison Galland (4 rue Broussais) – we shared a slice of fruit/honey/nut tart.

Also, try the (slightly alcoholic) local apple cider – available both in bottles and on tap.

This is an interesting town for a stroll of a few hours, but once seen, does not demand that you go far out of your way to see it again. That said, it is a pleasant place.