The Watchdogs

As you pass above Saint Peter’s Gate on the ramparts, you get a bird’s-eye view of Place du Guet below. It’s the perfect moment for a quick anecdote. You’ll notice a hotel called the Hôtel des Chiens du Guet—the Watchdogs’ Hotel. Between 1155 and 1770, Saint-Malo, always serious about security, used to release a pack of English mastiffs every night from 10 p.m. to enforce curfew. And they were only fed in the morning, so you can imagine how persuasive they were. They were finally dismissed from duty after devouring a naval officer. Fortunately for the townspeople, who at the time had neither watches nor phones, a bell called the Noguette rang every evening a few minutes before 10 p.m. to give everyone time to get home. It still rings every day, and it was even moved an hour earlier during the 9 p.m. curfew imposed in the Covid period. Don’t worry, though—the dogs were not brought back for the occasion.