Saint Malo, France

We arrived in St. Malo just as the sun was coming up. We are fortunate to have a great view of the city from our stateroom.

Today we have an 8 hour excursion to Le Mont-Saint-Michel. We waited outside the Star Theater for Jim, Lynn, Karen, Dave, Donna and Art (this is the same group that went to Marrakesh). When we all arrived, we were able to get assigned to the same bus.

After a short tender ride, we caught a brief sight of St. Malo.

This is a port that I would have loved to be able to do more than one excursion. The included excursion is Saint Malo on foot. After listening to All The Light We Cannot See (Patty and I listened to this book during our drive to Telluride and I am currently relistening to it), I would have loved to tour the city. But we always see Le Mont-Saint-Michel on the Tour De France when it travels through Normandy so we decided to sign up to see Le Mont-Saint-Michel.

Our tour began with a little over an hour drive during which we saw beautiful countryside (I even saw several deer), charming villages, and rolling pastures.

Upon arriving at a large parking lot, we were transferring to a shuttle which drove us a short distance to the base of Le Mont-Saint-Michel. We made a short walk before we entered the first gate.

The history of Mont-Saint-Michel is thought to date back to 708, when Aubert, Bishop of Avranches, had a sanctuary built in honor of the Archangel. The mount soon became a major focus of pilgrimage. In the 10th century, the Benedictines settled in the abbey, while a village grew up below its walls. By the 14th century it extended as far as the foot of the rock. An impregnable stronghold during the Hundreds Year War, Mont-Saint-Michel is also an example of military architecture. Its ramparts and fortifications resisted all the English assaults and, as a result, the Mount became a symbol of national identity.

Following the dissolution of the religious community during the Revolution and until 1863, the abbey was used as a prison.

Classified as a historic monument in 1874, Mont-Saint-Michel underwent major restoration work. Since then, the work has gone on regularly all over the site. The result is that visitors can now experience the splender of the abbey as the people of the Middle Ages did during their time.

We began our tour by walking under one of many gates to a very narrow road lined with many shops and restaurants.

Next we walked up flight after flight of stairs. I think after all is said and done, we probably did the equivalent of almost 25 flights of stairs. (322 individual steps). I am once again so thankful that Bob is doing so well! But I am also wondering, once again, what Viking was thinking. They categorized this excursion as moderate and they did not announce the number of flights of stairs that one is required to hike up.

After our tour we walked back down to a restaurant located just inside the first gate. We sat with a delightful couple, Red and Joe. They were both bicycle riders. Joe had also done many marathons and triathlons. Although she has given up running long ago, they both continue to bike.

We were given free time to shop after lunch. I am done shopping so instead of taking the shuttle back to the bus, I wanted to walk. Joe said she would join me so off we went. I let her set the pace. She is a really fast walker.

We had great views of Mont St. Michele during our walk. We also saw some pilgrims holding crosses while they sang hymns as they made their way to Mont St. Michele.

After Joe and I made the 40 minute walk, we made it to the parking lot before Bob and Red.

We then made the drive back to the port at St. Malo. It was an absolutely beautiful day which made me wish all the more that we would have spent more time in this port.

We had dinner at the World Cafe with Jim, Lynn, Donna, Art, Henry and Krystal.

Upon returning to the stateroom, I started feeling like I was coming down with a cold. We were just commenting on how healthy Bob and I have been on the cruise. Guess we spoke too soon.

I am going to make this post with the photos that I have taken with my phone. When I get a minute to edit my other photos, I will add them.Read more