Our Week with Laura: Part Two

Lisa and Laura on the ramparts of Dinan.

We arrived back from Paris in the early evening and made dinner.  We needed to be up early the next day for our day-trip to Dinan, Dinard, and Saint-Malo.  We left bright and early for the county bus and headed on our way.  Laura, like Chris and us, liked Dinan a lot, enjoying its charm and its views.  We were even graced with some sunshine!

How to play dress-up
in Dinan.

We went first to the market (sans hurdy gurdy player this time) where Laura and I continued our tradition of buying scarves--mine in blue and hers in muted pinks.  I think some things will never change, and I'm okay with that!  Aaron (continuing his tradition of buying books in Dinan) found a new travel journal just in time for our next adventure.  We also took Laura past the medieval clothing shop because she and I have always enjoyed a good costume.

The beach at Dinard.

After a picnic lunch in the park behind the oldest church there, we hopped on the bus to Dinard where we got to walk on the beach a bit and see the Hitchcock statue.  We only had a short time there because another bus left for our final destination of Saint-Malo.  Aaron had been there twice, but I had only visited once and had wanted to go back all year.

Laura in the stained-glass rainbows.

Rose window in the cathedral.

I love the stained glass in the cathedral there.  As I think we told you way back in September, all (or at least almost all) of the glass was destroyed in World War II, so it has been replaced recently.  It's rather modern and is just abstract shapes instead of trying to tell stories that are depicted too small to really see.  The light ends up in little rainbow puddles on the floor, and it seems like a lot of life could be there.

While in Saint-Malo, we made Laura try a Kouign-Aman, a butter, flour, egg, and sugar pastry that contains so much butter, the locals even make post cards making fun of it!  We split one among the three of us because the first time Aaron and I found that it was too rich for just two people to share.  We each had a couple of bites, which was the right amount.

Laura at Saint-Malo enjoying the only other sunlight
observed during her trip.

We walked up to the ramparts and had a good view of Dinard and the Channel before walking down to the beach to collect some seashells.  Because it was low-tide, we thought about walking out to Chateaubriand's tomb, but we realized it was farther than it first looked.  It was so nice to have some sunshine that we stayed on the beach until it was almost time to leave for the bus back home.

Constance, Thomas, and Aaron's whipped cream.

The next day, we decided to relax a bit and stay closer to home.  We headed back into downtown Rennes to do some shopping and meet Thomas and Constance for a drink.  Constance had a bit of a cold, but we still had a nice time.  They took us to the Haricot Rouge, which sells milkshakes.  Well, Constance carries extra straws in her bag, so we all got to taste.  It was not a milkshake.  It was milk with flavored syrup stirred in, no ice cream at all.  Still, she adored it, and so that was very good.  Aaron ordered hot chocolate viennois which means that it's covered in whipped cream.  As you can see in the picture, it was!  After we finished our drinks, they took us around to some of the sites, where people were already drunk at 6pm!  That's another thing the locals mock on post cards here.

After that, it was back home for dinner and packing.  We ended the meal with a collection of nine different flavors of macaroons, which we quickly devoured.  They were very delicious.  Saturday morning, we took Laura on a very rushed trip to the market because we couldn't let her leave France without seeing it at its very best.  She got some honey from the honey man who has the best voice I have ever heard!  If I ever manage to get a recording of it, you will have a sound clip here!  We saw Laura off for a sad good-bye at the train station, but we look forward to seeing her again soon in the States!

Laura, sporting her new scarf while
attacking the macaroon collection.

Macaroon siege continues.

Macaroons conquered.