Mont-St-Michele

Mont-St-Michele is going to be a great place to visit, but it will be even better because both of my kids will be with me for father's day for the first time in 4 years. Michelle and I always enjoy that, regardless of what day it is.
Abbie got me a watch with a picture of the two of us after our sky diving event. She also had the back engraved with "You Are My Sunshine," our song. Adam sent something to the house but it arrived the day after we left so father's day is going to stretch out for me.
Mont-Saint-Michel is an Abbey built on a massive rock island just off of the coast into the English channel. Construction began in the early 10th century, if not before. Some say it originated in the 1st century. By the 15th century, the Abbey and surrounding village had taken up every inch of the island.
After the French revolution, when the religious community was dissolved, the Mont was used as a prison and it easily thwarted several military attacks, and once you look at it, you can easily see why.
It is the most amazing man made thing I have ever seen. This scene is the kind of place that theme parks try to mimic. The main path up today is modern with restaurants and retail, but I can imagine how that same market place must have looked in past centuries.
The walk to the top was quite physical, but well worth it. If Michelle and I are ever fortunate enough to return here, we will spend the night in one of the hotels beneath the Abbey so that we can experience it without the crowds. That would be my one complaint. The tour buses are steadily flowing through here, but with good reason. If you stay overnight, after the busses leave, you are still able to tour the place, minus the Abbey, with more solitude.
This was also my first experience with the French military patrolling a public place on foot and heavily armed.
I will end this note like I started it. It was amazing.
I'm amazed at how this edifice was made with no modern equipment. One of the coolest things about this place is the contraption that was built to move food and supplies up to the prisoners. It was basically a hamster wheel that people would walk in, and a mixture of wheels and pulleys would move a giant sled up and down the side of the Abbey wall.
We left here in the late afternoon and drove several hours to a town called Amboise, a little town south of Paris between Tours and Orleans.
It seems every little town in France is just as cute as can be. We're checked into the Novatel, which appears to be fairly new and headed out for dinner. The city center is just off the Loire river and the architecture of the old buildings here are pretty cool.
When I picture what it is like eating in France, this is it. Small restaurants lined up along a narrow road with people eating outside in conversation. We ate at L'Ambacia and we all had fish and chips except Adam. It may be the best meal I've had yet. After, we stopped in for some gelato before we headed back to the hotel for some badly needed rest.
Tomorrow...Chateaus!Read more