As the birthplace of Jacques Cartier, first European explorer of the St. Lawrence River and "namer" of Canada, it seemed the appropriate first stop. That Christophe, an old friend from my first time living in France, was also heading there today only made it sweeter.
The site of St. Malo was original settled by Celtic Gauls in the first century BC, was the site of a Roman fort during the Saxon Shore period of the 4th century AD, and the current walled city formed around a monastery established the 6th century.
The city served as the base for both corsairs (French privateers authorized by the crown to attack primarily English vessels) and full-on pirates. And strangely enough, St. Malo is the origin of the Spanish name - Islas Malvinas - of the Falkland Islands down near Argentina. Bougainville named them after the residents of St Malo (Malouines), from where he had sailed and where most of the colonists came from.
Best of all, Teague - our child most resistant to the move to France, and certain he would hate moving here - exclaimed about three-quarters through: "Curse you, Dad! You said I would enjoy it! And I didn't even last a day!"
No comments:
Post a Comment