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 - Deauville and Honfluer France

On our way to Honfluer our route takes us through the seaside town of Deauville and we decide that we must stop here and take a walk on the beach. The street we park on is lined with beautiful Victorian style homes facing the ocean. I must say this is the widest beach I have ever seen and It's my understanding that you probably still wouldn't be able to find a spot to lay out during the hectic 100-day summer season here. Deauville is a playground of resorts, casinos, watersports, sunshine, shopping, horse racing and sandy beaches backed by wooded hills. So lucky for us we are here in January bundled up and enjoying the solitude that is rare in Deauville.

As we come into Honfluer the sun is just setting and as we drive past the picturesque harbour "Le Vieux Bassin", lights from the restaurants circling the harbour are reflecting off of the water. We find our hotel which is the Ibis Hotel once again. This is a very inexpensive chain of hotels throughout Europe, however they are not short on room size or amenities. In fact we have another great view. It's not the ocean mind you but it is beautiful!

We start our day walking around the harbour on cobbled streets and past half-timbered or slate-fronted buildings, popping in and out of little shops. I even find a great little vase with an etching of Honfluer.

Of course I am taking pictures of every one of these great buildings on our way to a lighthouse we spotted in the distance. Gotta have a picture of that to add to my collection.

Normandy is one of the few regions in France that does not produce wine, so what does one have when in Normandy? They have Calvados. Calvados is a cider brandy with many subtle variations. So the greatest find of the day was when we stumbled upon a little shop selling all types of Calvados.

And then there was that great little sign "Degustation Gratuite", that's free samples! So we try a few ranging from very smooth to a "I can't swallow this stuff, I think I'll buy one for my son-in-law". So I buy a smoother apertif for me and a stronger digestif for Sid, along with some others that Stijn purchased also.

Well sadley it is time to head back to Brussels. Our week in France has come to an end and I can't believe all the wonderful places we were able to visit while on this trip thanks to a home exchange in Provence and to Stijn for my wonderful birthday gift of Brittany and Normandy.

You can go to Where's Debbie to see the pictures of Deauville and Honfluer.

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 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"