Le Mont Saint Michel

We anchored in the bay near St Malo this morning. Our tour was early. There were 8 of us who were going and managed to get on the same bus. It was fun to see the place with a group. We drove about 45 minutes to the Mont. Then walked a ways to the shuttle from the parking lot. Then we had to walk 100 yards or so to get to the entrance.. I went to the shore and grabbed some mud for my sand collection. It was pretty well packed since the tide was out. I only got a little bit and made a mess of my hand while doing it. I used my water bottle to clean it off.
‘I told the guide that we were slow walkers and to please wait for us. So much for that. There is only one street that goes up the mount to the church. He took off with the group. Betty and Rudy stayed back with us as we took it slow. Bunny reached a point where she decided to stop-smart girl. I was determined to make it. Rudy stayed with me as I lumbered up the stone steps, mostly without railings. Sine I favor the bad left knee, I go up and down one step at a time. I’m very slow! I got past the place where they take your ticket to go into the church. I thought I was doing pretty well. I made it up a couple more sets of steps, then looked at the 50 steps ahead and said “I give up”. I didn’t think my knees could take any more. So Rudy continued up while I started down. I made it halfway and there was Rudy on his way down so he stayed with me. Betty had gone ahead and picked up Bunny to go shopping. By the time we got there everyone was in a restaurant having drinks and a snack. We happily joined them. I had a butter and sugar crepe, my favorite. Then we went out shopping again. I found a very nice tee shirt with the outline of the Mont on the front. We poked around in a few more shops until it was time to meet for lunch at a different restaurant. We started out with a thin slice of pate with bread and some jellies. Pate wasn’t very good. Then the main course came, chicken, French fries and a baked apple. The apple was the best part. Next course was a cheese plate and more bread. It was Brie and another kind. It was ok but we were full from lunch and the snack. Then dessert came, an apple tart.

After lunch we had another 45 minutes of free time. So we meandered through a few more shops on the way down to the entrance. We were ready to go. The guide came down with the rest of the group. We walked back to pick up the shuttle. Then when we got off the shuttle, another walk to the parking lot. It was another 45 minute trip back to St Malo. We had a short ride through the old part of St Malo. It is a beautiful old walled city. There were many very large houses on the hills above the bay. We decided it was the prettiest port we’d been to.
‘We left shortly after we tendered back to the ship. We weren’t too hungry after our snack and lunch. We had a very light dinner, played some cards until it was time for the Farewell show. The theater was packed. Two of the entertainers sang for several minutes to warm up the crowd. Then the cruise director talked a bit, sang a song and told us how much food and drink we’d consumed. It was a huge anmount. Then she introduced Ronald, the hotel director. He spoke awhile , then the Captain came on stage and spoke for a few minutes. They were all appreciative of our staying on the ship..After that the entire crew came into the theater. It was quite a sight.
‘After they left, the entertainment crew sang a couple songs. Then it was all over. Quite a show.
‘Tomorrow is the town of Honfleur. I was there in 2018 on a tour of Normandy. It is a beautiful little city.
‘Photos: the photo above is from my 2018 trip in better weather, me in front of Mont today in the drizzly weather, a view of the crowds in the street, a stairway leading to where?, restaurant where we had lunch, Betty and Nancy hugging Bunny, the French flag flying over the rampart, a turret on the wall, our lunch restaurant, 3 views of Saint Malo.