La Chandeleur at La Crêperie Bretonne

Every February 2nd, SOLLI and I meet for La Chandeleur.

We always go to La Crêperie Bretonne on 56, rue du Montparnasse, 75014. 

St Malo 2nd time around

For once I followed the French and went out of town during fete de assumption on August 15. Last year we visited ST MALO in early July and saw only salted caramels, kouin Amann, crepes.

This year was different. My hotel was set back in the surrounding ramparts - a good 15 minutes walk away from all the treats we consumed last year. At first I was disoriented. No boulangeries nearby. But a quick look at the beachfront and I changed my mind. After the 4 hour train ride I went in for a nap.

An hour later the tide was way out.

Everyone was walking on the wet sand towards Saint-Malo's historic forts.

A march of pilgrims...

I joined in.

The views are spectacular

Whichever way you look

This couple worked on their tans while the rest of us trudged through the sand

The reward for that marching? An ice cream at Sanchez in town. This is a single dip by the way.

Ice cream cones as big as your head!

At dusk back at the beachfront at I found my painting subject.

These resort gulls are pros at posing.

In my room I discovered a new brush to add my repertoire - a Bobby Brown flat powder brush. I found more terrific brushes in the medicine cabinet at home. Sometimes you have to go away to see what's under your nose.

My last morning a quick look on the beach. These kids are getting sailing instruction while their brave parents hold their breaths. Me too.

A last walk on the ramparts with my suitcase

And a final blow-out lunch at CAFE DE SAINT-MALO. Drizzle and coolness but its a nice change from steamy, hot Paris.

Ta da. My assette de fruits de mer folowed by rai in brown butter and capers. And La dame blanc. A coupe of vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce and Chantilly. Yum. The perfect end to my 3-day escape. Thanks for reading Parisbreakfast. If you'd like to receive a French seagull, letters, or maps in your mailbox, please look in my Etsy shop. I don't want Summer to end. 

A taste of St. Malo and Cancale

Get out your bib and tucker

First eating stop in St. Malo - 9, rue de l'Orme (Intro-Muros).

To the world-famous La Maison du Beurre. They paddle the butter in front of you into thick, rectangular bars. Then wrap them up, ready for you to take home. A big assortment of flavors is on offer including with algae.

Thank goodness they don’t demo their famous salted butter caramels/CBS. I would have succumbed.

St. Malo is synonymous with salted butter caramel. Its a land mine field. You’ve been warned.

Directly across the street at #6, sits world-famous BREIZH CAFÉ. They are closed on Monday-Tuesday FYI. Does Bordier have a pipe pumping the butter straight into Breizh cafe?

Definitely get the daily 'formule'. A steal and not on offer in the Paris branches. Reason enough to go to St. Malo oui?

FABULOUS! Very crispy as all buckwheat or sarrasin galette should be.

Our neighbors had their new sushi galette rollups. I went to the Paris branch for smoked salmon rollups yesterday. YUM

Another don't-miss if you love fine food is Olivier Roellinger's spice shop. There is a Paris branch on rue St. Anne.

But why not enhale your vanille at the source.

There is the famous caramelized St. Malo gateaux, Kouign-Amann. You will inhale the scent of butter 🧈 from one end of the town to the other.

There will be seafood or Plateau de fruits 🦀 de mer. I had this plateaux at all Brasserie le Cafe St. Malo. It was as fresh as eaten straight up at the poissoniere on rue de l'Orme. It inspired me to take the bus next morning to Cancale for the oysters served on the rocks.

About 25 minutes from St. Malo, use the same bus ticket to the train station on the Cancale bus (1,30€). Homage to women oyster gatherers.

Walk down a steep hill to the unassuming marché de huitres.

Just 6 small stands, each a differecnt color. I don't know why I chose the pink 😀.

These are 'flat' oysters. A dozen for 5,50€ sounds cheap, but there isn't a lot of meat to these babies. Paper-thin oysters 🦪 

Still its great fun to sit along the water, eat freshly-opened oysters and simply toss the shells onto the beach as you scrape off every morsel from both top and bottom shell. Don’t forget to return your plate & knife the the oyster lady!

Here's a view of the Cancale oyster beds from the hill above. The lighthouse is where the little marché is. There was more to explore but I ran back to catch the bus. Eat and run. Next time I'll get a second dozen. The new July Paris letter is on its way to you, a continuation of French seasonal fruits and veg. The Paris map will be done soon! Thank you for reading Parisbreakfast.  If you'd like to receive Parisbreakfast letters, maps and watercolors in your mailbox, do stop by my shop.

Bonne journée!

Profile of St. Malo

Thanks to Jeremy's drawing class in the rain on Pont des Arts I thnk I'm getting this 'profile' thing. This time in the seafront town of St. Malo, Brittany.

We went for 3 days. I wouldn't have minded staying longer.

Another profile view of the fortified walls of the town, the ramparts.

A lot of the town has been reconstructed post-WWII, but it still feels like a lovely step back in time.

Profile #3

An overview map of St. Malo. Over 2 kilometers of ramparts to walk. The cité started in the 12th century.

There are tempting beaches beside the city walls.

Towers and turrets.

And of course dozens of creperies.

The strawberry lady sent us to Creperie des Bé since the creme de la creme, Cafe Brezih was closed on Tuesdays.

The formule - 12.60 for main, salad, dessert and cider. Absolute yum.

We stayed at Hotel l'Universe, simple and well-located in the main square, Place Chateaubriand. Writer, politician, diplomat Francois-Rene de Chateaubriand was born in St. Malo in 1768 so his name is splashed about liberally.

Mainly a pedestrian town with plenty of cobblestones. Leave your Louboutins at home.

Not just crepes either. Seafood! I suggest eating at the poissonier might be a good idea.

Blue is the town's favorite color.

You read over and over do not bring your fav Breton-striped shirts to wear in Brittany, yet every other shop is selling stripes for the whole famille.

Bear preferred the stripes on the Brittany railroad cars.

If you're longing to visit a walled city with crenelations, ramparts, castles etc. I say choose St. Malo over Carcassonne. Its much closer to Paris..2-3 hours by train, wonderful food (more coming on that tomorrow), lots of nearby towns to visit by bus or boat like Dinard, Dinan, Cancale, even St. Michel isn't very far away. And the Brittany strawberries are super.

Thank you for reading Parisbreakfast.  If you'd like to receive Parisbreakfast letters and maps in your mailbox, stop by my shop. Bon Weekend!