St Malo

Here I am, in quiet St Malo, on the west coast of France. Ive only just started speaking to everyone in French - imagine that, I wait for three years to speak French and once here Im speaking Italian. I was in desperate need of a few days of tranquility, and thats exactly what I have here, in abundance. Theres only the very young, the old (who stroll arm in arm day and night, bless), and this magnificent beach. It stretches for miles and the tides really are something else. In the afternoon you have to walk ten minutes to get to the water and in the evening the waves are hitting the boardwalk, bringing up fresh seaweed. The sand is so soft and sparkles like stardust. The air is the most delicious sea air, very fresh and healthy.

Last night over moules frites I watched France win and was so so happy, cheering with the locals who love the oddity of an Australian girl who supports France. I missed seeing Australia play Italia as every single bar, cafe, restaurant in Florence was bursting, and I walked for two hours trying to find a place to watch, only hearing the last minute cheer and raced in to see what happened, but good on Australia for keeping Italy at bay, and for making it through. France have renewed vigour, and I really hope this 98 rematch coming up can do them proud. Zidane is still one of the classiest players and deserves a fitting end.

Today I went to Cancale to do exactly what Id always wanted to there: eat the oysters that are the most famous in the world. I chose 6 of the top class ones and 6 of the sauvage type (5.50E) and sat on the perch with everyone else sucking them down and tossing the beautiful shells onto the bay, for prosperity. They were good, briney and silky smooth, but I must say now that Ive had them, you cant beat a Sydney rock or Pacific.

A la prochaine...