29 mai
Today was the second day of the bus trip and we went to Mont St. Michel! I have been so excited to visit this place ever since I decided to come to France this summer so I realized that I had really high expectations for it, but luckily I was not disappointed. Here is the first view we had of it. It is off the main land area and is surrounded by salt flats, then eventually the English channel. The salt flats area is not very safe to walk on or explore because there is dangerous quick sand. For real.
Before the castle though, we stopped by a tourist trap cookie shop with free samples. I made a quality purchase of a crepe spreader, so it was worth it to me.
The sky was beautiful and the structure was so grand and inspiring. Mont St. Michel is a monastery and cathedral plus a little village all on that hill. There are about 30 people that live there along with the monks in the monastery.
Mont St. Michel is a bit pilgrimage spot for Catholics and so we saw lots of cute nuns all over.
As we walked up to the cathedral, there were lots of beautiful stone houses and walls as well as magnificent views of the land below.
We finished the trek up to the cathedral and it was worth it. We were so high that the clouds covered the high spires of the church. It was just an absolutely gorgeous and medieval looking structure. These pictures hardly do it justice.
The incredible view from up high.
There was this beautiful Hogwarts-esque corridor. This area was called the cloister and is an area for personal reflection and meditation.
We walked around the monastery and learned about the lives of the inhabitants during the Ancien Regime as well as in the present day. This is the room where the monks eat. There is a podium on the side where someone reads verses during the meal.
I am very proud of this picture here! I'd been aching to get a good nun picture and this image fell right in front of me. I love the lighting on these beautiful ladies with their rosaries and their Mont St. Michel maps.
They were holding mass when we were visiting the chapel on the mountain. The nuns and/or monks were singing and it was one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard. The setting and the music made it an unforgettable moment.
Me and Emily, BFFs
Another life dream conquered of seeing Mont St. Michel! I was excited.
As soon as we left Mont St. Michel, it started becoming really overcast and covered up the church so I was really glad we got some blue sky views earlier in the day.
Our other stop for the day was the city of St. Malo on the north coast of France. It was a beautiful town with lots of fishing boats and walled fortification that went all around the main part of the city.
The English channel beach was beautiful with soft, warm sand. There were some boys playing soccer on the sand.
I couldn't figure out what this was, but it was a set apart pool area in the ocean..interesting.
Some of us BYUers there splashing around in the channel
Couldn't be a real French town without a breathtaking cathedral
That night we stayed in Fougères. Dr. LeBras is a native of Bretagne and so he is in the know about all of the best restaurants. Tonight we went to a restaurant and had a meal that my mouth still waters over. It was a gastronomic, high-scale restaurants. I didn't know food could taste as good as it did here. All the food was so fancily presented and arranged. Our entrée (appetizer) was some salmon in a dark wheat crepe thing with greens on top...it sounds so simple but it was just incredible with so many different flavors from the various dressings and elements. The main meal was a delicious chicken with an apple tart and potatoes. Again, it sounds so simple, but it was cooked and presented in such a high-class way and was so delicious. French food just brings out so many flavors that I've never appreciated before. Dessert was the best part though. We had this creme brulee that was probably one of the most delicious things I've ever tasted in my life. The top was carmalized hard, but then you cracked the top service and there was the most delicious creme/custard. I had bad manners at the end and licked out all of the sugar stuck in the wedges of the scalloped bowl. They gave us two of those with cookies. It's been fun being with the other study abroad kids all the time this week. We are all becoming such good friends and we always have a fun time together. This night at dinner, my abs were sore from laughing so much at dinner. In addition, I felt slighlly lethargic from the satisfaction of that great meal in my stomach.
Here's a movie that a girl on our group made with the sights that we saw today. I am in a few seconds of it! It is a funny music video and it should make you laugh. Or get the song permanently stuck in your head.
No comments:
Post a Comment