Mont Saint Michel

Yesterday Joycie, Eric, Tito & I hopped in the car and went to check out Mont Saint Michel. We have heard from so many people that it's worth the trip and amazing. I've been wanting to go for weeks but put it off until Joycie came so we could all see it for the first time together. Driving there I kept catching glimpses of it in the distance, which made the build up even better and more exciting. 

We got there, parked in one of the designated grass lots and from there we had to figure it out. Parking is SO far with not too many signs of where to go next, we were in parking lot 11! There are options of horse drawn carriage, a trolley or walking. We had Tito so the carriage and trolley were out (they didn't allow dogs) so we took the 45 minute walk. Thankfully it was a beautiful sunny day! It also worked out that it was dead low, since you can't get to the island when it's high tide. The walk itself was great, so many people were coming and going and the view of the Mont was beautiful. 

The history behind it is really interesting & amazing for how old it is. We didn't know much about it before going which would have added to the "wow" factor, coming home we looked it up and were even more amazed. "The island has held strategic fortifications since ancient times and since the 8th century AD has been the seat of the monastary  from which it draws its name" (Wikipedia never lies) so that's pretty cool. 

The island itself was packed with tourists from all over the world, we didn't climb the 900+ stairs to the top of the abbey because.. 900 stairs... (Maybe next time!). Everything  was so narrow and crowded that we didn't attempt to go too far up the street. Instead we found the closest gelato shop, got some and climbed up a section of the walls to enjoy the views. 

Overall, it was such a great day! A lot more walking than anticipated (5.5 miles!) but worth every step to see such a pretty and historic place. I had two of my most favorite people and my Tito, it couldn't have been any better of a day! 

Another amazing place to check out of you're ever in northern France! 

Saint Malo

Over the weekend we decided to start exploring some of the places around us, in northern France. Eric has Sunday's off and we had heard so many great things about Saint Malo, so we hopped in the car with Tito and lots of snacks (I never go anywhere without snacks). I had done a little research to try to figure out what we were going to do & where we were going to go once we got there but ultimately we just went to check it out and see what it was like. 

We put a random address into the GPS and ended up outside of some gated house/community.. Not where we intended but it got us far enough! From there we drove towards the water and found a parking spot. As soon as we got out of the car Tito was high tailing it to the beach. It was amazing, and again, pictures don't do it justice. 

This beach was SO pretty and cool. It was low tide, the amount space was unbelieveable. There were so many families picnicking, playing, dogs running, kids riding bikes, even a wedding party taking their pictures! Out on the water there were wind surfers and tons of little sailboats, there were even a few brave/crazy people who went swimming. We walked out pretty far and still didn't reach the water. Tito had a blast running around and chasing rocks. At home, he's obsessed with rocks and lives for the beach so he was the happiest camper! & it was so hard to get a decent picture of him 

From there we knew we wanted to definitely get to check out the castle and the main part of the town and on the other side there were some huge cliffs I was dying to go see. We had no where to be and just planned to wander around so we headed towards the castle and center of town. It seems like a huge vacation destination with hotels lining the beach and tons of people wandering the streets and eating in the cafes and creperies. 

Next time we go, I definitely want to spend more time checking out the streets and shops. It was insanely crowded and we had parked in a possibly reserved parking lot so we didn't want to risk the car not being there when we got back! It looked like they had great food and I got to drool as we walked past everyone eating outside. The castle is right on the water and you can climb up and walk along the walls, the views do not disappoint!

With an antique car show, some sort of radio station "party" that involved a lot of segways, tons of tourists and people it was crazy crowded and I was even more excited to get to the cliffs. They were amazing. 

If you're ever in Brittany, definitely take the time to explore Saint Malo. We can't wait to go back! 

The Amazing Race to Vitré

 A couple of weeks ago, I packed up as much of my life as I could fit into two suitcases, my backpack and my dog and boarded a flight from New York to Paris. I wish I could be dramatic and say it was a one-way ticket, but I’ll be headed home for Christmas! What brought me to France was my boyfriend, Eric, playing professional basketball in Europe. So, after months of casually talking about where he might sign his next contact (he was in Demark the year before), he decided on a team in France! It got a little more “real”, but I kept casually talking about it and feeling like it wasn’t actually “real life”. That changed very quickly when I realized how tricky & long the process was to apply for and get a visa (at that point, I had less than two weeks). Long story short, a couple of trips into NYC, lots of stress (and some tears) the super serious and not very understanding ladies at the French consulate handed over my brand new visa! Three days later I was hauling as much as my life you can fit into two suitcases into JFK and desperately trying to not look my mom (Joycie) in the eye, because I was terrified I would cry like a baby. 

 

 

A quick seven-hour plane ride later, Tito and I arrived in Paris! After an extra long and crowded wait at customs (something about an unattended bag and a lockdown), they let us right through. Cellphone-less, and not being able to speak French became all too real, all too quickly. After two and a half hours of trying to find Eric in the terminal, I sat down, had a granola bar and weighed my options. At that point… I didn’t have many. Somehow, I figured out how to connect to Wi-Fi, which is a miracle in itself considering I’m super technologically challenged. As soon as I got Wi-Fi messages and a voicemail came through that Eric couldn’t get me, the car had broken down. Amazingly, I didn’t panic and was able to talk to one of his teammates/friends who was an actual lifesaver. He talked to me and weighed my options (again not many) and ended up talking me through finding the train station, getting a ticket and not panicking. So, I hauled myself, Tito, two 50+ pound suitcases and what I’m guessing was a 25-pound backpack off on a train to Le Mans. All I knew was Eric would be there, somewhere, and we would get to Vitre from there, somehow. A week and a half later I’m still super proud that I held it together!

Tito was AWESOME the entire, extra long trip. I was seriously the proudest dog-mom around and couldn't get enough of his cute face peeking out of his bag.