(Saint-Malo, Brittany, France)
Bayeux’s large medieval festival lasted several days, so we were able to revisit it a few times and check out some of the exhibits, kiosks, and activities that we missed the fist time around.
One of the parks was devoted to medieval games…and we ended up spending quite a bit of time there. Quite a few were similar to “table shuffleboard”, and in fact one game was identical to a Dutch game called “sjoelen“. I remember playing sjoelen at my aunt’s house in ‘s-Gravenzande, but that didn’t give me much of an advantage!
Some of the kiosks were a little different from what you would find in Canada. One was devoted to escargots! There were also many unusual clothing items for sale, ranging from full body armour to tricorne hats. As it was (and still is) quite hot, most of these items were not very practical and I didn’t end up buying any of them. I hope I don’t regret declining this rare opportunity!
We stumbled upon another unique site in Bayeux: the Reporters’ Memorial. This commemorates all of the reporters since World War II who have been killed in the course of their employment. There is a forest path lined with large pillars containing the names of the reporters who died: generally, there is one pillar per year, but many years (most of them recent) unfortunately spill over onto a second or even third pillar. The memorial is a reminder of the important role journalism plays in a free society.
We’ve been eating a lot of galettes and crêpes lately, so I broke down and had a Turkish döner kebab on our last night in Bayeux. It was a refreshing change but I think we’ll be having plenty of galettes and crêpes even after we move on from Bayeux. While we are leaving Normandy, we will be spending five days in Brittany…where galettes and crêpes are just as ubiquitous.
The journey from Bayeux to Saint-Malo was very uneventful, compared to the strike-impaired journey out of Rouen. We arrived in Saint-Malo on time and settled into our hotel without incident. We miss having our own kitchen, but there is a boulangerie right around the corner. This means we can continue our indulgent habit of having amazingly fresh chaussons aux pommes and pain au chocolat every morning!
Stay tuned for more on Saint-Malo: the Brittany town with a very strong connection to Canada!