Mont Saint Michel
Today’s the day we go to Mont Saint Michel. Tom look up early to get the rental car and was back by 9:30, we had a lovely casual breakfast at the hotel before setting off around 10:30.
Around 11:30 we arrived at the car park at Mont St. Michel and joined the long line of hot tourists waiting for the shuttle bus. It was at least 90° with 90% humidity! Unfortunately, it never gets that hot here, so there was no AC on the bus!
We finally made it to the base of the island when Evie could no longer contain her heat exhaustion, sunburn, and general teenage malaise. The constant complaining sent Tom into a parenting tizzy! After recovering, Tom and the kids walked to the top of the Abby and upon discovering the children are free with the purchase of a ticket we decided to tour the 17th century Abby, that was originally founded 1000 years earlier than that. It helped that the Abby is in the shade and abundantly cool.
When we arrived at the chapel on top we were fortunate to discover mass in full swing, white robe monks and nuns praying and singing beautifully. After about an hour of exploring, we reconnected with Eva who had been waiting in the shade at the bottom of the city and we made the long march back to the car. By 2:30 we were back on the road.
We returned to the unicorn café that we had enjoyed so much the day before for some lunch when explosion number two happened. Tyler pushed Tom with his unwillingness to find something to order and Tom dragged him out of the restaurant for a classic parent song tongue lashing. What a scene!
Family equilibrium was returned and we enjoyed our meal of moule & frites and variety of crapes. We walked back to our hotel in the sizzling heat and Tom and Evie jumped in the sea to cool off and take photos.
For dinner we once again split up, the kids sharing a pizza across the street from a more sophisticated (boring for kids) French restaurant. Our meal took an hour and a half, the kids were done eating in 30 minutes.
At 9 PM we cozied up into our room to watch USA-France World Cup and while we were happy to see USA when we were hoping for a little more excitement for longer. On the upside, we will get to watch England play USA when we’re in London next week!
All in all a lovely day, despite the heat.
