August 31, 2022
Day 0 - In Search of …
The sun is shining and it had the makings of a beautiful day. Our host served us our petit déjeuner and we learned about her life a little and she learned about us. There was a beautiful harp in her salon and she was going to play for us, but remembered her other guests weren’t up yet. Maybe later.
We had intentionally built in a day to visit Saint Malo (or deal with the tandem if necessary). Thankful for the extra day, we set of to find a bike shop. However, we decided to check out the tide first since it was close to high tide.
Where are the passerbys when you need one?
This time we found a friendly person to take our photo, but it didn’t turn out.
Okay, it was now time to search for that bike shop. We pedaled off with our distracting noise to the bike shop. Tourist season is winding down and we were hopeful they had time to see us. First concern when we pulled up we’re all the scooters and electric bikes in the windows, but the sign said classic bikes. Chuck popped in and to our dismay the mechanic had no time for us. He did pop out to listen to the noise, and he decided it was the bottom bracket. We were already sure that it wasn’t, but we weren’t going to discuss it further. He did direct us to another shop that was about 5 kilometers away. He did a pin drop on Google maps for us and off we went in search of bike shop #2.
After a few missed turns, we found the shop. As we rode into the nice big parking lot we felt some concern because there weren’t any cars around. Sure enough … as luck would have it … the shop was on congée until September 4th. Congée is an annual holiday that businesses take.
Back to Google looking for any other bike shops. There’s one more - the Giant shop. Off we went in search of bike shop #3. We found it quickly and rolled right on in through the open doors. The mechanic was wonderful and reminded us of our favorite bike shop back in Bend (Sunnyside Sports). He listened to the noise that was now being elusive and came out with some tools. He found the culprit immediately- the chain ring bolts on the front had come loose during the transit. He topped off the air in our tires and sent us on our way.
Relying once again on Google maps we made it back to our homebase. Now it was time to go for a walk on the beach and explore the old cité.
It felt so good to walk on the beach - a reminder of how long it’s been since we’ve been to a beach.
Then we opted to walk the ramparts that surround the old cité.
We had planned to visit the Fort Nationale, but the flag wasn’t flying. The tide was still too high. Once it goes down enough they fly the French flag to indicate it’s open. We were too hungry at this point to hang around and wait.
As we walked the ramparts, we came across a restaurant with a great view. And when one is in Brittany one must eat galettes and crepes and drink cider. That’s just what we did.
Chuck’s galette had reblochon, cream, ham, and potatoes. Mine had camembert, cream, ham, and mushrooms. The salad and cider were perfect accompaniments. Sadly we were too full to enjoy a sweet crepe for dessert. Next time!
We continued our walk around the ramparts and then entered the Old Cité. Definitely touristy. We found our way to the Cathedral Saint Vincent.
Then we discovered the frigate, Étoile du Roy, that’s moored in the inner harbor. we succumbed to being tourists and toured the ship.
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1 year ago
Feeling full of sightseeing we headed back to our home base to share our story before heading out for a very light dinner.
It was a good day: we found the bike shop and we found the noise.
Now we’re ready!
Before I sign off I want to share an interesting fact we learned today: the discoverer of Canada, Jacques Cartier, came from Saint Malo.
Today's ride: 10 km (6 miles)
Total: 269 km (167 miles)
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1 year ago
your mileage total includes that of the TGV too?
lovely pictures šš“š»āāļøš“š»āāļø
1 year ago