Europe In 30 Days - Mont St Michel

Today we are heading to the Normandy region of France, destination Honfluer. On our way we will stop to see a monument that challenges the Eiffel tower as the most beloved attraction in France. Mont St. Michel.

But first I must have one more look out our window and enjoy the view of the ocean before we leave St. Malo this morning. I open the curtains and within a few seconds a seagull is sitting on the ledge just outside the window. Camera, I need my camera! Mr. Gull seems to be enjoying his photo shoot and I feel as if I must reward him somehow. Just so happens we have some bread with us, so I hand the camera to Stijn, open the window and start hand feeding him. Cool!

On our way we stop to pick up a few things, the most important being some new batteries for my camera. Yes I took extras but they are the ones that are about ready to die now. We also decide to pick up some bread and cheese for a snack later on today.

We are just about there and I spot a windmill just to our right in the distance and we make a detour to take some pictures. Little did we know that we would have this magnificent view of Mont St. Michel from here looking over tree lined green pastures.

As we drive closer, surrounded by water, this astonishing sight of Mont St. Michel appears like some fabulous mirage out of the flat landscape, I have Stijn stop the car several times so that I can take pictures.

We walk along the Grand Rue which was the route once taken by pilgrims during the 12th and 13th centuries as they made their way to the abbey, but is now filled with tourists and souvenir shops. We spent about 2 hours walking through the narrow cobblestone ramparts heading up to the Abbey and enjoying the views out over the Couesnon estuary.

This is another great site in France that is FREE to explore. However, if you do want to see the inside of the abbey tours cost 6.20 euros (about $8 or $9 US) but is free the first Sunday of the month.

We are a bit hungry now so we decide to take a drive back to the windmill we saw earlier and have our lunch there. No, not because there were any restaurants or drive thru's nearby. Remember there is a great view of Mont St. Michel from here and we thought it would be really romantic to have some of the bread and cheese we bought earlier along with some chorizo sausage and wine that we still had with us from Provence.

We finish up our "French Take Out" lunch, take a deep sigh in disbelief of what we just experienced and continue our drive onto Honfluer.

There are plenty of pictures to see at Where's Debbie. Just click on the album "Mont St. Michel"

Europe In 30 Days - St Malo and Cancale France - Part 2

It's late in the afternoon and there is a light drizzle of rain, but Cancale is only about a 15 minute drive from St Malo so we head in that direction.

When we arrive in Cancale we park in the town square in front of a church and walk down to La Houle. Here fishermen's houses have been converted into restaurants, cafes and shops. We stop here to take pictures of the Tour a Feux lighthouse, and since the tide was out we sat for awhile and looked out over the oyster beds. When the cod-fishing industry collapsed in the 19th century, Cancale's fishermen turned to oyster-farming. The flat oysters (belons) are farmed here for their large size.

The rain is coming down a little bit harder now and we seem to be the only people silly enough to still be out in the rain. So we head into one the restaurants looking out over the harbour and I order something hot to drink and it's NOT an Irish coffee! I decided on a Vin chaud. That's right, I'm having a hot wine! Life is good in France! After we dry out a little bit we head back up the hill to the car.

Stijn has had his heart set on having Fruit de Mer (frwee duh MEHR) while we are on the coast of France, and the clerk at our hotel has recommended Les Embruns. So on our way back from Cancale we find Les Embruns and head inside. The restaurant is very elegant with linens on the tables, candles lit and we have a nice table for two in a corner by the window. We order a bottle of wine along with Fruits de Mer for Stijn and I decide on grilled Langostines. When our meal arrives and I see the platter of seafood that is set down in front of Stijn, I now know why this dish is called "Fruits of the Sea". Crab, lobster, oysters, clams, mussels, two types of snails, langostines, my gosh!

Before we start to indulge on this magnificent meal, we make a toast and reflect on another amazing day in France.

If you would like to see pictures of our evening just go to Wheres Debbie and click on the "Cancale" album.

Europe In 30 Days - St. Malo and Cancale France - Part 1

What an amazing home exchange experience this has been, 5 days in Provence! The location of this exchange was, I think, the best possible advantage to see so much of Provence. We never traveled more than 30 miles in one direction and we were able to spend time in eight different towns, not to mention the ones we drove through or past. And all of this for the cost of only some vehicle fuel and our meals that we either had at a restaurant or prepared at home ourselves.

After we finish cleaning everything up and put clean linens on the bed we say good-bye to Venterol and head out for our next adventure in France.

A little background story I think you must know before I go on though. This past October while on a home exchange in Indian Rocks Beach Florida, Stijn presented me with a certificate for my birthday that he had hand written himself. It was redeemable for a 2 night stay in the Normandy region of France. So, it is now January 15th and we are on our way!

We actually spend our first two nights in the Brittany region and it is just starting to drizzle a little bit as we arrive in St Malo this evening. We are staying at the Ibis Hotel which happens to be in what I think is the best possible location. We are on the 2nd floor and our room has a view of the ocean!

Now you know I'm a happy girl! After we settle in, we walk next door to Chez Jean-Pierre, a pizzeria, and we order ourselves up a pizza before calling it a day.

We wake up this morning to the sound of the waves crashing against the seawall just outside our window. This coast line has one of the most dramatic differences between high and low tide, as much as 30 feet or more. We have some breakfast in the hotel restaurant while watching the water come up over the seawall during high tide.

We are happy to learn that we are within walking distance of the walled medieval city of St Malo and we head that way making sure not to get wet from the waves. On the way we can see Fort National sitting out on an island just past the fortified city of St Malo.

We enter the city through Port St Vincent, built in 1709. Now you must know something, to visit this magnificent site is absolutely FREE! After we enter we notice that there is a stairway that leads up to the rampart walk, from which we have some wonderful views of the city. I thought how cool is this that we are walking along the wall that encloses this fortification. About halfway we decide to come down and walk out to a point where a lighthouse sits. From here the view looking back at St Malo is magnificent! After taking some pictures we head back up to the rampart walk and finish our "loop".

Well it's time for a bite to eat and something warm to drink. We find Cafe Licorne situated where we started our day, in front of Port St Vincent and most importantly has an outdoor heated terrace. Bet you can guess what I had to drink to warm me up. That's right, an Irish Coffee. After taking a look at the menu I am set on having the Buckwheat crepe. It wasn't what I was quite expecting, but definitely a nice surprise. It was very large and a bit on the crunchy side and had a thick sweet sauce settled in the middle.

After we finished our little warm up we now decide to take a walk through the actual streets of St Malo. Now it is evident that current times have given way to tourism. These ancient tiny cobbled streets are full of pubs, cafes and some fascinating shops along with some more well known retail stores.

As we are walking back to our hotel we can see now how far the tide has gone out. It was amazing to see such a calmness now when only a few hours early the waves were so violent. Back at the hotel we get in the car and take a drive over to Cancale.

Come back soon to read about how we ended our day in the Brittany region of France.

If you would like to see pictures of our day in St Malo, please visit Where's Debbie and click on the album "On our way to St Malo" and "St Malo"