Apr 18th- 20th
Leaving Andorra behind, we had a 5 hour journey in front of us to Bordeaux. It actually didn't seem such a long journey though, maybe cause we knew it was the penultimate drive. We had booked to stay at F1 hotel, it wasn't great, £20 it was cheap but it looked ideal for truck drivers, the bedsheets had a thick cover which I imagined hadn't been washed.
We got up and out as quickly as possible, not showering in the communal showers. We embarked on our last long journey to Mont Saint Michel in Normandy, at 5 and half hours, which seemed rather long. We can feel it colder now around 10 degrees at 10am. It was all worth it when we passed field after field of glorious rapeseed...
Mont Saint Michel is an township is on a rocky tidal island just 600 metres from land — made it accessible only at low tide. The tides can vary greatly, at roughly 14 metres (46 ft) between high and low water marks.
We parked the car at Mont Saint Michel and we could either take a free shuttle bus or walk 30 minutes. The walk along the side of the beach was lovely, with Mont Saint Michel creeping closer to us. We walked around the base of Mont Saint Michel then climbed our way up the old narrow streets to the abbey (pay to go inside) and had amazing views of area and land around us. The tide was out for our visit so we took a walk out on the beach, it felt like quick sand beneath us it was gloopy and sticky, Shan said of course it couldn't be, it was busy with people, however later I read that there is indeed quick sand!!!
Caught the shuttle bus back, then struggled to find where to pay for the car park, turns out the pay stations were further down than the bus stop, so I ran back to pay, it was expensive at €9 for only a few hours. Then we drove the 55km to St Malo, where we had booked in at Premiere Classe motel/ hotel for £20. The receptionist was a bit rude and then our neighbours were a group of dodgy looking guys, we didn't trust leaving our valuables in the room so took it with us, Premiere Classe was located next door to Hotel Campanile where we stayed the first night, although double the price, no comparison.
We headed to the old town which has tall granite walls surrounding it. We picked one of the many restaurants lining the cobbled streets and had moules et frites, which weren't the most authentic so we rounded it off with a nutella and banana crepe at a near by creperie. We also found time to stop at a hyper super market and bought cheese and ham to take home with us.
Had a surprisingly good night sleep (never heard anything from the group of guys) and in the morning we were up bright and early to catch the ferry back to Guernsey, via Jersey, it was slower than usual though as one engine wasn't working, and then we hadn't anticipated stopping for border control in Jersey. Home and happy to have toured around 4 countries in 10 days! What memories!
