Watery Wednesday - Mont St Michel

On a trip to France in the Normandy region during January 2009, I was able to see one of the most magnificent structures I have ever set eyes on! Mont St. Michel.

I know there isn't a lot of water in this picture, but isn't it beautiful!

Lucky for us, the tide was out on this day.

After going through the Boulevard Gate and then the King's Gate, we walk along the "Grande Rue" (main street) with its museums, shops and houses dating from the 15th and 16th centuries.

Well this is starting to turn into a "story".  But if you would like to read about our day just click here

Now back to the water!  Here are a few more "watery" pictures.

Don't forget to check out some other magnificent "watery" photos over at "Watery Wednesday".  They will be glad you stopped by!

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"