A clear day on Mont Saint Michel - MY WEEKEND TRIP.

A clear day on Mont Saint Michel
Originally uploaded by friskeiski.

We arrived Saturday afternoon after a 2 hour train ride and 1 hour bus ride. We made our way to the hotel on the mount but found out that the company we made our reservation through messed up and we had no room! Luckily, the hotel staff called other hotels on the island to find us a room, but unluckily all rooms were taken. We thought that we'd have to go back to Paris Saturday night but luckily there was a hotel about a mile's walk away from the hotel (and costing only 20 euros a person when split 4 ways). We made our way to the hotel and unpacked before walking back to the island for dinner. I should say that it's not actually an island because a road connects to it, but when the tide comes in (about 2 times per month), everything is covered in water. The tide was out when we were there, so we could walk to and from the mount freely. For dinner, we went to La Mere Poulard, the birthplace of the omlette. It was the most expensive meal I have eaten in a long time. Normandy (the region of France where Mont Saint Michel is in) is famous for its seafood. For dinner, we were served one of their famous omlettes (as big as my head), a sort of mixture of different seafoods all fresh from the waters in a broth, and a chocolate torte. It was the perfect amount of food and it tasted great! After dinner, we took the leisurely stroll back to our hotel in the pitch black on the side of the highway (not so fun). Sunday, we woke up early and headed to Mont St. Michel for a tour of the abbey (the big building in the picture). There were probably 800 steep steps leading up, and since the french don't seem to eat breakfast (other than bread and coffee), we had to go up with no fuel. Eventually we made it and we were given a tour by a great english-speaking french guide who was about 25. The construction of the abbey began over 1,000 years ago! After the tour, we had lunch (more great seafood, this time salmon) before heading back to the hotel to pack and catch the hour long bus to the train station. At the station, there are no seats or benches for those waiting for their trains, so we just sat on the floor. Station employees came up to us and told us that it is illegal (or not allowed, I'm not sure which) to sit on the floor in the station. Sounds silly to me! Those silly french! On the train back, we were in first class (it was only 4 euros more than second class) and had a little cabin of 4 seats to ourselves. It took us only 2 hours to get back to Paris and I headed back to the apartment to get ready for my first day of classes Monday.