We made the 60-minute journey to the seaside fortress town of Saint-Malo and no qualms about it, I loved the city. After finding easy parking by the waterfront, our introduction to this historic region was dramatic from start to finish.

We instinctively started off by walking the ramparts, which turned out to be the best, most casual way to view the waters and the old center – the sight of the sea against the imposing medieval walls was dreamy – all the way around and up until we got back to where we started at Porte Saint Vincent. From there we set foot on ground level away from the direction of the water, past busy shopping streets, beautiful stores and quaint restaurants until we came upon our chosen location for lunch. It was already early afternoon when we finished and so decided to huff it back to home base in Vergoncey afterwards.

The sun made a strong comeback which means the weather was considerably better than yesterday, coupled with a cool breeze we experienced the city far more comfortably and made the entire cityscape exponentially more attractive.

Saint-Malo is easily one of the loveliest cities I’m lucky to come across and stunning in the most complimentary way. As it’s not that small of a town, it was also quite a surprise to bump into an Australian couple we met when they stayed in the same chateau as we are now in Vergoncey. Not just once but twice – a clear sign I should buy a lotto ticket soon. This being my first time in Brittany, I’m wonderfully amazed to discover so much beauty all around and while it may not happen immediately and if I have any say in the matter, I’ll make sure there’ll be a second driving tour of France – give or take a few years – in my future.