Day 14 LE MONT ST. MICHEL - ST. MALO- BREST 19.08.2022

Today we set off for Brest, our westernmost city in Brittany, or so we thought! So we had breakfast in our 'Hotel Vert' and were very lucky, because we got a lot for 9 €! Delicious, and then off we went, not right away, because we had to overcome the exit barrier. At the reception we could still explain that we had not received an official card to leave, but at the barrier it took a bit longer. It took some time until I finally managed contactless payment (9.80 €) with Karin's help! It should also be mentioned here that paying with card is the norm in France. And the DEBIT card is accepted everywhere without any problems. When we think of the stories from Jule and Diana in the countryside of northern Hesse, we can only smile. How many times have I inserted my card into the wrong slot without thinking about the consequences, it's strange! And it should happen again today!?

So pay attention: We left the crowded coast and made good progress on a well-built national road, when Karin suddenly expressed that she would like to go to St. Malo! She had read about it in one of the travel guides that Daniela had given us as a preparation gift and wanted to go there. As it only made a small detour of about 90 kilometers and we shouldn't arrive in our Brester accommodation too early anyway (Karin had contacted our AirBnb in English!!!), we headed back towards the water. The weather was not so great, cloudy, rainy, foggy and humid, but we made it there just fine. No tourist masses! Besides, Karin is getting better and better at using her navigation system and can direct me very focused, while I can take care of the traffic and strange drivers. That calms the passenger cell a lot!! So in St. Malo we found the ideal parking lot directly behind the old city wall on the Atlantic. And now comes the best part: I failed again when paying for the parking ticket due to French demands!? First of all, paying the fees, as in Germany, is not possible. An older French woman, younger than me, simply took my card and discreetly turned away when the secret number was requested. I had to enter our license plate number beforehand, then how long we wanted to park, and then pay for everything, with our card!?! It was about 50 cents for one hour, we deliberately parked outside! Unbelievable! The long printout from the machine was probably more expensive than our fees!

Nevertheless, this old port city, very well preserved and without major damage from the war, had a great charisma. But many other tourists knew that too, so we only strolled along the outer harbor and the outer city wall. We avoided the small, super preserved lanes. They were crowded! All the people who had visited St. Michel had driven to not far away St. Malo in the bad weather. Even though the island was of religious significance and St. Malo was the base of the French privateers. These are pirates working on behalf of the respective ruler.

After this great, unplanned detour, we continued without any problems, on really well-built French expressways with a maximum of 130 km/h and mostly 90 km/h or 110 km/h, towards Brest. The weather became summery again and we reached our address on time. Only the landlady was not there, but there was a move happening. However, the first thoughts were quickly dispelled, because Nathalie (a woman in her late forties) appeared on time and explained, well!, everything. She spoke into her mobile phone and it then spoke to us in German! Why bother learning foreign languages at all?!? In any case, everything went great and we immediately liked the apartment! All the important shops nearby and our own kitchen (finally vegetables and cold beer!) and our own washing machine! More about that tomorrow! And super internet, initially with problems, but that's something we old travelers also absolutely need!