Mont Saint Michel

I am falling a bit behind in my blogging! The next place I visited was Mont Saint Michel and Saint Malo, both in the northwestern part of France (more north than Nantes is). It was FREEZING, but sunny, which made it worth the trip in the end. Mont Saint Michel is a rocky tidal island in Normandie. Apparently you can see the tide changes, but I was asleep for the duration of the bus ride (3 hours) and missed that along with the grazing sheep! Also, since the island is tidal, the grass is nourished by saltwater, which gives the grazing sheep a different flavor. Agneau de pré salé  (roughly, sheep of the salted prairie) is a specialty in the region...unfortunately I didn't taste that either! I had a crêpe (the restos are EXPENSIVE!) instead. 

After Mont Saint Michel, we took the bus to Saint Malo, a walled-in city in Bretagne. I loved this city! It had a lot of seafood and specialties from Bretagne. I ate Kouign Amman, a cake I can only describe as the Breton form of baklawa. Kouign amman literally means 'butter cake' so I suppose that's a valid comparison. The beach at Saint Malo was beautiful. We climbed on the rocks and walked around for a while, just enjoying the beauty of the city. Also, no one believes me, but I SWEAR I saw a platypus in the water! All in all, a good day spent. And because I am conscious of my money being spent, it was in total 30€ including the bus rides and the food! 

Me gazing at the platypus in Saint Malo (I swear I saw one)

Saint Malo

Outside the walled-in town of Saint Malo

Playing on the rocks at Saint Malo

View from the top of the abbé de Mont Saint Michel

Expensive crêpe resto at Mont Saint Michel

Random passageway at Mont Saint Michel

Saint Malo

L'abbé de Mont Saint Michel

Low tide at Mont Saint Michel

Mont Saint Michel

From left to right: Lauren from Chicago, me, Elina from Finland, Bing from China, Naz from Turkey, and Siiri from Finland

It was a beautiful, exhausting, and fun day. Love that the department of French as a foreign language sets up these things for us. Can't wait for more next semester!