St Malo is so close to Jersey you can go there for lunch from St Helier, in fact on a sunny day the coast of France can be seen easily from the East coast of Jersey. The ferry journey takes about an hour depending on the tides and schedules. We went for lunch as foot passengers but the ferry also takes cars, motorbikes and bicycles and even dogs if they have passports.
St Malo Historic Figure
St Malo is proud of its individuality and its unique heritage, it is of historical interest to note, St Malo declared itself independent from France between 1490 and 1493 when residents of St Malo were not French but Malouins.
St Malo from the sea
Upon arrival in St Malo from Jersey you have to pass through immigration control and may have your passport checked, make sure you remember to take you passport, although the staff on the ferry will make every effort to remind you as you embark in Jersey. It is important to note you are travelling from one EU country to the other (even though Jersey is not in the EU) so will need to have a Shengin Visa if you are travelling on certain passports.
Market inside the walls of St Malo
There is a short ten minute walk to get inside the walls of St Malo from the port which gives a nice opportunity to see the impressive defensive walls from the outside.
In St Malo
As you stroll through the gate you will see lines of seafood restaurants with various dishes described on menus with one thing in common, plenty of seafood. I always have a sea food platter called a “fruits de mere” pronounced “free da mare” which literally means fruit of the sea and is a platter of Sea food as pictured below.
Lunch Menu in St Malo
The most important thing to remember when going to St Malo for lunch is the fact Saint-Malo has possibly the highest concentration of seafood restaurants in Europe and certainly the highest concentration of French seafood restaurants in the world. St Malo is most notably famous for its locally caught oysters which come from Cancale but you will have a huge choice of sea food and restaurants to choose from.
Evening Market in St Malo
There is lots to see before and after you eat including the St Malo Cathedral, The aquarium and The Privateers house which has a exhibition of pirate items dating back to 1725. There is often a market in the walls during the summer and you can find artists offering to paint you in the main square. As a day out from Jersey it is amazing that you can go to France for lunch and even better that the place in France is somewhere as inviting and interesting as St Malo.