Go, Go, Go...

Since we last posted we have been to Ireland, had an England family reunion, and gone to France. Evan got to meet his Irish cousins, and his English cousins and a fun time was had by all.

Then there was France. Ever since I can remember I have wanted to see Mont-Saint-Michel a rock island with a city built upon it. The coolest thing about it is that during certain times of the year the sandy areas around the island are submerged, so with the exception of the road. The city truly becomes an island again. The sign I took a picture of says, "Today, the sea does not cover this carpark."

The city has been there almost a thousand years. At the very top of the rock is an Abby where they housed prisoners during some periods. They would lock the prisoners in a room in the Abby (I would call it the dungeons but technically, the rooms are a few floors above ground). They would have some of the prisoners walk like hamsters in a giant wheel to load food from boats into the city. The prisoners would prefer this task since it meant they got a little more food themselves but many of them died there since there was no heat and they were next to a large open window area.

The city was fascinating. There were passageways that you would have to walk sideways to get through and there were doors in the passageways (escape routes?).

Unfortunately, it took us between 8 and 10 hours of driving to get there. We had originally scheduled to fly to Paris and drive but so many people told us France wasn't that far we decided to pack up the car and drive it instead. This meant we would have to take the Eurotunnel.


The Eurotunnel is an experience in and of itself. You drive on to the train cars (like in "The Italian Job") and you sit in silence while the train takes you under the English Channel in 36 minutes. The ride was so smooth that you don't even know you are going about 90mph. You get to France and just go (no one even checked our passports).

While we in the Mont-St-Michel region (Normandy) we also checked out some other fascinating sights: Calcane (a walled city) and The beaches at Normandy.