Mont St. Michel (June 27th)

This morning we woke up to the smell of breakfast downstairs. Paul and Jane had prepared fresh croissants, french bread, and an assortment of fruit. Jane greeted me with a cup of hot chocolate. I could get used to this. Paul would be driving us to Mont St. Michel today at 9:30 a.m. It was currently 8 o'clock, which gave us plenty of time to get ready and hang out in the corner of the kitchen with our phones. When 9:30 rolled around, we all hopped into Paul's car and headed to Mont St. Michel. The car ride was close to 25 minutes or so, and it was an amazing view the entire way. We were arriving just as the fog was clearing and the sun was breaking through the clouds. As we neared Mont St. Michel, we passed a horse drawn carriage training to eventually pull people across the bridge to the island rather than the shuttles that are in operation now. Paul dropped us off and told us to meet back at 4 p.m. That gave us almost 6 hours, which turned out to be plenty of time.

It was going to be a hot day, about 30 degrees. (As they say in Europe). I have no idea what 30 degrees translates into in Fahrenheit, but I've learned that anything above 25 degrees is pretty warm. As we walked up to the island of Mont St. Michel, we couldn't help but notice the construction going on and the scaffolding on the Abbey. Jennifer cleverly renamed the European Union to Eternally Under-Construction. Literally everywhere we go, we encounter buildings under construction. They would be especially gorgeous without the workers and scaffolding covering them. Oh well. Mont St. Michel was very hilly. I tried imagine being a monk walking up and down the side of this mountain like island every day, and I decided that I would have had to quit. As we made our way up the Abbey, (the main attraction) we poked in and out of little shops. After many many steps and hilly side roads, we made it to the Abbey. After purchasing tickets and audio guides, we began our tour through this magnificent cathedral and commune. The architecture very much resembled the other cathedrals we had seen in France. It was dark and rather cool in many of the rooms which proved a relief from the sweltering heat outside. From the terrace of Mont St. Michel, we could see for miles and miles. Normandy was covered with sheep, cows, and green pastures. Jennifer and I really wanted to go frolic with the sheep, but that idea was vetoed by the other members of our group. We grabbed lunch at one of the many restaurants along the streets of Mont St. Michel. We also grabbed a Nutella crepe, as per usual. The walk back to the meeting point was long, but relaxing. We stopped in the local supermarket and grabbed breakfast food for the morning. Our train to London would depart before breakfast was served at the hostel. Sad.

As we climbed into the car with Paul, he commented on the heat and humidity. We acknowledged the heat, but the humidity had gone completely unnoticed to us Floridians. For dinner tonight, we would try out the other restaurant near the hostel. There were two restaurants in the small town of Pontorson. For tonight's dinner, it was crepes. Crepes, crepes, and more crepes. We were becoming addicted. The set menu had an entree crepe along with a dessert crepe. I branched out from the Nutella crepe and tried some sort of fruit filling and it was delicious. I felt a tad healthier, but not much. We called it a rather early night; tomorrow we had to catch a jet plane to London and we needed to pack extra efficiently tonight to ensure all of our bags fit as a carry on. After a short WiFi session in the kitchen, we headed up to our penthouse suite and tucked ourselves in bed for another amazing night of sleep.