The next day involved a lot of driving through the French countryside, from our place in Chemery to St. Malo, then to Mont St. Michele, then on to Bayeux. We were on the road early and stopped at a highway petrol stop for gas and breakfast. More croissants and pain au chocolates, coffees and hot chocolates.
- French bathroom story #2: I entered the restroom while everyone one else was looking around for snacks and such. Luckily, this was well segregated, with the men’s room to the left and the ladies’ to the right with no shared facilities at all. Much more what I’m used to. I’m standing at the urinal, all alone, when the cleaning lady comes by with the floor cleaner. At this point, the troughs in Neyland Stadium seem tame in comparison to the anxiety inducing bathroom events an American faces in Europe. We avoided eye contact.
We make the drive through the rolling hills with most of the crew catching up on sleep during the 4 hour drive. We arrive at St. Malo close to lunchtime and park in the underground garage close to the entrance to the walled city. St. Malo was home to privateers. Nowadays, they separate you from you money through restaurants and shops. We strolled through the town and stopped to get some chocolate. We passed the cathedral and stopped for a quick lunch of baguettes, quiche and paninis. After lunch, we headed up to walk around the parapet on the sea side of the town. We were there for about 5 minutes before a front blew through, bringing some spitting snow flakes with it. We hurried down off the parapet and made our way back towards the garage by a different route. The girls visited a few shops as we left. The older girls made a bathroom stop while the kids walked out to look at the Hoile du Roy, a replica frigate.
We then made an hour long trip along the coast to Mont St. Michele. The weather upon arrival was overcast and windy. We ran from the parking lot to the trams that run to the tidal island, stopping to get some pictures of the distant abbey. The trams are actually designed to operate in either direction, so they pull into a loading area, the driver gets out, walks to the other end of the bus, gets in, and when loaded, pulls away.
There is a stop on the way out, with a few small hotels and restaurants. It would be a nice walking distance in better weather, but at the time it was a bit too chilly. We took the tram as far as it went. It was far enough back to get a great view of the island. We walked through a small gate and into the past. The narrow corridor leading up to the abbey wound back and forth through small shops, restaurants, hotels, and homes. It was crowded at times but never uncomfortable. The crowd thinned out as we ascended, and we stopped to take in the views from several different elevations.
We made it all the way to the top and decided to take the abbey tour. It was up some more steps that made us contemplate how badly we wanted to see it. Decided, we ventured up and paid the admission (cheap compared to everything else we had done) and climbed another set of infinity stairs. The tour turned out to be well worth it. The cloisters featured an open area that had been protected with plexiglass, but in the past had afforded an unimpeded view of the bay from dizzying heights. The tour included the crypts under the cloisters, added after the original abbey construction. We also got to explore the bay side more, with gardens and scenic views around every turn. The kids enjoyed the large wheel that was used to lift supplies up a very steep ramp. We headed back down a different route to leave, then decided to step back in the original entryway to grab some souvenirs. I think everyone wanted to hang around as long as possible.
We left from Mont St. Michele for an hour and a half drive to Bayeux, where we would spend the night and meet our tour guide the next morning. The drive took us of the highway and through the narrow roadways, and our conversation and thoughts shifted to the activities in this area from 60+ years ago; which houses had seen German occupation, which fields had been traversed by Allied troops. We were welcomed to Bayeux by the sight of the cathedral. We found our hotel, the Churchill, and got checked in.
The boutique hotel had a few antiquated quirks, such as 2 pound keychains with the room number that were left hanging when we went out. The locks were like we have here in Saudi – two complete turns to unlock. Mom had a little trouble getting in her room, which was down three steps from the main hall. Greene rescued her with the lock, and I turned the steps into a ramp as I went down to keep from having to lift those suitcases again.
We went in search of supper, but being tired and not wanting to wait for a table, we opted again for a local pizza place that we took back to the room. I was wiped out from late nights and early mornings, so Greene sent me and Mom back (with some Kronenbourg 1664s) while her and the kids waited for them to prepare the pizzas. They enjoyed chatting with the guys making the pizzas.
The next morning, we went out for pastries to bring back. We added apples to a few of the croissants. We checked out and loaded up the car for the night’s trip to Paris. Right outside the hotel, we met some Americans living in Oman – a Yankees fan who couldn’t keep his trap shut about my Boston hat. Kidding, they were nice. As far as Yankees fans go. They were headed out to Mont St. Michele on a day trip.
The meeting location for the Overlord Tour was just around the corner from our hotel. We strolled over a bridge nearby and then headed back to the meeting location. We had a private tour set up, and our tour guide Jonathan arrived right on time.
We visited the Longues-sur-Mer Battery, Omaha Beach, Utah Beach, Pont du Hoc, St. Mere Eglise, American Cemetery, La Fiere, Angonville au Plain, and several other specific spots. We consider ourselves very fortunate to have visited these places and the emotions can’t be adequately conveyed in my writing.
We talked with Jonathan on the way back to Bayeux, learning much about his life, travels and interests. He dropped us back in Bayeux, we snapped a group picture, and hit the road for Paris.
- French bathroom story #3:The first stop was to gas up again and grab some road snacks at a very, very crowded service area. I took Cade into the men’s room while the girls queued up for the ladies’. As I was finishing up, a teenage girl, no doubt under extreme duress, stormed into the men’s room and headed for one of the stalls. Nobody batted an eye.
From Tennessee To Texas to Saudi Arabia 