We had a good but wet day today in the walled town of Saint-Malo. The day started with a typical French breakfast: croissants, cold meats and cheese before happy hour-the joy of the day. We were given packed lunches so we could spend the day enjoying the delights of the town and its beautiful beaches. However due the weather we had to return to the ship to shelter from the heavy rain, only going out between showers. The town itself seemed to be a popular tourist destination as we heard many different languages and even some English accents. It was easy to see why Saint-Malo is a popular tourist destination with its stunning walls, beautiful views, many restaurants and fantastic patisseries from which we bought many cakes, pastries and a lot of bread. In typical British fashion we didn’t allow the weather to keep us away from the beach but it did manage keep us out of the sea. The cook got a night off as we all took the chance to try some French food in one of the many restaurants, which we thoroughly enjoyed. This is Aimee and Emma of aft port watch signing off at 12:37 but wishing we were still below in nice warm bunks fast asleep.
Some of us (the older and wiser members of the voyage crew??) heard a rumour that Saint Malo had a thermal bath and visited the tourist information to confirm. After lunch (just to make sure that we had enough energy for our strenuous exercise) 9 of us took a promenade along the Grand Plage to Les Thermes Marins de Saint Malo and sent Jinty into the hotel reception to find the exact location of the baths. We ventured into the hallowed halls of the Thalasso Spa where it appears soggy footed, waterproof wearing, bedraggled leaders are not their usual clientele and we were promptly despatched to the tradesmen’s entrance!! A rather startled young man coped admirably with our rather inadequate school girl French (well can you ask in French for entry to a Thermal Baths for 9 people with swimming hats included???) and before we knew it, we had made it through to the baths. There followed an hour and a half of swimming, soaking, walking, lying and sauna-ing. Special mention to Sarah A for braving the watersJ. Suitably refreshed and obviously looking years younger, we headed back to the ship to merge in with the younger crew members! In the evening we headed into the walled town to partake of the typically French moules et frites, followed of course (but only because it came as part of the meal deal!) by crepes.
Aft Port Watch (Becky and Gilly) signing off at 3.45am just waiting for the next Harbour Watch crew (Aft Starboard) to take over.