Saint Malo - home of the corsairs

Wednesday – Nice to stay in bed a little longer and not have to drive again. We had a hearty hotel breakfast but few diabetic choices available. Today was devoted to walking all the way around Saint Malo on the city wall. Great views but bitter wind which almost blew Sylvie over (true) and occasional light rain. After completing the parapet circle wall around the city, we stopped for lunch in “Chateaubriand” an old worldly place with beautiful internal architecture. During the afternoon we walked to the church and wandered through most of the little streets and laneways. Dinner at “Doma” Bistronomique as recommended by the hotel. The little restaurant only seats 18 guests and has a limited menu but very good quality. Before it became too busy, we had a long chat to the owner. We were tired after our walking day and went to bed straight away after dinner. I feel very connected to this town.

History
Founded by Gauls in the 1st century BC, the ancient town on the site of Saint-Malo was known as the Roman Reginca or Aletum. By the late 4th century AD, the Saint-Servan district was the site of a major Saxon Shore promontory fort that protected the Rance estuary from seaborne raiders from beyond the frontiers. According to the Notitia Dignitatum, the fort was garrisoned by the militum Martensium under a commander of the Tractus Armoricanus et Nervicanus section of the litus Saxonicum. During the decline of the Western Roman Empire, Armorica (modern-day Brittany) rebelled from Roman rule under the Bagaudae and in the 5th and 6th centuries received many Celtic Britons fleeing instability across the Channel. The modern Saint-Malo traces its origins to a monastic settlement founded by Saint Aaron and Saint Brendan early in the sixth century. Its name is derived from a man said to have been a follower of Brendan the Navigator, Saint Malo or Maclou, an immigrant from what is now Wales.Read more