France Trip: Day 5 Mont Saint-Michel

Ray:

Tuesday we woke late as we were all tired. We did laundry in the washer and then figured out how to hang clothes outside on a line in order to get them dry. Angie has had some experience with this and explained how to conserve space on the line and use less clothes pins. As if that didn't make me feel sheepish, she then explained that in order to not air dirty laundry we would NOT be hanging our dainties on that line. Apparently all enlightened and culturally we raised people know that delicates go inside the house. After that we left to go to the Abbey at Mont Saint-Michel. This island getaway is in the baise (bay of) du Mont Saint Michael and is noticeable from almost 20 kilometers away. Saying that this place is quite impressive would be a huge understatement! We will include pics on the blog just so you can get a gander at it. It is incredibly tall and thickly walled and just plain massive. Wow! It is amazing to walk through! If you ever get the chance to come here, please take the time to go and see it all. Just remember that if you park on the causeway, it is completely submerged by the high tide daily. Park accordingly. Don't worry if you forget, there are signs at the entrance that warn you in 3 different languages that the parking lot will be an ocean by the specified time of that day. Now if that isn't a great way to get your heart beating for an exciting self guided tour, then maybe you should stay home.

This abbey was built in the early 1500s when a priest saw the Arch Angel Michael land and do battle with a serpent. Michael landed on this tiny island and defeated the wily beast, so the priest decided this was holy ground and built a monastery to study His teaching. Later a small sect of Godly knights moved in to defend that Abbey from invaders. The architecture and sheer size of this abbey are incredible. Oh yeah, there are a lot of stairs! Did I say a lot? I meant a whole lot of stairs! But the trip and the sights are well worth the steps. And to end they day we had gelato before driving the short distance home. Mmmmmmmm.....gelato..........

Angie:

We went to see Mont St Michel today. Wow! It was awesome. We were all excited as we drove there. About a half hour before we got there we could see it in the distance. We pulled up and had a laugh at the sign that warned us the parking lot floods at 7:30pm that day. Once inside it was a bit crowded, but it was pretty cool. The way leading up to the abbey was an old medieval town. The shops have been turned into restaurants and tourist shops, but I could see it filled with merchants in its day. We actually hiked up ALL the stairs to get as high as we could. THe views were amazing. I think we were all tired by the time we were done. I felt bad for Ray who carried Misty all day. I made some throw in the oven pizzas and we called it a night.