Day Trip to Saint-Malo!
Last weekend I went on a little day trip to Saint-Malo, a beach town on the coast of Brittany, France. Saint-Malo is only an hour from Rennes by car, an easy getaway when the weather is nice! I went with my host parents and it was a fantastic Saturday!
We started off the afternoon by visiting The Sculptured Rocks, a beautiful ocean viewpoint. On this cliff viewpoint there are rocks sculpted into faces and animals. It’s a remarkable viewpoint of the water and the intricately carved rocks make the sight very Instagrammable, there’s also a natural ocean pool! The view really reminded me of my old home of Palos Verdes, California. Even in the middle of October the water was green and light blue, I totally need to come back in the spring to jump into this water!
After the viewpoint we walked the Saint-Malo Boardwalk. Walking the boardwalk also reminded me of California, walking down the Manhattan Beach Boardwalk. The boardwalk was nice and wide, about 15 feet higher than the sand, looking over the flat sands of the Saint-Malo beach. Saint-Malo gets some of the biggest swells in Europe, the waves can reach up to 40 feet! We walked all the way to the end of the boardwalk to the Saint-Malo Walls, a little village in the walls of a fortress. Once you walk through the entrance, which sort of looks like the Hogsmeade village from Harry Potter, you are greeted into a bustling village with shops, restaurants, and lots of creperies! Since everything is contained only in the walls of this fortress, you would never know it’s there from the outside! We wandered around the town admiring the cobblestone streets, the beautiful church, plus the fortress walls with views of the sea. Saint-Malo is known for it’s historic pirates and as well as a sailing race called La Route du Rhum every four years. You will also find all the seafood your heart desires here!
Around sunset, we walked the boardwalk back to our car, then headed to dinner in another beach town nearby called Cancale. In Cancale we saw the most beautiful sunset of orange, red, and pink skies right before we sat down for dinner. We ate at a creperie called Breizh Cafe where I got an artichoke galette for dinner. And of course you can’t forget about dessert, so I tried a caramel crepe. When in France you can eat a galette for any meal, any time of day, and it is still so satisfying.
After dinner we made our way back to Rennes, it was such a lovely day to bond with my host parents and see a new part of Brittany. I totally recommend visiting Saint-Malo on a day trip if you are looking for a close beach getaway from Paris or Rennes! Beautiful views, yummy restaurants, and the Saint-Malo walls for some shopping, a perfect day by the sea!
