Seeing the St.'s

Today was the very first excursion organized by the CIDEF program for study abroad students. The destination? St. Malo and then Mont St. Michel, which are among two of the most renowned sites in France--or so I am told. I have to admit that I actually went into this excursion blindly, as I had never heard of either of these locations before signing up to go. Even so, I was eager to see anything new. After all, I've been in France for nearly a month now and I haven't even left Angers since arriving!

As far as I'm concerned, the big adventure of today actually started last night. I got special permission from my French mother for my friend Katie to stay with me over the night, as she has to take a bus to get to the university. As buses do not run until seven in the morning--and we had to meet at 7:15--it was more convenient for her to stay the night. We then walked together to UCO to meet for the trip.

The group that went totalled possibly a hundred students, all packed on three buses. It took us three hours to reach St. Malo, and all along the way one of the 'chaperones'--my Traduction professor--kept up a running commentary of cities and sites that we passed along the way. St. Malo--as I learned--is a port city in the French region of Bretagne. It is completely encircled by remparts that were built for protection during times of war. Naturally, Katie and I decided to begin our day with a nice refreshing walk on top of the wall, where the view of the city was absolutely amazing. We then visited the chateau and walked on the beach, where I collected some of the prettiest seashells that I've ever seen.

Katie and I ended up eating lunch at a beautiful little restaurant that we found. The region of Bretagne is famous for its crepes and galettes, so it was absolutely necessary for us to try some. I ordered a formula lunch that included seafood fondue, a green salad and a caramel crepe. Everything was absolutely delicious! I felt as though I got more than my money's worth.

The next stop was Mont St. Michel. It is a beautiful island that seems to be its own little world in and of itself. After climbing about a million steps, we were able to tour the cathedral/chateau that makes up the primary landmark on the island. I was very glad that there was only one main path to follow, as that path twisted and turned so much that I could have easily gotten lost!

We had another hour or so afterwards to kill, so Katie and I ended up window-shopping in some of the souvenir shops. It was very nice to tour the town at our leisure before boarding the bus again for the drive back.