4 days in Brittany, France - 09/26/2023-9/29/2023

Day 3- Sillon Beach, Saint Malo-9/28/2023

We are now getting out of the ramparts of Saint Malo and headed to the beach

Exiting via Saint Vincent Gate.

View of the exterior from the Vincent gate.

We are now entering the Sillon beach

Cang, Thierry, Mai, Me, and Chi Be right at the entrance of the beach.

The Sillon beach is famous for the breakwaters which are long wooden sticks embedded in the sand along the walls to break the waves during high tides thus avoid the deterioration of the walls and the seawall.

All along the Sillon beach, an alignment of breakwaters protects the dyke against the strength of the waves.

The breakwaters were set up at the beginning of he 19th century after an idea of the engineers Ponts and Chaussees Ronault from Saint Servan.

These oak tree breakwaters are fixed at a depth equal or bigger than the altitude they have at the surface.

Me leaning against the oak tree trunks.

They are a really interesting sight.

Closer view of the breakwaters.

It is a long sand beach when the tide is low.

View of the breakwaters and the ramparts are in the background.

Here you can clearly see that the city is walled off.

Panoramic view from the beach.

Panoramic view of Fort National from the Breakwaters.  The Fort can be accessible via foot when the tide is low.

Across the beach is the Fort National located on Petit Be Island. It is a fort on a tidal island a few hundred meters off the walled city of Saint-Malo. The great military architect Vauban had it built in 1689 to protect Saint-Malo's port.

We are walking toward the main entrance of the Fort National

Lots of tidal pools at low tide.

It is now a museum and it was closed when we got there. During WW II, The German took over and turned it into a prison.   On 6 August 1944, the allies bombed Saint-Malo, which was still under German occupation. The next day the German commander imprisoned 380 men from St. Malo in the Fort as hostages. The prisoners remained there for six days, where allied shellfire killed 18 of them on the night of 9 to 10 August. Food ran out on 11 August, and on 13 August 150 old men and women joined the existing prisoners. However, that evening, the Germans permitted all the prisoners to leave during an hour-long truce.

The American 83rd Infantry Division was responsible for the liberation of Saint Malo, including Fort National. The fort itself was liberated on 16 August, but not until the allied shellfire had damaged it. The fort was later restored in accordance with Vauban's original plans.

This is the right site of the Fort overlooking the ocean.

It was so peaceful and beautiful sitting here.

A quick selfie with the Fort National behind us.

This is the view of Saint Malo from the Fort.

Panoramic view of Saint Malo from the Fort.

In the center you can see the Cathedral of Saint Malo with the tall pointy roof.

We are now walking around the Petit Be island.

View of the City front the  Petit Be Island.

We are now headed to the other side of the island.

Tidal pond and walkway at low tide.

A stream running through

A dog running on the beach

A dog and his owner playing catch

NEXT... Day 3-Cancale