It was a particularly windy and rainy night, with the van rocking at times as our sheltered spot was discovered by the wind as it had changed direction. We woke to much improved sunny weather and double-digit temperatures. After the obligatory croissant and coffee, plus blogging, we thought we’d spend some time in St Malo, a lovely place to visit, but one we do often overlook as we’re either in a hurry to drive South when we arrive there on the ferry, or we’re in a hurry to catch the ferry home.

As we left our riverside haven, the weather had reverted back to heavy rain. Sophie had an urge to visit the local Buffalo Grill, just to check out their reasonably priced steak and chips. The establishment in St Malo is a modern one, backing on to an Ibis hotel and bang next to a very busy roundabout, so not ideally placed for the best views. Being a Sunday lunchtime it was predictably rammed full of families and as we opened the front door we were blasted out by “Happy Birthday to you!” over the speakers. I’d turned round before even stepping over the threshold. It would not have been much fun in there.

So we headed to the walled town of St Malo, but via the motorhome service point to dispose of our waste and top up with free water. After this we found the motorhome parking which is located in the principal road that heads due South-East from St Malo’s main entrance (Avenue Louis Martin). I’d always been a little concerned about access to this parking as it appears to involve driving between a row of parallel parked cars and a hedge, with minimal room for error. One poorly parked car would make access impossible, and we’re pretty narrow for a motorhome.

On closer inspection I realised that it could be accessed from the exit end and this wouldn’t involve ignoring any no entry signs or attempting any impossible angles. There’s designated motorhome parking for around half a dozen vehicles to park in a single row. It is paid parking, but 12-2pm is free and even the max of 8 hours is a modest €3.60. Outside of the 9am to 7pm charging period, there is no obvious time limit. Good for us was that it was a Sunday, and so free.

By this time the rain had stopped, which was handy and so we visited the St Malo Christmas market, which involved more vin chaud, as we looked around the usual stalls. We then took a stroll around many of the back streets, returning to the always buzzing main street, then back to the main gate. After another vin chaud and quick look at the outside ice rink, we were on our way again.