I knew from the minute we started planning our trip to France that I wanted to make sure we went to Mont Saint Michel. It wasn't until I started looking for books to read about France that I remembered how much I loved All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doer and looked on the map to see where Saint Malo was. I was overjoyed to discover its proximity to MSM and immediately put it on the itinerary.
From Paris, we took the train to Rennes and then rented a car and drove to Saint Malo where we had lunch, walked on the ramparts and down on the beach, wandered through the rebuilt ancient walled town, watched a game of petang, and found #4 Rue Vauborel, where fictional Marie-Laure lived with Uncle Etienne in All the Light We Cannot See.
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| Looking up at Saint Malo from the beach at low tide. |
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| Outside the city gate, where the men play petang. |
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| Beautiful beach fringed with rocky islands. |
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| The white door is #4 Rue Vauborel. |
From Saint Malo, we drove to Mont Saint Michel, where we spent the night in a hotel right next to the boardwalk that takes you to the island by foot. You can also catch a shuttle--jam packed--but we preferred to walk and take pictures.
We went after dinner, and enjoyed the twilight on the abbey. It really is a storybook place. We didn't spend much time on the rock itself--too many people and it was getting dark, but I loved seeing this beautiful place so much.
We walked back the next morning, to get some pictures in the daylight and gather sand for our sand collection--yes, we have spice jars filled with sand from beaches we have visited over the past 35 years. It's a nice way to remember some of our vacations and is just one of the things we always try to remember to do when we visit a beach.
