Deliciousness with a side of tourism

Monday, May 18, 2009

We started our day in Avranches with more delicious pastries for breakfast. But our meal was quick as we were trying to get on the road in time to beat the tourist mob that descends daily on Le Mont St. Michel, our morning destination. We made it there by 11AM at the lowest of low tides. With no water to be seen for miles Ben and Dave opted to trek out into the sand to get some far away shots of the abbey and its incredible architecture.

As we made our way up to the abbey we realized we'd failed miserably in our attempt to beat the tourists. Thankfully, Alyce new a lesser traveled route that we were able to take up to the top without running into any tourists. We opted to take the more traveled route down to give us a better idea of the other side of the abbey. All in all, this is a very touristy spot, but is really incredible to look at understanding that its construction and use began somewhere in the 10th century and has endured to this day.

(Le Mont St. Michel from below)

(Alyce and I posing on the walk up into the abbey)

Once we'd tired of the tourists crowds, we climbed back into the car bound for Cancale, a small fishing village acclaimed for its fantastic seafood. On arrival we chose a small venue with a promising chalk board menu and we were not disappointed. Delicious food and some incredible values. Check out Al's blog for a complete description and photos. http://lotusmusings-amw.blogspot.com/2009/05/joys-of-going-coastal.html

After our incredible meal we wandered out onto the pier to get a closer look at the water. From that vantage point you have a great view of the whole town as well.

(Cancale's main street)

After Cancale we made our way to St. Malo, a smaller fortified city on the English Channel. The city's fortifications are incredible. We didn't have a lot of time as we had to get Alyce back to teach that night, but we managed to poke around the raised wall and to wander through some of the narrow city streets.

(A narrow St. Malo street)

(Alyce and Dave on the wall in St. Malo)
(Ben wanted this photo, Alyce and I with a poster of a guy engaged in a questionable relationship with a bear)

At around 430PM we headed back to Rennes, arriving in time for Alyce to teach and for Dave, Ben and I to pursue a delicious deli meal for dinner. Since it was Monday and many of the stores are closed, we didn't have as many options as we normally would, but we still managed to make an incredible picnic style meal including delicious sausage, peppered goat cheese, gooey cow cheese, heirloom tomato, potato gratin, french baguettes and for the finale, a perfect carmel tartlet and heaping mounds of sugary gelato. There was so much gelato left Dave is probably still finishing it. For the second night in a row we finished off our evening with a game of euchre and a LOT of laughter.