Vin Chaud & Cidre: A Little Bit of Brittany and Normandy

These beautiful photos are by Marguerite Vichier-Guerre

A Quick Catchup
It was only for a day, but a few weekends ago our group visited Mt. Saint Michel in Normandy and St. Malo in Brittany. Arriving at Mount St. Michel the gravel grounds were filled with big tour buses, and a lot of Asians snapping pictures of every single sight. Dr. Flynn warned us about walking into real sinking sand along the beach, saying if you got stuck, sometimes the currents could suddenly rise and drown you.
Although initially seeming overly touristy and expensive, Mt. Saint Michel is a beautiful and amazing construction, and still is a pilgrimage for many christians and catholics. The views from the heights of ascended stairs may be why so many fled there, but what i most enjoyed were the narrow medieval-like walkways, slowly dwindling and descending down the rock that this little town (of what maybe 50 people) sits on.

Hot wine, crepes, churros, and huge jars of nutella are at every cafe along the walkways. And Every so often, you can see a monk bed through an old stone window to ring the bells above you, like something out of Monty Python.
As the legend of Mt. Saint Michel goes, the Archangel repeatedly appeared to St. Aubert, bishop at the time, telling him to construct the church on the rock, but St. Aubert continually ignored the angel, thinking it as only an illusion. Finally Michael touched the bishop's scull with his finger to prove it was real, and so it goes the church was constructed.

We spent the rest of the afternoon in St. Malo a small walled port city in the northern coast of Brittany. With a colorful boardwalk carnival scene, unfortunately closed while we were there, beautiful beaches, and veille ville buildings, it is probably a great place to visit during the summer, especially when the seafood is in season. Still, walking along the wall pathways, up to the light house, enjoying some amazing ice cream in the old city, it is definitely somewhere I want to come back to, and somewhere every family or old person should go.