The day started badly.
I got to La Catho 10 minutes early (at 6:35 AM), only to realize that I had forgotten my little pass that said that I had paid to go on this trip. I freaked out because I was really excited about the trip, and my house is a 20 minute walk. I started walking back, dejectedly, and texted Vaune asking her to tell them what happened and ask if I could come back without the pass. Ten minutes later they told her that I could, so I had to turn around and run back. On the way back, I witnessed something too upsetting to post publicly, and promptly was sick on the street. Not a great way to start the day.
When I got on the bus, Vaune made me eat her Nesquik cereal bar, which made me feel a little better, and we were on our way. I semi-napped most of the way to Mont Saint-Michel, which was our first stop.
Mont Saint Michel is a town and a cathedral built on a mountain island. The cathedral was built to honor the archangel Michael, and the village was built because people kept making pilgrimages to the cathedral and they needed somewhere to stay. It is connected to the mainland by a road that is slowly ruining the seascape around it, but there are plans to remove the road and replace it with a footbridge to restore the area. That’s a quick recap – you can see the Wikipedia article here.
We climbed up many stairs and took many pictures.
Vaune did a handstand, which I don't have a picture of at the moment.
Vaune is standing in front of the door to show how small it is.
The cloister.
Vaune is hiding in the architecture.
My favorite picture from the day.
Vaune in a window.
The archangel Michael slaying the dragon.
Jennifer and I on the way down.
The village - the touristy part anyway.
The way out.
At 12:30, we came back down for lunch. Vaune did another handstand.
Lunch was sandwiches and apples and chips – we were all sitting up on some rocks and the director of the program was throwing baguettes at us. We caught most of them, and had baguettes and cream cheese as well.
The rocks where we ate lunch.
After that we got back on the bus and drove another couple of hours to St. Malô, which is where people left from to go to Canada, including Jacques Cartier, who “discovered” Canada. Check it out on Wikipedia if you want to know more. This marked my first time in Bretagne (Brittany). It was gorgeous. We walked up on the ramparts, and then Vaune and I walked down to the beach and went wading.
The beach at St-Malô
Jacques Cartier, stabbing the sun.
Vaune wading.
Me wading. Please note my awesome Transitions lenses that turn into sunglasses under UV rays.
Mes pieds dans l'océan.
Later we got gelatos and window-shopped, before getting back on the bus again and having our final bus ride back to Angers. Nobody wanted to go home yet, so Brenna, Vaune, Laura and I got galettes (which are like crêpes but with real food, not dessert food). Brennan got a feta salad, Laura got a potato, ham and onion galette, Vaune got the vegetarian galette, and I got the goat cheese one. Delish.
After that I went back, and Madame had made me a cold dinner, which was capers wrapped in ham. Not so awesome. But I ate it all… I always feel like I have to eat everything she puts in front of me. And then I went to bed!
My birthday is coming up. I think we are going to go out for Italian. If anyone cares, all I really want for my birthday are iTunes Music Store gift cards, but even more than that I would love letters from my family (and friends). The address (until the end of September) is:
___my name___
c/o M. et Mme. Gilot
120 Rue des Ponts de Cé
Angers 49000
FRANCE
1 comment:
Now both my children have Mont Saint-Michel and I have not. Hmph! I have been copying pix to use as desktop background. Today, it is Bobbie's "pieds" under the sea! When I was Vaune's age, I could do a handstand. I wish I had a picture. Lucky Vaune...lucky Bobbie. XOX
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