On Wednesday morning, early, Tom & I picked up our rent car by the train station. That put us in prime traffic time. Yikes! If you've never driven in Paris rush hour, that's an experience all by itself. The little cars, the motorcycles, the buses all seem to have there own rules and you have to watch every move. We had a couple of missed exits on our way out of town, but finally got on the highway for smooth sailing.
We did a quick check-in at our hotel and took off to see Mont-Saint-Michel. This most impressive monument dates back to around 708, when Aubert Bishop of Avuanches, had a sanctuary built on Mont-Tombe in honor of the Archangel, Michael. This is a most impressive structure, that seems to jut up out of the sea. During the Hundred Years War, Mont-Saint-Michel was an example of military architecture that resisted all English assaults and became a symbol of national identity.
Today there are many restaurants, souvenir shops and hotels on the island, but once you get past all that the peaceful dignity of the Abbey is preserved. We toured the magnificent structure by climbing many, many steps, but it you want to see it, that's how you do it. We made our way back to Bayeaux, where we were staying for the night. We had a quick bite in a local bistro and fell into bed to get an early start for our D-Day tour.
Thursday morning our host at the hotel, Anthony, served us a nice French breakfast to start our day.
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