FRANCE: day 3

The start to the day was slow; a little hung over. Slept great though! I tried a Nutella sandwhich for breakfast; but I wasn't in any condition for food just yet. Whoops! We had planned on going to the coast of France this day. Cedric's friend Marie joined us too; which was nice to have a female compainion. She rocked. And she spoke amazing english. She taught me all the necessary french terms; most of which aren't appropriate to repeat on here. haha! I miss her already!

First, we headed for Saint Malo. It was about an hour drive from the Rennes area. I didn't have any expectations of the area we were heading to, but WOW. absolutely beautiful sights seen this day. Saint Malo is a walled port city (right on the water). I'm sure the walls surrounding the city were used to fight of pirates or some other amazingly boring story. All I cared about was the beauty.

You pull up and see this huge wall; which has a few access points to get inside. The streets inside the city are narrow and wind up and around the hills. The area now is a huge tourist attraction. It wasn't that busy when I went, but with kids back in school, its not much of a suprise. We had a great lunch of chicken panini's. Delicous. I might have even had a coca cola. (no pepsi products anywhere). Cedric's puppy joined along for the day, which is very normal in france. The french love their dogs and take them everywhere. (and i mean everywhere-out to dinner, shopping, etc). We ended up walking around most of the perimeter of the city (along the top of the wall). Met many students along the way; kids get long open lunches to do as they please. From a distance, there is a small island that has a high end restaurant on it. It's the only thing on the island and obvisouly only accessible by boat. (Probably cheap, right?). A few of the pictures taken in Saint Malo:

Next we hopped into the car and drove the short scenic route towards Dinard. Dinard is another touristy area with many beaches. This is a typical beach town (no walled city here). The homes along the coast were AMAZING. We decided I would marry whichever single man/boy/grandpa was available. Just because I wanted to live there. that. bad.

We parked and walked along the coast. The area we walked was a very hilly cliffside. We could see Saint Malo in a distance along the whole walk (did I mention AMAZING views??). There were a few times where I was concerned Baya would fall off the edge. Thankfully no rescue missions needed.

(one of my future homes)

(steep cliff w/ my house in the background)

There was a large beach in Dinard, but dogs weren't allowed. So Cedric drove us to this smaller beach which happened to be right off a popular golf course. (Cedric is a golfer; rather good golfer). This golf course has a view of the ocean from almost every hole. Anyways, we walked a short (narrow) path to get to this beach. Not too many people, but it was perfect. Baya was free to run, but she hated the water. Absolutely refused to get in the water. The water was freezing, so I don't blame her. The views were breathtaking. The serenity was priceless. I could go back there everyday and be perfectly content. (need a sugga daddy to pay the bills though). OHH.. the speedo's were plentiful. Still not sure why Cedric doesn't own a speedo?? :)

(this picture doesn't do it justice)

(super tired)

(hottie tanning next to us)

After the beach, we headed to Cedric's parents house. They live in Bruz, which is near Rennes. Cedric's parents (mom-Francois & stepdad-Eve: spelling may be way off) had us over for a meal. First off; they live on a golf course (7th tee box maybe?). Another abosolutely stunning location. Second off; they don't speak english (humbling). Third off; they made us a five course meal (normal?)
The dinner was ate outside on their back porch; where the views are shown in the pictures below. We started off with a bottle of champagne, which of course was delicious. The first course was sliced sausage (like a summer sausage). The next course was grilled sausage (links), peppers marinated in oil, and then a tomato dish w/ sardines (yuck). Now started the red wine (vin rouge). The next course was grilled steaks w/ a traditional french dish called Ratatouille. It's like a vegetable stew. Next was the cheese course. Not a clue what kinds I ate, but very good. Lastly we had a desert of apple crumble (good but too much butter for me).

Basically, the whole day was perfect. I got to see beautiful sights and end with an amazing meal w/ very generous people. Yes, it would have been better if I could speak French, but thankfully Cedric and Marie could translate for me. By now, I was really stuffed, exhausted, and thankful for bed.