Tag: France 2026

Thursday, June 18, was my third day in France.

I took the picture above from the grounds of my hotel in the morning. More than any other, with the sheep in the foreground and the misty blue sky, this reminds me of the poster my housemate had when I was in grad school – that made me want to visit Mont Saint-Michel forever after. So it’s forty years later! I remember.

I’d done the AMAZING High Tides tour in the bay the night before. That was booked months in advance, so on Thursday I took my sweet time and set my own schedule and went to Mont Saint-Michel just as a regular tourist.

This time, I’m sorry to say, I took the shuttle bus across the bridge to the Mont. The bottoms of my feet were still sore from walking it the night before, and I knew I’d be doing lots of climbing to get to the Abbey.

And, yes, that’s how it went. I think of myself as pretty fit, but all this climbing I’m doing on this trip – stairs in my hotels and then to the top of Mont Saint-Michel to tour the Abbey – all that is doing me in. So I took my time and took it in stages. Taking pictures is actually a good excuse to stop and rest!

Viewing the Abbey reminded me of visiting castles in Germany – I liked that the tour led us through every part. (And yes! Mont Saint-Michel is Castle #177 on my personal castle count.) I bought a book to better understand (when I get home) what the different parts were and when they were built. But at the time, I enjoyed the amazing architecture and stunning views. When I started the tour, the bay was full of water. By the time I left, it was again revealing sand.

My favorite part was the Cloister.

Moving on to the Refectory:

This is Saint Aubert being told by the archangel Michael to build the abbey. He didn’t listen the first time, so Michael touched his head, leaving a hole in his skull.

They had lovely art displayed in some of the rooms.

This is in the Scriptorium:

When I finished the Abbey tour, I came down slowly along the ramparts – more amazing views. I stopped in at plenty of shops and spent a bundle on souvenirs – two t-shirts, several bookmarks (I can always use those!), a tourist book in English, some sweets, a couple blank books (couldn’t decide which one I liked best), and some magnets. I probably spent more than I “should” – except who says? They will make me smile because they make me think of an amazing visit. I did resist the puzzles, since I already own two that depict Mont Saint-Michel.

By now it was early afternoon, and I decided to finish my day at The Scriptorial in Avranches. It’s a museum about the manuscripts of Mont Saint-Michel. I’m afraid I wasn’t super impressed with the museum. First, it was trickier to get to than I’d thought – driving through towns rather than countryside. At one point I missed a turn on a roundabout. The GPS, with her cultured British voice, didn’t tell me I’d missed the exit – it just politely told me to take the fourth exit on the next roundabout – which pointed me back the way I’d come! The second time on the earlier roundabout, I realized that yes, it really did want me to take that tiny road up the hill that I’d thought was just a driveway.

The Scriptorial was a cool museum, and they did have an Audiotour in English – but the Audiotour wasn’t really complete (unless I missed some of the signs for when you were supposed to turn it on). It was about monks crafting medieval manuscripts, and maybe I simply wasn’t in the right mood for it, but it was a lot to take in with my poor French.

I saw later in my guidebook that it was a “short” walk to the Donjon and a panoramic view. I’d seen a sign and seen an old wall, but it was pointed uphill, and I’d definitely done enough climbing for one day. So I got back in my car (I’d taken a picture of where I’d parked it – which helped me remember where I’d parked it, anyway.) and went back to the hotel – for a 7:30 pm dinner reservation at the hotel restaurant.

The food at French restaurants feels too elegant for me. I loved the meal, but I will probably just settle for one meal at each hotel restaurant. Don’t cringe, but I brought some Kind bars to get me through if I would otherwise miss a meal. Anyway, that night I enjoyed a fancy Entree, then a steak, then ice cream for dessert – all with crusty bread to go with it.

Before I went to bed, I discovered the Rolladen at the windows, so I wasn’t quite as hot that night. But I’m glad I’ll be moving on before the temperature really takes a hike!

Day 2 of my 2026 trip to France began with a hotel breakfast at the Château Corneille. Lovely. I was ready to drive three hours to my hotel near Mont Saint-Michel. Their check-in time was 2:00, so I wasn’t in a hurry. I packed up my stuff and even had a quiet time before setting out.

Side note: I’m kind of proud of how I organized my packing. I’m staying one night at the first place, four nights at the next place, then three nights, then two nights. Well, I bought a set of vacuum bags for traveling. Okay, originally I got some off a Facebook ad, but they are too big for my little carry-ons. So I got a cheap set with multiple sizes on Amazon – and a portable vacuum pump that’s USB-powered. (That part’s important!) The two smallest sizes work great. I packed one set of clothes in one bag, then four sets, three, and two. I’ve got one extra bag for my nightwear and a few spare items.

Another side note: I brought an extra pair of shorts, and wish I’d brought more. The weather has betrayed me. A few days before my trip the forecast said the hottest the weather would get on my trip was low 80s. Well, a few days in – and now the forecast says it’s going to pass 100! Yikes! (Oh good. I just checked, and my next hotel – where I’ll be for the hottest days – has air conditioning. The first two have not.)

Anyway, Wednesday morning, I put the set of clothes that I’d worn on the airplane in the bag I’d emptied with clothes for the second day’s trip. Vacuumed it back up and repacked. Next stop, I opened the four-sets container.

I was more accustomed to driving the Autoroute on the second day. Didn’t linger behind trucks at slower speeds. It helped that the first Autoroute I traveled on for about the first hour had three lanes, so I could hang out in the middle lane and get used to driving fast. Most Autoroutes in Paris have a speed limit of 130 kilometers per hour. That’s 80.78 miles per hour. (I just checked. I’d been thinking 65!) So it’s much, much more like driving on the Autobahn than it is driving in the U.S. Good thing I have lots of experience driving on the Autobahn! (So much so that I remember seeing the speed limit in Luxembourg was 120 kph, and I knew I’d really have to be careful to keep from speeding.) There are large portions of the Autobahn where the speed limit is 130 kph, so this wasn’t a surprise.

But remember, my car beeps at me every time I start speeding, including when I didn’t notice that the speed limit just got reduced. So I was pretty good at keeping to the speed limit. I stopped at a rest area at about exactly halfway and ate the second half of the enormous sandwich I’d bought in Giverny.

Okay, that’s the boring part. I checked in at 2:00 pm at Manoir de la Roche Torin. Settled in. Was a little disappointed I don’t have a view of Mont Saint-Michel. I’m guessing the rooms with the view were already booked when I made my reservation, so I didn’t realize I was missing out. There’s no elevator, and I was up two flights of stairs. After two trips with my two small suitcases plus other stuff, I was HOT. And the room was hot. On a cool night. The second night, just before going to bed, I realized the window has Rolladen! (Heavy German shutters). So I slept the second night with the Rolladen cracked to let in air but no bugs, and again during the day when I was out and about so the sun wouldn’t heat up the room. But I’m glad the next place has air conditioning.

The hotel grounds did have a view of Mont Saint-Michel, though.

Then – I drove to the parking for Mont Saint-Michel. About 20 minutes away. I had a ticket to do the High Tides Tour down in the Bay starting at 6:15 and lasting to 8:30.

I parked in lot 11C. I walked all the way across the footbridge to Mont St. Michel, taking pictures all the way! It took close to an hour from the lot.

Once I arrived, I didn’t have a lot of time to browse and was worried about finding the meeting place, but I walked out on the sand a little, climbed on the ramparts a little, and enjoyed being there. I’d scorned the people who took the shuttle bus to the Mont, but the bottoms of my feet were already hurting.

I did find the meeting place, and a nice lady from Chemins de la Baie took about fifteen of us in hand. She led us around the bay and talked about the tides. She did speak English, but the tour was in French. But she used her hands to talk, and I got a good idea of what was going on. Plus I was pretty busy taking pictures!

One of the coolest things was experiencing quicksand and learning how to get out of it. If you’re in as far as your ankles, use a circular motion to loosen the sound around your foot. But if it’s deeper, and you’re up to your thighs (I did NOT try this), climb one leg at a time, using your knees.

The tour lasted a couple hours, and we walked through little streams and in different consistencies of sand and mud. There was one place with lots of quicksand that we all got the earth making waves! Quicksand reminds me of cornstarch-and-water. If you push on it directly, it feels firm – but then turns to goo.

She had told us that the “Grand Maree” in September is a much bigger tide. And just when I thought that maybe I’d misunderstood and this was a safe low-tide tour to talk about the tides – then all the various groups we’d seen walking around the bay gathered in a particular place. We fifteen lined up facing the water. It was ankle deep when we lined up. And then, suddenly, the tide came up. A wave came that was up past my knees. The bottoms of my shorts got wet. I didn’t keep standing there – I didn’t want my camera to get wet. I walked to sand I could see that was still dry.

But oh my goodness, it was AMAZING!!!

It was sudden and fast. And the bay began filling up. Before we left, the guide told me to watch for the two sides of the water coming around the Mont and they’d meet under the footbridge. Sure enough, by the time I finished crossing the footbridge, it was all water under the bridge.

And then was the long walk back to the parking lot. I still scorned the shuttle bus, still glowing from the amazing experience.

I remembered 11C. It took a little work to find the parking lots, but when I got there, I remembered coming that way.

And my car was not there.

We’re talking at least 9:00 at night by now, but it was not dark. I looked at what I thought were all the cars in lots 9, 10, 11, and 12 – which were all on the same side of the path. There were not many cars left, so this wasn’t too hard. I couldn’t find my car. What was I going to do? I checked lots 7 and 8. Definitely not where I parked. I checked lots 9, 10, 11, and 12 again. What was I going to do? How could I get back to my hotel?

Then two ladies with a little girl (possibly three generations of one family) walked into the lot. I asked if they spoke English (They said “A little” – Ha! They were really good.) And I said I needed help and couldn’t find my car. We looked at the four parking lots. The older lady looked at my rental car tag to get the model and the license plate. They were going to drive around the big lots and tell me if they found it.

And then – they found it, right across from their car.

Here’s the thing: Lots 9, 10, 11, and 12 were all in two parts, with a hedge between the parts. They were lettered A, B, C, and D on each part, with nothing to say which side of the hedge you parked on. So – It turned out I’d only checked half of lots 9, 10, 11, and 12.

I was SO relieved! And it turns out there are nice people all over the world. I did feel like an idiot. And the grandma lectured me kindly to always take a picture of where I park. But the little girl waved to me, and I was just so thankful I did NOT have to deal with a stolen rental car!

I got back to the hotel around 10:00 – and that’s why I didn’t post pictures that day. But I was treated to a beautiful sunset and went to bed with a sense of awe.