1 Vue Du Grand Be Saint Malo Simon Bourcier 7053August 1944: Saint Malo at the time of the Second World War, the last German stronghold on the Breton coast before the arrival of the Allies. In the corsair town, we meet Marie-Laure, who left Paris during the exodus to take refuge with her great-uncle, and Werner, a member of the Wehrmacht, an orphan and an electromagnetic signals genius, the only survivor of his regiment. Two destinies, two different lives, yet they are about to meet.
4 rue Vauborel (page 23): “Le 4: her great-uncle Etienne’s dilapidated dovecote. Where she has lived for four years. Where she finds herself kneeling on the fifth floor, alone, while a squadron of American bombers hurtles towards her.”Les Boches (page 177): “[…] The ground floor is Madame Manec’s domain: clean, navigable, always teeming with visitors who have come to gossip in the kitchen […] Eleven spiral steps lead to the first floor, which evokes a past grandeur […] On the second floor, even more clutter: cardboard boxes full of jars, metal discs, rusty saws; […] On the third, there are piles everywhere, in the rooms, the corridors and on the staircase […] Etienne’s huge office colonises the entire fourth floor, alternately profoundly quiet or full of voices, music, crackling.”
Smbmsm Sur Les Pas De Marie Laure Saint Malo Intra Muros 1
Smbmsm Sur Les Pas De Marie Laure Saint Malo Intra Muros 2Marie-Laure’s first outing since arriving in Intra-Muros.
Marie-Laure sets off with Mme Manec to discover Plage du Môle.
The rounds (page 285): “22 steps to the intersection with Rue d’Estrées. Another 40 to the wicket gate. 9 steps down and she’s on the sand, and the 20,000 sounds of the ocean engulf her.”
The wardrobe (page 377): “22 paces down rue Vauborel to rue d’Estrées. Then right, and I count 16 manholes. Left into rue Robert-Surcouf. Another 9 manholes to the bakery.”
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Smbmsm Sur Les Pas De Marie Laure Rue Destrees Saint MaloMay (page 467): “At the junction with the rue d’Estrées, she turns not left, towards the house, but right. 50 metres to the ramparts, another hundred along the walls”
Grotte (page 309): “He takes them down what appears to be the Rue du Boyer, but could be the Rue Vincent-de-Gournay or the Rue des Hautes Salles. They reached the foot of the ramparts and turned right, following a path Marie-Laure had never taken before. They went down two steps and passed under a curtain of ivy […] The alley became narrower and narrower, so much so that they had to walk in single file between the narrow walls. […] As far as she knows, it’s a low-ceilinged cave, about four metres long and two wide, shaped like a loaf of bread. […]”
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Smbmsm Sur Les Pas De Marie Laure Saint Malo Intra Muros 6The girl (page 15): “[…] There’s the esplanade at the top of the walls where four couleuvrines are pointed skywards. “Bastion de la Hollande,” she murmurs and her fingers descend a few steps. “Rue des Cordiers. Rue Jacques-Cartier.” […] Her fingers return to the spire of the cathedral. Towards the Dinan Gate.”
Visitor (page 518): “[…] Where are you going Corporal? To the fort of the Cité d’Alet. We’re evacuating. We’re still holding the castle and the Bastion de la Hollande, but as for the rest, everyone must withdraw.”
The tours (page 285): “[…] His greatest pleasure is walking to the end of the beach at low tide, squatting at the foot of an islet called the Grand Bé, and letting his fingers lapping in the pools.”
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Smbmsm Sur Les Pas De Marie Laure Saint Malo Intra Muros 8Werner, later arriving in Intra-Muros and staying at the Hôtel des Abeilles (a hotel invented by the author).
Attic (page 436): “During the four years Marie-Laure spent in Saint-Malo, the bells of Saint-Vincent Cathedral marked the hours. Now they no longer ring.”
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Smbmsm Sur Les Pas De Marie Laure Saint Malo Intra Muros 10Saint-Malo (page 585): “[…] The next morning, they sat in place Chateaubriand, where sturdy benches face flowerbeds.”
Place of imprisonment for Resistance fighters.
Figures (page 497):”[…]Everyone’s papers will be checked and any man of fighting age who might take part in the Resistance will be interned at Fort National”
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Smbmsm Sur Les Pas De Marie Laure Fort National Saint Malo
Smbmsm Sur Les Pas De Marie Laure Saint Malo Intra Muros 12Required drop-off (page 206): “Residents must drop off all wireless receivers in their possession. The sets must be delivered to 27 rue de Chartres before noon tomorrow. Anyone failing to comply with this order will be arrested as a saboteur.”
Saint-Malo (page 20): “[…] But not here. Not this last citadel at the end of the continent, this last German “strong point” on the Breton coast. […] Beneath the fort of the Cité d’Alet, which rises on its rocky point, higher up on the Rance, facing the old town, there is a dressing room, ammunition bunkers, and even a hospital, at least so they say.”
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