Exploring St Malo, France

When I woke up the next morning, my roommates were no longer there. They must have left really early since it was still 7 o’clock when I checked my watched. If it was raining heavily the night before, that morning looked like the first day of spring. The sun was up and the birds were singing.

Intramuros, St Malo, France

I went straight to the front desk and checked out. I didn’t bother to shower. I decided to clean up myself when I reach the hotel and meet my friends. I asked the front desk to call a cab for me going to Mercure St Malo Front de Mer. Oh yeah! That was the name of the hotel that really escaped my head the night before.

My friends were at the front desk when I arrived at the hotel. As expected, they want the full narrative of what happened. I told them that I needed to clean myself first and will meet them at the dining hall for breakfast later and will tell them the entire story.

fortified for a reason

After having breakfast and laughing out on my little adventure the night before, we headed out to explore St Malo. First stop, Intramuros.

The Intramuros was once the feared base of Corsairs, basically pirates, except that they were licensed by the King of France. The place was largely destroyed during the World War II but was painstakingly restored in the last decade or so. Also, Jacques Cartier who gave Canada its name was born in St Malo.

We roamed around the city for about 2 hours. The place is full of high-end shops and restaurants. We didn’t check any of the shops but we had crêpe for lunch.

inside the walled city

The church building is one of the prominent structure you will notice from afar, so we went to check it out. Probably it was just me, but it felt spooky inside. The place is massive. It was a bit dim and the only lights were from the candles and what remained of the sunlight after passing through the colored glass windows. There were statues of Jesus, Virgin Mary and several saints displayed all over the place. At the bottom of the statues were candles and flowers.

As I’m not really a museum kind of guy and so are my friends, we skipped the museum. We went straight to the stairs leading to the top of the walls instead. The view at the top is breathtaking. It made the journey worthwhile.

Casino at St Malo

Since it was still early, we decided to visit the Grand Aquarium. The place is in the outskirts of town but easily accessible by bus. I haven’t visited any big aquariums before so I was really impressed by the Grand Aquarium. There were so many species displayed on various themes, from cold to warm waters. The aquarium’s cafeteria is even surrounded by aquarium with small fishes on it. The presentation was very impressive. The entrance fee by the way was €9.50.

The one I really enjoyed the most was the underwater travel. They put us inside a tube and then the tube traveled across the seven seas. It felt fascinating to see various species from various parts of the world.

The Grand Aquarium

Our day ended with a dinner at Le Cafe de St. Malo. It’s one of the restaurants inside Intramuros. I thought it was a bit overpriced but the ambiance (I know this one is really expensive LOL!), the food presentation and the service made the whole thing worth the price.

The next morning, I parted ways with my friends with the hope of seeing each other again soon.

It was raining again when I left St Malo.

 

Schengen Visa, St Malo and the French Couple – part deux

It was bitterly cold, I was wet, I got lost and I was alone. Also, I don’t speak French and unlike the Girls Aloud, I didn’t have the funky music to do the talking for me.

So that pretty much sums up my first few hours in St Malo. And just when I thought things couldn’t get any worst, it turned out that I lost my phone and my digital camera.

Intramuros, St Malo, France

I was really trying hard to talk to the taxi driver hoping he would understand even a bit of what I was talking about. I asked him if we could go back to where he picked me up earlier as I needed to check if I dropped my phone and camera there. Lucky for me, the driver actually understood what I said.

So there I was, out in the rain, looking for my phone and camera in front of the apartment building where I met that French woman earlier. I found my phone at the side of the road covered with fallen leaves. Its LCD was broken either because I dropped it or because it was soaking wet. Either way, it was no longer functioning when I checked it. Next thing to look for is my camera. I’ve searched the area where I may have dropped it but it wasn’t there. Then I heard somebody shouting. I looked up and I saw a man at the top floor of the apartment building waving and shouting something. Again, I don’t speak French, so I didn’t get what he was saying. Few minutes later, the woman I’ve met earlier showed up at the entrance of the apartment building with my camera on her hands.

She was explaining something whilst smiling and then she handed my camera to me. It was in that moment that I really wished I could speak French so I could express how grateful I was for her kindness. I said thank you more than I could remember. I even bowed my head whilst saying it just to make my point across.  I gave her husband (I just assumed he’s her husband) a thumbs up sign and then I got back to the taxi.

My heart was full of gratefulness that time that if it would have been in a different circumstance I would have started singing. However, the fact is that I have no mobile with me and without it I couldn’t call my friends. I knew we’re supposed to meet at Intramuros but as to where exactly I didn’t know, we only agreed to just call each other once we’re there. On top of this, I couldn’t seem to remember the name of the hotel I booked for 2 nights. My mind was blanking out. If only I had my phone, it was all in there.

I figured that without my phone, there’s no way that I could find my friends in Intramuros. Also, without the name of the hotel, there’s no way that the driver could take me there. So I asked the driver to just drop me at the nearest hotel as I really needed to change my clothes, and to sort myself out.

He dropped me in a youth hostel.

The staff in the front desk speaks English which was really comforting. I booked for the night and paid 12 euros. She gave me the key and the map of the building to find the room. As I haven’t really stayed in a hostel before, I didn’t know what to expect.

I walked towards the direction of my room as per the map. The hallway was dimly lit. I could hear people chatting and laughing as I passed by each room. It was like a typical horror scene in a movie. The rain outside, the deserted hallway, the people talking and laughing at the background, and myself walking on a very poorly lit hallway. It was very creepy.

My room was at the right side at the far end of the hallway. As it turned out, the room was like a typical dormitory in college. It has 2 double decks, a small table, a sink and a small closet. The toilet is outside the room shared with other people in the building. There were 3 guys in the room when I arrived, they’re my roommates. They were chatting about their camping experience and the horrible weather. We introduced ourselves and started making small introductory conversation. They were all from Scotland (with their accent, I think that was a give away) and they were just in St Malo for the night and will head to Paris the next morning. I told them I’m from the Philippines and then I went on rambling about what happened earlier.

John, one of my roommates, lent me his laptop so I could contact my friends. And as I suspected, my friends sent me an email. They were so worried what happened to me. Although the subject line of the email was “You stood us up…”

We exchanged few emails and we agreed that they will wait for me at the hotel the following day.

I went to sleep that night with a heart full of thanksgiving. Although my mobile didn’t survive its first day in France, I did. And the experience I had will always reaffirm my belief in the goodness of human race.

The next day will surely be better!

 

Schengen Visa, St Malo and the French Couple

Click to enlarge image

The first time I set foot in France was very memorable. I got lost, broke my phone, almost lost my camera, and stayed in a dodgy hostel. But what made it even more memorable was the very good French couple who were very nice and helpful and partly saved my day.

Being a Filipino, I need a visa to travel to most of the countries in the world. It’s one of those things that make you realise how unfair the world could sometimes be. Anyway, I booked a trip to St Malo (the nearest schengen area from where I live) and then couriered my schengen visa application to the French embassy. In less than a week, I got my schengen visa – valid for one year. That means that I could travel to most part of Europe for one year without having to apply for another visa. Yohoo!

The moment I got my visa, I posted something on my facebook page asking if anyone was going to St Malo on the date I was scheduled to go there, as I don’t want to go there alone (I should have really thought of that before I booked that trip). Luckily, my mate messaged me that some of his friends are going to St Malo on the same weekend and I could join them if I want. After sending several facebook friend invites and messages, I got myself company for my first ever visit to France. We agreed to meet at the Intramuros in St Malo at around 4PM that weekend.

Intramuros from the ferry terminal

My ferry arrived in St Malo around 2PM and it was raining and it was very cold. I could see the Intramuros from the ferry terminal but there’s no way I could walk towards it without getting myself and my backpack wet, even if I had my small umbrella with me that time. So I decided to hail a cab and asked the driver if there’s a McDonald’s nearby as I was starving. He just stared at me blankly and then I realised that he doesn’t speak English. That was the first sign I saw that I might be in for a bit of a trouble. I repeated my question and stressed out the word McDonald’s this time and then he nodded. Sure enough, he brought me to the McDonald’s which is a bit far from the Intramuros.

It was probably around 3pm when I decided that I had to go to the Intramuros to meet my friends. Then it started raining again. Cats and dogs! When it stopped, I went outside to get a cab but the place looked deserted. I decided to start walking hoping I could walk past a taxi rank. Fifteen minutes later, no taxi rank, only apartment buildings. The people I’ve met along the way don’t speak English so it was really hard for me to understand what they were saying.

Then in started raining again and it started to get dark. I was starting to get nervous. I had to take shelter in one of the apartment buildings entrances. That’s where I met this very nice French woman. She live in that apartment building and she was just walking her dog when it started raining. I asked her if she knows a number to call a cab. She doesn’t speak English. I showed her my phone and said cab and taxi several times while acting like I was phoning somebody. She seemed to get what I was saying and then she pressed her apartment number in the intercom. A man’s voice was on the other line. I assumed it was her husband. They spoke for a minute and then she asked for my phone and called a cab. I was so grateful that time that I can’t even remember how many times I said thank you to her.

Twenty minutes later, the cab arrived and I was on my way to the Intramuros. I was gonna call my friends when I couldn’t find my phone and my camera!

To be continued…