The Fortified Town of Saint-Malo

If you're on the North Coast of Bretagne, you cannot miss Saint-Malo. This old fortified town has such a unique atmosphere and is really worth exploring! Although like with Mont St Michel, it can get very busy in the Summer, so I would definitely recommend to visit it outside the months of July and August. Otherwise, you might have a lot of trouble finding a parking space and walking along the fortress walls (some bits are narrower than others and I can imagine how it would be tricky to enjoy it when super busy!).

It was a bit overcast when we arrived in the morning but I was still snapping away, too happy to be in this beautiful place with my brand new husband ;)

In the morning we decided to walk on the fortified walls that are still standing strong all around the town, which really made us work up an appetite as by lunchtime, we were absolutely starving! I didn't take any photos of the meal we had at La Bouche en Folie, but honestly, if you're searching for very good typical French cuisine, you need to stop there! It's quite small so I would recommend to book in advance, but the food was absolutely delicious. A tad expensive for us, but it was our only treat during our holiday :)

We were lucky enough to be exploring St Malo during the festival 'Journées du Patrimoine' where historic buildings and places exceptionally open their doors for free, or spaces that are usually not opened to the public. For the occasion, the cathedral allowed people to visit the cathedral's bell tower with a guide and we managed to be part of one of the small groups that went up! We felt so privileged to be able to climb up to the highest tower and discover Saint-Malo from above.

By the end of the afternoon, it was very sunny and warm so we did what a lot of people did then: we made our way to the beach! Like Mont St Michel, Saint-Malo has some very changeable tides throughout the day, and parts of the beach that were submerged under water in the morning were completely dry by the afternoon. Tourists could even walk to the nearest island to visit the Fort National! It was so nice to enjoy some time on the beach and it allowed us to have yet another different view of Saint-Malo.

Before leaving, we thought we'd enjoy a nice beverage at the very well-known and quirky (get ready) "Le Café du coin d'en bas de la rue du bout de la ville d'en face du port"! We loved it there! It's so different and a bit crazy. At the bar, you could sit in swinging chairs from an old fairground ride and you couldn't find one piece of the wall that was bare. We were very surprised to see that it was a bit quiet as we were expecting it to be absolutely full of intrigued tourists like us ;). Definitely a great experience!

Oh, and let's not forget about the most scrumptious doughnut I've ever had in my life (apart from the first time I tasted one from the same place back in 2014) from Maison Hector! Apparently their waffles are to die for too. Just seeing this photo makes me want to have another one right now!

So yeah, did a lot of walking, but also ate a lot of food that day!

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