I apologize for disappearing off the face of the earth for the last two weeks! As I mentioned in my last post, spring break is quickly approaching which means that a) warm, cheerful weather has finally arrived in Tours, and b) so has 
a flood of schoolwork. Let’s rewind a bit…
Nothing beats a day at the beach. OK, so I guess it wasn’t a WHOLE day and it wasn’t really a surf-and-sun kind of trip, but it was still the beach!! On our first three-day BEF excursion to Normandy, we first went to the little town of St. Malo on the northern coast of France. Tours is landlocked and the only body of water we get to see on a daily basis is the Loire (don’t get me wrong, it’s a beautiful river), so it was refreshing to breathe in some sea air. Lucky for us, it actually DIDN’T rain on this excursion 
Because St. Malo was once a fortress, it is surrounded by massive stone walls and old canons. After strolling on the ramparts for most of the morning, we descended down a steep flight of stairs to get to the beach. For a town so old, the stone structures don’t show that much wear and tear, despite for example, the humongous waves that crash against them during heavy storms. The beach itself was pretty empty, except for some other small tourist groups a woman and her dog playing fetch. I felt homesick for a moment thinking about my chocolate lab at home and our family’s annual trip to Emerald Isle, N.C. As much as I love my time in France, I can’t wait to get back to Maryland and spend the summer at home with m
y family! 
Our walk on the beach led us to Grand Bé, a piece of land that becomes an island when the tide is high, and the location the tomb of Chateaubriand, a French writer who is one of my favorites. A plaque nearby reads: A great French writer wanted to rest here to listen to only the ocean and the wind … passing, respect his last will (pardon the rough translation).
St. Malo is also famous for its corsaires (privateers) and pirate tales. Nowadays, since pirates no longer sail the seas (at least I don’t think they do) the port is filled with cargo ships, sail boats and fishermen. If you ever visit the region, definitely try some kind of seafood dish. For lunch, I had a tagliatelles aux fruits de mer, or pasta with seafood like mussels, squid and scallops. Delicieux!
Oh! While walking on the ramparts, we also saw a mob of protesters marching in the distance, though we have yet to find out what they were actually protesting about. It’s not something you find on an everyday basis back in the U.S. but we’ve come to find that greves and manifestations (strikes and demonstrations) are not uncommon in France.
Coming up soon..the next chapter of my adventures in Normandy with the BEF group, like the climb to the top of Mont St. Michel and our moving experience at the American WWII Cemetery!!!
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