Mont-Saint-Michel and Saint Malo!!!

Everytime my program takes us on an excursion, the energy is electric. Everyone is so excited because we get to spend the day exploring a new place in France that we may otherwise never get to visit. This weekend, we spent Saturday (March 19th) traveling on a coach bus to Mont-Saint-Michel and Saint Malo. If you look up pictures of Le Mont Saint Michel, I’m sure you have seen or heard of it at some point. It is this huge, magical island in Normandy with a breathtaking abbey at the top. Saint Malo is a beautiful port city in Brittany with a gorgeous Old Town enclosed between huge granite walls. 

I loved this excursion because we got so much free time to explore the areas individually. Don’t get me wrong, I love a guided tour. However, sometimes it’s nice getting to guide yourself. We went to Saint Malo first where we had a few hours to explore and get lunch on our own. My friends and I went down to the sandy area and climbed up a rocky island that would soon be impossible to get to by foot once the tide came in. This little port town was so cute and everyone was very friendly. We had a long conversation (in French of course) with a shop owner who had just visited the U.S. and was shocked with how expensive everything was (especially a glass of wine!!). Then we all loaded back on the bus and went to Mont Saint Michel. IES Abroad bought our entry ticket and let us walk through town and the abbey freely. The town is so quaint with very narrow walking streets that are on an almost harsh incline. The abbey was much larger than I thought it would be and the views from the top were breathtaking. For miles and miles, all you can see is sand (which is very dangerous because it acts as quicksand!). After a long day of exploration, everyone from my program got back on the bus that took us home to Nantes.

I’m trying a new blog post format today, so I included some pictures from this weekend with captions that explain where/what is happening in them! Enjoy.