Saint-Malo - a rainy affair

Saint-Malo, the “cité corsaire” was the first destination of our Brittany photo trip. The historic walled port city welcomed us with rain showers that stopped only seldom during the hours we spent there. The city is quite picturesque with nice promenade on the walls ; the very photogenic Fort National, a stronghold built in 1689,  is accessible only during low tide. Founded by Gauls in the 1st century B.C, the city has a prominent military history:

•  it was the home of a roman militia protecting the the Rance river estuary, during the time when Saint-Malo was a roman settlement called Reginca or Alletum
• between 1590 and 1593 it proclaimed its independence, using the motto “not French, not Breton, but Malouin”, by the breton name of Sant-Maloù
• it became the home of the corsairs and sometimes pirates. They forced English ships passing through the channel to pay tribute
• during World War II it was almost entirely destroyed by the Allies that believed that Axis powers have strong troops inside the city, however it turned out there were just bellow 100 people utilizing 2 anti-aircraft installations. The Americans used napalm for the first time here.

The first image is a low tide shot, with very nice sand patterns leading to the Fort National.
Nikon D800,  Nikkor 14-24, Haida 10 stops ND and ND grad 0.6,
24mm, f/9, 48 sec

The second image was taken right next to the city walls, on the beach, using the tall tree trunks used as waves breakers during the heavy storms that visit Saint-Malo from time to time.
Nikon D800,  Nikkor 14-24, Haida 10 stops ND and ND grad 0.6,
22mm, f/13, 123 sec sec

The third image is a classical view of the city from the promenade towards Phare Môle des Noires.
Nikon D800,  Nikkor 24-70, Lee 10 stops ND ,  ND 0.6 and ND grad 0.6,
36mm, f/10, 242 sec sec