Holland visited St Malo on the Brittany coast many times, and was fascinated by the town and its surroundings. On early visits, he was mainly restricted to St Malo and Dinard towns, but when in later years he and his wife took a car with them, they could also explore the coastline to Cancale and St Cast. He was never particarly keen on the Mont St Michel however, due to the numbers of tourists that went there, and the consequent crowds and elevated prices in the village itself.
A favourite hotel was the Chateaubriand, and this sketch of the square outside shows why - a constantly changing vista to sketch.
This was used on his return to Pembury to develop a number of oil paintings of the same view.
St Malo was heavily bombed during the War, and the stone tenements had to be rebuilt in the 40s and early 50s to bring the town back to its former glory.
As befits a town not far from the bay of Mont St Michel and its legendary tides, St Malo also has significant tides and a bay dotted with islands, many of which have been used over the years for prisons and forts. You can reach some at low tide by foot, but others have to be visited by boat.
The coast road from St Malo to Mont St Michel takes you past another small bay with this island - the isle du Guesclin - before reaching Cancale and its renouned oyster beds.