Tell me all about St. Malo...

Old Apr 17th, 2006, 02:13 PM
  #21  
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If we eliminated seeing all the things in Europe that are no longer "authentic" because they had to be rebuilt after the war, our travel time would sure be cut to a fraction wouldn't it? How many things would be left?
 
Old Apr 18th, 2006, 01:39 AM
  #22  
 
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Most of Saint Malo is outside of the walls anyway, the same as Carcassonne, Avignon and other walled cities in France (and elsewhere). I very much enjoy visiting the tourist attraction part of these cities, but I have overheard too many tourists taking what they see at face value ("oh, look how ancient it is!"). It would be nice if people would at least read a paragraph or two about what they are seeing -- they might appreciate it even more. I know that when I see some of the Gothic cathedrals that were destroyed during WW2, and yet there they are in 2006 in full splendor, I personally am more impressed by the love and respect (and money) that went into restoring them, when tax money could have been spent on so many other things, particularly right after the war.
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Old Apr 18th, 2006, 03:53 AM
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Saint-Malo is considered as one of the most successful postwar "historical" town-rebuilding projects in France. Actually, the remparts, much of the church, with the exception of the steeple, which was rebuilt as late as the early 70's, some town houses survived the bombing. The walled city was reconstructed using local material (granite and slate), so that the new blends well with the spared ancient structures. This 50's-60's input does not make Saint Malo a less interesting place to visit. It is very frequented in season, hence touristy, but I would not call it "disney-esque" because it has been partly rebuilt.

The post-war restorations of the cathedral of Reims, which lost its roof, steeples and much of its stained glass during WWI, the severe damage to the cathedral of Rouen (WWII) do not lessen the historical and symbolic significance of those edifices.

Many historic town centres one visits in France, as in many other European countries, were rebuilt to varying degrees after the two world wars, such as Reims, Amiens, Rouen, Caen, Saint Lô, Orléans, Tours, Amboise, Nantes...

Post-war reconstruction architecture can be interesting in itself. A polaric exemple of post-war rebuilding is that of the port city of Le Havre, in Normandy, by architect Perret, who invented a radically new city from a real tabula rasa, with a characteristic 1950's architecture. Le Havre became a UNESCO world heritage site in 2005 because of the originality of that project.

The resort town of Royan, on the Atlantic coast, bombed down in 1945, is also a recognised example of 1950's town planning.
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Old Apr 18th, 2006, 04:11 AM
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Mrs. Charles and I agree with the St. Malo naysayers, but we suspect, Photobear, that the clients recommended it to you because of the Canadian connection.

We enjoyed Trudaine's excellent summary of St. Malo and other reconstructed towns, but we cannot deny that we left St. Malo with a feeling we had just left Epcot. Even other so-called "touristy" towns close by--e.g., Dinan--have more to recommend them, we believe, than does St. Malo.

If you were to decide to visit the area, we, too, would recommend that you stay in Cancale (delightful!) and visit St. Malo as an excursion.
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Old Apr 18th, 2006, 08:56 AM
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Cancale is a good base for St. Malo, Dinan and Mont St. Michel.

While I find reconstructions often sterile, which may be one of the reasons why I prefer Berlin to Munich where the latter's core was reconstructed historically, there is a philosophical issue involved. When I was in Kyoto it was explained to me that 1000 year old temples are traditionally taken apart and completely reconstructed as they were every 300 years or so. So this type of reconstruction is traditional, at least for temples, in Japanese culture. On the other hand, western Europe really did not get into the business of this type of preservation until the 19th century. Interestingly enough, Paris had Hausmann at the same time as Viollet-le-Duc was preserving monuments and towns. Is 150 years long enough to accept the idea that Europe now has a tradition of reconstructing to the status quo ante as it applies to Japanese temples?
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Old Apr 18th, 2006, 09:36 AM
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I spent a half day in Saint-Malo when I visited the Channel Islands, 4 years ago.

It was the highlight of that part of the trip and was the reason I visited Normandy and Brittany the following year. Photos at http://www.mightymac.org/gb29a.htm

Keith
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