Unfortunately, Cedric had to work all day on Saturday. But my new second favorite french friend (marie) was kind enough to be my tour guide. Since I had no expectations except to drink wine, she kindly suggested going to Mont St Michel. I'll be honest in saying that I had never heard of this tourist destination and was kind of hesitant. But I'm glad I trusted Marie because this place was again just absolutely beautiful!
The drive to Mont St Michel wasn't very notable, except that Marie's car was an automatic. Most french cars, including Cedric's, are a stick shift. If I were to live in France, I'd most definitley need an automatic vehichle. Just ask my brother mike. Pretty much a guaruntee I'd stall the car. Whoops!
This is the view driving up to the island. AMAZING. (**according to the google search, Mont St Michel is a tidal island with a population of 41. It's literal translation is Mount of St. Michael). After parking and literally running towards any bathroom we could find; we finally arrived. Walking into the city through the gates, it's a tourist trap with really narrow passageways. (see below). There were many shops selling biscuits, which are basically thin cookies. Come to think of it, I never did try one. Better start planning my next trip JUST to try out the biscuits.
Call me a baby, but the steps on this island were rediculous. I understand that to fully appreciate the beauty, I would need to be at the top. But guess what; we decided NOT to walk all the way up to the top of the cathedral. Call us bad tourists. But our legs and my feet hurt. So, instead we had lunch with a glass of wine. Marie insisted on me trying a traditional french item called a galette. It's similar to a crepe, but with toppings inside. I think I had ham, cheese, and mushrooms. That part was OK. But the basically raw egg on top was pretty much inedible. Instead of actually getting a nutritious lunch, I had wine. (re-occuring theme).
After the sight seeing, we headed back to Rennes to do some shopping. I just realized I didn't take any photos of the downtown area. There was a great shopping area with all these tiny shops on cobblestone streets. Like I said before, everything in France is small. Although, there was a Gap on almost every other street which was slightly disappointing. Actually I think I saw more Gaps than McDonalds. While shopping, I found this adorable book store. I ended up getting some French animal books for Dori's baby girl Sophia. Better start her young since she'll be traveling the world :).
Between all the shopping & the walking/steps we had to do at Mont St. Michel, we decided we deserved some ice cream. Marie and I couldn't find any GREAT ice cream shops, so she insisted we just buy some Magnums instead. If looks could kill.... I quickly responded asking WHAT the magnums were since I know them as something different. Marie thought this was pretty funny. I got to admit these Magnum ice cream bars were pretty amazing. Not only did we buy ice cream, but we found some "junk" food. The junk food selection was slim, but I did find some knock off brand of Pringles and of course we got some cheese w/ our baguette.
Later that night when Cedric got off work, he invited some friends over for pizza & beer. Of course, they each knew a total of maybe 10 english words. Bummer! (Should have really studied my Rosetta Stone!). So again, thank god Marie was there. At the end of this long day, I think Marie and I were becoming delirious. Everything we said caused a laughing stupor that lasted 10 minutes. If anyone was actually paying attention to our conversation, I'm sure they'd think we were crazy. Did you know the coq (pronounced cock, meaning rooster) was the national icon? Serious?? Exactly the reason why we died laughing!
This was my last night in Rennes with Cedric. I had to get up early to catch the train to Paris. The first part of my trip to France was very memorable and I'm VERY appreciative for Cedric (&Marie) for taking me around western France. I miss them both!!!
The drive to Mont St Michel wasn't very notable, except that Marie's car was an automatic. Most french cars, including Cedric's, are a stick shift. If I were to live in France, I'd most definitley need an automatic vehichle. Just ask my brother mike. Pretty much a guaruntee I'd stall the car. Whoops!
This is the view driving up to the island. AMAZING. (**according to the google search, Mont St Michel is a tidal island with a population of 41. It's literal translation is Mount of St. Michael). After parking and literally running towards any bathroom we could find; we finally arrived. Walking into the city through the gates, it's a tourist trap with really narrow passageways. (see below). There were many shops selling biscuits, which are basically thin cookies. Come to think of it, I never did try one. Better start planning my next trip JUST to try out the biscuits.
Call me a baby, but the steps on this island were rediculous. I understand that to fully appreciate the beauty, I would need to be at the top. But guess what; we decided NOT to walk all the way up to the top of the cathedral. Call us bad tourists. But our legs and my feet hurt. So, instead we had lunch with a glass of wine. Marie insisted on me trying a traditional french item called a galette. It's similar to a crepe, but with toppings inside. I think I had ham, cheese, and mushrooms. That part was OK. But the basically raw egg on top was pretty much inedible. Instead of actually getting a nutritious lunch, I had wine. (re-occuring theme). After lunch, we walked around a bit more. I took this photo of the area right outside the island. The tides were low at the time. You could actually walk across to this other miny island. I'd hate to get stuck out there when the it was high tide!!
After the sight seeing, we headed back to Rennes to do some shopping. I just realized I didn't take any photos of the downtown area. There was a great shopping area with all these tiny shops on cobblestone streets. Like I said before, everything in France is small. Although, there was a Gap on almost every other street which was slightly disappointing. Actually I think I saw more Gaps than McDonalds. While shopping, I found this adorable book store. I ended up getting some French animal books for Dori's baby girl Sophia. Better start her young since she'll be traveling the world :).
Between all the shopping & the walking/steps we had to do at Mont St. Michel, we decided we deserved some ice cream. Marie and I couldn't find any GREAT ice cream shops, so she insisted we just buy some Magnums instead. If looks could kill.... I quickly responded asking WHAT the magnums were since I know them as something different. Marie thought this was pretty funny. I got to admit these Magnum ice cream bars were pretty amazing. Not only did we buy ice cream, but we found some "junk" food. The junk food selection was slim, but I did find some knock off brand of Pringles and of course we got some cheese w/ our baguette.
Later that night when Cedric got off work, he invited some friends over for pizza & beer. Of course, they each knew a total of maybe 10 english words. Bummer! (Should have really studied my Rosetta Stone!). So again, thank god Marie was there. At the end of this long day, I think Marie and I were becoming delirious. Everything we said caused a laughing stupor that lasted 10 minutes. If anyone was actually paying attention to our conversation, I'm sure they'd think we were crazy. Did you know the coq (pronounced cock, meaning rooster) was the national icon? Serious?? Exactly the reason why we died laughing!
This was my last night in Rennes with Cedric. I had to get up early to catch the train to Paris. The first part of my trip to France was very memorable and I'm VERY appreciative for Cedric (&Marie) for taking me around western France. I miss them both!!!
What a beautiful place.
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