We were very fortunate that our car had a GPS! It was tricky to find some of the places. Taking the toll roads it took about 3 hours to get from Paris to the War Memorial and about 20 min more to get to Omaha beach. After visiting the American Cemetary we programmed the GPS to take us to the chateau we were staying near Mont St. Michel.
The tolls was about 20 euros one way, and there were plenty of rest stops along the way. Our car took diesel and cost 1.51 euros a litre.
War Memorial/ Omaha Beach:
The first picture is the entrance to the War Memorial, displaying flags from countries around the world. The last 3 are photos from the American Cemetary.
Le Château de Boucéel
This chateau is located about 15 min from Mt. St. Michel. The owner is an actual Count, whose family owned the chateau for generations.
The first picture if the front of the chateau (our rental car is the first one), and the second photo is our bedroom, which used to belong to the Count's great grandmother.
The property went on and on... there were animals, cottages and beautiful flowers. If you look at the last picture, look on the 2nd floor and you can see me poking my head from our bedroom window!
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| A Countess slept here! |
Dinner at a cafe, in a little town close to the chateau.
We asked the Count to recommend a non touristy place to eat. He directed us to a little cafe about 15 minutes from the Chateau with the directions "when you get to the only stop light in town, the restaurant is located on the left".
Martin had the mussels in the white cream sauce, a steak, the Camembert cheese (made only in the Normandy region) and an apple tart. Normandy is famous for the apples, and I had the Cider to go with my meal.
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| Dining al fresco |
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| Smiley |
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| Quintessential French town |
After dinner, we went to Mont St. Michel. Mont-St-Michel is home to an abbey that dates back to the 11th century and now boasts impressive illuminations at night. The island, with its fast and fickle tides, was a notorious prison during the French Revolution of 1789.
Tourists have to be careful when parking at the causeway. If the tides become too high, the "bridge" which gaps the main land and the island will disappear. Lucky the tide was low (there's a sign posted telling you if its ok to park).
We arrived at Mt. St. Michel around 10:00 pm, and the sun was just setting. Most of the shops were closed or closing, but the restaurants were still open. We walked to the top to see the abbey and then walked back down, check out the hotels on property. The hotels were nice but not very private, as people like me could peek in.
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| Low tide! |
