lost in france (Dinan - St. Malo)

well, not us, but our taxi driver. I suppose I should tell you the story.

First stop: Dinan
We left Caen bright and early and decided to travel to our next destination, St Malo, via Dinan which Lonely Planet bills as one of the best preserved medieval villages to see.  Actually it didn't disappoint - the streets are just as they would have been in medieval times despite drivers thinking they can hoon down them in the 21st century. We wandered past the 15th century clock tower but were unable to climb it - the view is supposed to be great. As with most things in France, it was shut for lunch from noon till 2pm.

The clock tower at lunch.

We had other places to be so we decided to take our baguette, purchased before we left Caen, and head for the Basilica of St Saveur

Inside St Saveur's

and the English Gardens that back onto it to eat our typically French lunch whilst looking over the old ramparts of the medieval walled town - tres pittoresque!

The view from the garden. Didn't need to climb the clock tower.

Also it was actually warm and sunny (it reached 20!!!!) so that gave it extra brownie points from us as we stripped down to one layer of clothing for a change.  After lunch, we wandered through the little shops and happily observed a throng of high school students, since they were not ours, emerging for their lunchtime from the 15th century Benedictine complex that is their school.  Not sure if they are required to go back after the break but they seemed pretty happy to be out in the shopping district.  Also saw another school group accompanied by 2 teachers on some kind of excursion.  One boy was clearly not playing the game expected and copped a clip over the ear from the supervising teacher for his troubles - oh for the good old days...  apparently the French have not heard of child protection anymore than they have heard of OHS - but more about that later...

Saint Malo
We then left Dinan and drove North to St Malo to locate our B & B even though we were very early for our agreed 6 pm check in time (not typical of France as most places expect you by about 3 pm).  We located the place without too much drama and one of the owners, Valerie, graciously greeted us but let us know she spoke no English; her husband was the front man of the B & B team but he was not home - hence we assume the late check in time.  We got settled anyway (thanks to Jayne and her wonderful command of French and English and that pigeon language that exists in between) and Valerie called us a taxi to go into St Malo (10 minutes away).  The plan was to meet Kristy Scott (Gilroy) and her family for drinks and dinner when they arrived in St Malo later that evening. They are touring Europe as well and you can follow their progress at http://web.me.com/kristyscott/Europe_Trip/Welcome.html

The entrance to the old township

We caught a taxi into the port, obtained a town map and then ventured into the old town which is the shopping and tourist district completely walled by ramparts that you can walk around.

The port has massive tides that cut off unwary tourists who wander out across rocks and sand spits.

You can walk to the old prison at low tde

We checked out the incoming tide, the various views of the city and port as well as observing two workers who were precariously perched on a steep roof of a building at least 8 floors high.

No proper scaffolding, no harnesses and a couple of wooden ladders to get to the point of repair. We took a photo and both commented which drew a laugh from another tourist who obviously understood English and knew about all the rules and regulations we are subject to in Australia.

Perspective - it was another 4 floors to the ground!

Fixing the slate.

Once we had completed the circuit of the wall and investigated the shops, we settled in at the Hotel De L'Univers to wait for Kristy, Paul, Georgia and Lachlan to arrive.  After a joyous reunion and several drinks plus hors d'oeuvres, we wandered into the old town to the restaurant that Kristy had booked on line - unfortunately, much like the Abbey at Le Mont St Michel, they had decided to take the holiday option and were closed till Thursday so, pas de probleme, we wandered literally a few paces more and found a lovely seafood place which was happy to take all 6 of us for dinner.

Unusual for us, but, we were the last ones to leave, having spent some hours swapping travel stories, and we went to catch a taxi home - none to be seen as the whole town had literally gone to bed.  We started to walk back to Kristy and Paul's hotel which was half way to our B & B. On the way, Paul managed to hail a passing taxi for us to get home (would have been a long, dark and cold walk otherwise).  The taxi driver seemed fine with the address we provided and we lovingly farewelled the Scotts, wishing them Bon Voyage on the rest of their O/S sojourn.

Lost in France
All appeared to be on track with the trip home until the taxi driver stopped dead in the road and announced that he had no idea where the place was that we were staying. We had the address but he informed us this was of no use since the address did not appear in his GPS - our fare was reset to "libre" - free, and then he proceeded to seek advice from fellow taxi drivers.  We had visions of sleeping in the taxi all night  but eventually, after much radio clarification, we resumed the journey and thankfully we ended up back at our B & B, although significantly later than we had expected.  Then we had to try to get inside an unfamiliar house in the dark without causing too much disturbance to the owners and other guests - we felt like naughty teenagers breaking parent curfew.  Well, we wouldn't know what that was like, but Daniel has told us. And in true Daniel fashion - it was not our fault anyway.

Tell the taxi driver, "it's that way"

 Given our late night and early morning to get on the road, we didn't manage to access the internet and are one entry behind. We're are actually writing this from La Rochelle. But more of that later.