Saint Malo (Aug. 8-12) (by Jess)

We've actually been in Strasbourg for a week, but we're behind on our posting. Saint Malo was beautiful! It's a seaside town in Normandy, on the northern coast, and best known for its little islands that are accessible during low tide. The tides are very dramatic--you'll see in the pictures below how huge the beach can be, but it almost disappears during high tide. It's a lot of fun to watch the tide come in over some of the little walkways and islands.

On one of the islands is a fort; it's at the beach where we spent the most time. On another is Chateaubriand's grave, which we walked out to on our last full day (Thursday the 11th). 

The old town, where we stayed, is also stunning. It was mostly destroyed by American bombing in World War II, but the residents decided to rebuild it according to the medieval plan and using most of the same materials (more stone than half-timbering, though). The cathedral is quite lovely and was only finished in 1972! It really has the look and feel of a well-preserved medieval town; it's hard to remember that a good bit of it dates from the last 75 years.

The seagulls loved diving and gliding from the city ramparts; they were fun to watch.

Street near our apartment.

Just couldn't get enough of this sunset.

Tide is coming in!

At high tide, the waves will hit the pilings that you can see in the distance, at the base of the city walls.

Pretty low tide.

The 50-year-old cathedral.

Very low tide.

Chateaubriand's grave.

And the view from his grave.