St Malo and Dinard - June 30th
St. Malo is a short hour long train ride from Rennes.
St. Malo is a historic French port in Brittany on the Channel coast. The population is less than 50,000, but can swell to 200,000 during the summer due to all of the tourists that flock to the city.
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. During the decline of the Western Roman Empire, Armorica (modern-day Brittany) rebelled from Roman rule 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.
Later, Saint-Malo became notorious as the home of the corsairs, French privateers and sometimes pirates. The corsairs of Saint-Malo not only forced English ships passing up the Channel to pay tribute but also brought wealth from further afield.
In World War II, during fighting in late August and early September 1944, the historic walled city was almost totally destroyed by American shelling and bombing as well as British naval gunfire. The city was rebuilt over a 12 year period from 1948 to 1960.
Much of the action in Anthony Doerr's 2014 award-winning novel, All the Light We Cannot See, occurs in Saint-Malo. If you're one of the 6 people who haven't read this book yet - get on it! It's excellent. Also, if you ever get to hear Anthony Doerr speak live - don't pass it up. He is a very entertaining speaker.
Coat of Arms of Saint-Malo
According to the municipal website, the oldest known coat of arms of Saint-Malo is dated 1591.
The one above is mounted above Porte Saint Vincent - one of the main gates into the city.
The official current coat of arms has a red shield, with a yellow portcullis standing on a yellow terrace and a white ermine on the portcullis with a yellow scarf. The shield is surmounted by either a ducal or mural crown, and sometimes with green palms as supporters.
Fort National
Fort National is a fort on a tidal island a few hundred yards off the walled city of Saint-Malo. The great military architect Vauban had it built in 1689 to protect Saint-Malo's port. The fort was originally called Fort Royal. In 1789 the fort's name became Fort d'Îlette or Républicain, then Fort Impérial and, after 1870, Fort National.
The Flag of Brittany
The unofficial flag of Brittany, a disputed region in the northwest of France. It is called the Gwenn-ha-du, which means white and black in Breton. The flag was created in 1923 by Morvan Marchal. He used as his inspiration the flag of the United States, seen as a symbol of freedom. The nine horizontal stripes represent the traditional dioceses of Brittany into which the duchy was divided historically. The five black stripes represent the French or Gallo speaking dioceses of Dol, Nantes, Rennes, Saint-Malo and Saint-Brieuc; the four white stripes represent the Breton speaking dioceses of Trégor, Léon, Cornouaille and Vannes. The ermine canton recalls the arms of the Duchy of Brittany. The design of the ermine spots can vary, but the version most frequently seen is shown above.
The flag first came to notice by a wider public at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris in 1925. It was adopted by various cultural and nationalist groups through the 1920s and 1930s. However, its association with nationalist and separatist groups during the Second World War brought suspicions of collaboration on the flag. A revival of interest in the flag took place in the 1960s. Since then, it has lost an association with separatism in the mind of the public and become a widely accepted symbol for all Brittany and Bretons.
We saw this flag in the stands at several soccer matches - it was nice to finally figure out what it meant.
Plage de l'Écluse (Beach of the Lock)
This is Dinard's largest beach, sitting on the northern edge of the city. When we showed up they had just finished a Beach Polo match (there is a cleared section of beach to the right of the photo). We had never heard of Beach Polo, but it's a thing, apparently.
Cathédrale Saint-Vincent-de-Saragosse de Saint-Malo
The church was founded in dedication to Saint Vincent of Saragossa, and constitutes a national monument of France. It was built in a mix of Roman and Gothic styles during the episcopacy of Jean de Châtillon (1146-1163) on the site of an ancient church founded in the 7th-century.
Saint Vincent of Saragossa, the Protomartyr of Spain, was a deacon of the Church of Saragossa. He is the patron saint of Lisbon and Valencia. His feast day is 22 January in the Roman Catholic Church and Anglican Communion and 11 November in the Eastern Orthodox Churches. He was born at Huesca and martyred under the Emperor Diocletian around the year 304. His refusal to consign Scripture to the fire angered the authorities and they tortured him. He was stretched on the rack and his flesh torn with iron hooks. Then his wounds were rubbed with salt and he was burned alive upon a red-hot gridiron. Finally he was cast into prison and laid on a floor scattered with broken pottery, where he died.
