Enjoying the day in Bruges

Posted on June 28, 2018 by herktrav

If I told you I woke up before the alarm at 6:50 am, would you even believe me ?!?

It’s true!  We were showered and ready for breakfast early today.  Enjoyed a hearty breakfast and then headed out for a walk.  Today we headed in the other direction, away from the main square towards the Burg Square.

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Tucked away in the corner is ‘The Basilica of the Holy Blood’.  It is a Roman Catholic basilica and a major landmark in the city. The building dates back to the 12th century and is said to have a relic of Jesus – two drops of his blood.

Next to the basilica was the city hall.  Very interesting architecture and carvings on the facade.

Next to the city hall is the court of justice.  We loved the city mascot – a bear that we named Charlie – because we could.

Exiting the Burg Square, we started walking along the canal. The scenery was gorgeous!  Houses and gardens basking in the sunshine with the canal flowing peacefully.  Cutting back through the town, we saw a guy maneuvering the cool red car out of a garage.  Eventually we found one of the original gates, which just so happened to lead back to our hotel.

After our walk, we freshened up a bit for our afternoon High Tea. It was a beautiful day to sit on the patio and just enjoy ourselves. We started off with a glass of champagne followed by our tea.  We chose a nice green tea rather than going with Earl Gray.  Next came the rack of goodies.  The bottom layer held the finger sandwiches – king crab, egg salad and cucumber sandwiches.  The second layer was homemade scones with clotted cream and jam.  The top tier was various sweets – macaroons, cake, mousse and berries.  It was a fun “snack” fit for a queen.

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Feeling full and a little warm, we retreated to our room to relax for a little while.  Some reading, some music and some creative writing took us to dinner time.

Tonight dinner is at a restaurant called – ‘Quatre Mains’.  It’s a tapas restaurant that was recommended by one of the staff at the hotel.  When we asked her to make reservations for us, she guided us away from another place as being “not so good for us”.

The restaurant was cute, busy and filled with all locals.  We started with our kir royals, and then at our server’s suggestion, we went with four plates to share and a bottle of  Sancerre rose.

Our four plates were: Cheese croquettes, Iberian ham with tomato bread, Cod with tomatoes, tarragon and green onions and then roasted pork cheeks prepared similar to a Shepherd’s Pie with mashed potatoes.  Our fifth plate was a shared Creme brûlée.  Everything was delicious and prices were very reasonable.

We took a nice walk back to the hotel and digested our meals before heading to bed.

 

 

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Visiting Beautiful Bruges

Posted on June 27, 2018 by herktrav

We both woke up early after a good night’s sleep.  After the little bit of walking around last evening, we were excited to explore the town.  The hotel’s breakfast provided many choices and we found out that everything is homemade.  Suffice to say, we both enjoyed a hearty breakfast.

Since the maid was working in our room, we decided to go for a little walk.  We ended up  taking some pictures and then a canal boat ride.  Being earlier or pre day-trippers, the boat wasn’t jam packed and provided for a nice tour.

Funny item, when we were boarding the boat there was a young Japanese couple already on.  When I hopped into the boat and sat on the same side as them, the boat rocked a little and they were giggling nervously like we were going to tip.  For a brief moment I felt like Godzilla.

Anyways, the boat ride was really nice.  Each ride lasts about 35 minutes and you cover a good amount of ground.  The captain provides commentary and points out the highlights of Bruges in an entertaining manner.  Below are some pictures from our journey.

Walking back to the hotel, we stopped by a place that they call the beer wall.  There are 1,100 different beers made throughout Belgium and they have the majority of them available and on display.  We browsed the display picking out some of our favorite labels.

We had to make a stop back at the hotel to grab our sunglasses and to slather on some sunscreen before going for a walk.  We walked along the canal and headed for the Church of Our Lady.  It was built in the fifteenth century, took two centuries to complete and has a bell tower that is 122 meters tall.  It has beautiful stained-glass windows and contains many artistic treasures highlighted by the only sculpture by Michaelangelo that left Italy during his lifetime.  It is a statue carved in 1504 that is the Madonna and Child.

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Michaelangelo’s Madonna and Child.

Leaving the church, we continued our walk under skies that we will remember as being “Bruges blue”. We wound our way along the canal passing by quaint little bridges and houses.  Every few minutes another boat would cruise by loaded with camera-wielding passengers.

Sue and I were thinking about digging canals between the retainage ponds back home and giving people tours of the neighborhood.  Our HOA probably wouldn’t approve it without getting a cut of the profits, so that idea bubble has been officially burst!

Upon returning to the hotel, it was time for drinks on the patio and a little people watching.  The drinks were glasses of champagne and the people watching was at the expense of those lining up for the afternoon boat rides.

Heading upstairs, we just chilled in the room and listened to Helmut Lotti tunes for a while.  Since he is Belgian, we hoped there was a chance that he might have a concert while we were here.  Unfortunately, we found out he actually lives in Germany these days.

Dinner tonight was at Restaurant Couvert.  It was literally a three minute walk from the hotel and that’s because we walk slow.  It is a wonderful restaurant and was recommended by many people.  We selected the tasting menu with the wine pairings.  We now know why people recommend the restaurant.  Everything was delicious!  We had a starter of smoked salmon, followed by dorade fish, then a main of roast veal and vegetable medley and dessert was a watermelon and strawberry mix with a mint chiffonade.  The paired wines went well with the courses.

Before heading back to the hotel, we took a little night walk and took some pictures.

All in all it was a beautiful first day in Bruges.  I can see why people say it is like a fairy tale city.  It has a little of everything for travelers – historic buildings, canals and boat rides, beautiful architecture, delicious food and friendly people.

 

 

 

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From Paris to Bruges

Posted on June 26, 2018 by herktrav

Still can’t believe it’s time to move on from Paris.  The time seemed to go so fast.  We had a wonderful time and can’t wait to return.

We’re taking the Thalys train to Belgium, so we’ll be leaving from Gare Nord.  We checked out and grabbed a taxi from the taxi stand in front of the hotel.  With no traffic at all, we arrived at the station in ten minutes.  Had we known it would be that quick, we could have waited another forty-five minutes.

The usual assortment of undesirables could be found from the minute we arrived; most just asking for money, while there were others that looked like pickpockets.  We had some time to kill, so we were just hanging out when we noticed a group of soldiers.  Next thing you know, the station was being evacuated.  Apparently, there was an unattended bag near the Aerostar lines that was deemed suspicious.

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Everyone waiting after being evacuated

My guess is just a Brit who walked away for a smoke.  Don’t know what they did, but about twenty minutes later they let everyone back in. We couldn’t help but wonder if the police blew the bloke’s clothes to bits.

So much for the excitement.  Our train ended up leaving close to a half-hour late, which meant we missed our connection in Brussels.  The good news is there is a train from Brussels to Bruges every hour.

The Brussels train station is pretty big and just a little confusing.  We walked to where we thought we needed to go, but couldn’t find a sign for our train.  We ended up asking at the info window and the gentleman pointed us right to our train.  We were in the right place, just didn’t realize the train before ours hadn’t left yet.

The ride from Brussels to Bruges takes about an hour and there are two stops before you arrive in Bruge.  The station in Bruges is medium sized – I think we counted eight tracks.  It took us ten minutes from getting off the train to getting into a cab.

Our Taxi driver was very nice.  A right proper ambassador for the city.  We laughed together all the way to the hotel – especially noting all the Beer tasting signs.  The fare was a flat €7.00 to the center of town.

Our hotel is called the Hotel de Orangerie and it is beautiful.  It’s located right on the canal and is only a two minute walk to Markt Square.

Our room is gorgeous and overlooks the canal.  It has a large, comfortable bed, two big windows that open, two big easy chairs, a desk, big bathroom and there is even a fireplace that works in the winter months.  There are plenty of outlets and lights in the room too!

We relaxed in the room until dinner time.  It is really cozy and feels like home.

Dinner tonight was at the Belgian Pigeon House.  We were seated in an arched-ceiling basement dining room.  Our server was a very nice older man, soft spoken and friendly.  Besides our Kir Royals, we had a bottle of red wine from the Langnuedoc region.  Sue started with an order of croquettes and I had white asparagus in a balsamic reduction.  For our mains, we both had the house specialty – roast pigeon.  To finish, we shared a warm apple tart with vanilla ice cream.  Everything was delicious!  In case you’re wondering, the pigeon tasted like dark meat chicken and the breast meat had a rich taste.

When we went up and paid, we talked to the owner for a bit.  She invited Sue into the kitchen and showed her their josner oven, which was charcoal fired and perfect for cooking the birds.  She then told us about the restoration they had done on the building and how they won an award for the authenticity.  Next thing you know she was ushering us upstairs to see what they did.  I was afraid she was trying to sell it to us; good thing I had the credit card.

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After warm hugs, we headed out and back to the hotel.  The night skies were perfect for a few pictures along the way.

Our first impressions of Bruges were “what a charming town”.  Can’t wait to explore tomorrow.

 

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Our last day in Paris

Posted on June 26, 2018 by herktrav

Woke up to a beautiful sunny day.  Cleaned up and went down to breakfast.  It’s hard to believe that this is our last day in Paris.

Since we still had time left on our tickets, we walked back to Notre Dame and hopped on the batobus.  We decided to do a circuit just to see the sites one last time.  Definitely getting our money’s worth with these tickets.  The boats are pretty full today.  Each stop sees many people getting off and on.  Even though it’s early afternoon, it’s pretty warm out.  We make sure we stay in the shade as much as possible.

When the boat returns to the Notre Dame stop, we hop off and take a little walk.  Our first stop is at Shakespeare & Company.  It’s a bookstore that has been around for years.  Apparently lots of others want to see it too – there is a long line and security only allows a limited number of people in at one time.  We decide to take a few pictures and then move along.

Our next stop was at Pont Neuf.  We took the stairs down to the water level to find a historic marker.  This was the spot where the last Templar Grandmaster – Jacques de Molay was burned at the stake by order of King Philip IV on 18 March 1314.  A plaque on the wall commemorates the event.

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It was definitely getting hotter and more crowded, so we decided to head back to the hotel to rest up before dinner.  The a/c in the hotel was a welcomed relief from the heat outside.  We relaxed and I worked on the blog until it was time to clean up for dinner.

Dinner tonight is at a restaurant named ‘Cézembre’.  We’re looking forward to trying it out as we’ve heard good things about it.  We arrived a few minutes early and the guy from Zorba Greek restaurant tried to convince us to eat there.  He seemed a little put out that we weren’t interested until we said “next time’.

Dinner here is another Chef’s choice menu.  It was five courses, plus an amuse-bouche and mini cakes at the end.  Instead of the wine pairing menu, we went with a bottle of Domaine Gérard Deplessis “Le Clos” Chablis.  The first four courses paired well with the wine – we had dishes that included langoustines, cod, artichokes, squash and mushrooms.  For the final course, which was roasted lamb, the waiter brought us a glass of red wine from the Languedoc, saying we needed red wine with lamb.  Dessert was next, followed by some mini-Madelines and mini-chocolate lava cakes.  Cézembre exceeded our expectations and was another wonderful dining experience at a very reasonable price.

Another beautiful night’s stroll back to the hotel.  We leave in the morning so we wanted to get a good night’s sleep.

 

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Musée d’Orsay on Friday

Posted on June 25, 2018 by herktrav

Another beautiful day in Paris.  Sunny, but not overly warm and blue skies.  We had a good breakfast – like we have had every day – and then set out.

So after Wednesday’s loss of patience at the Louvre, I was hoping to rebound at the Musée d’Orsay.  As we’ve discussed previously, I don’t study art, I don’t care about brush technique and I’m not an Artist groupie.  I’m basically a ‘PPP’ – pretty picture person.  It has to appeal to me visually or I’m on to the next one.  So let’s see how this works out.

The Musée d’Orsay, now also known as “Le MO”, is just a ten minute walk from our hotel.  If you don’t know the story, it was previously a train station that was repurposed as an art gallery.   You can really tell it was a train station from the facade and from the grand hall when you enter.

Our strategy was to start at the top floor and work our way down.  The top or fifth floor contains most of the impressionist and neo-impressionist works by artists like Monet, Sisley, Renoir, Cézanne, Degas and Pissarro.  From there we worked our way down and finished with the various sculptures.

Our strategy worked as we enjoyed ourselves in the gallery.  Many beautiful artworks with a smaller crowd made for a great visit.

After “Le MO”, we walked down to the Seine and bought tickets for the Batobus.  The batobus is a Hop-on / Hop-off boat with about ten stops between the Eiffel Tower and the Jardin du Plantes.  The Herkey version is Hop-on / Stay-on as we just enjoyed being on the river and enjoying the sites.  We road for a complete circuit before heading back to the hotel.  The price is €17 and the ticket is good for 24 hours.

We had a little time before having to clean up for dinner and it was nice to relax.  I haven’t walked this much since last year, so my tootsies are feeling a little sore.

Anyway, dinner tonight is at a restaurant called ‘Cinq Mars’.  It’s about a ten minute walk from the hotel, actually right behind the Musée d’Orsay.  It’s another smaller place that’s supposed to have really good food.

We started with our Kir Royals and then our starters were a cucumber salad with goat cheese for me and a delicious homemade terrine for Sue.  They actually brought over the whole dish so she could take as much as she wanted.  Our main plates were both fish.  Sue had a roasted turbot with a huge helping of spinach, while I had a roasted sea bream with asparagus and an artichoke purée.  Dessert was a rhubarb clafoutis for Sue and Creme caramel for me.  A nice bottle of white Bourgogne went down awfully easy.  Prices were reasonable and the service was very good.

‘We had a nice stroll back to the hotel and relaxed for the remainder of the evening.

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Tourists in Paris to celebrate summer

Posted on June 25, 2018 by herktrav

With nothing on our agenda until dinner, we decided to be tourists for the day.  What a wonderful way to bring in the first day of summer.  We strolled down to Notre Dame and from there we caught the Hop-on / Hop-off bus.  It was a beautiful day – plenty of sunshine and not too warm.  We were able to switch buses and ended up taking two of the three routes that they cover.

There were plenty of people around town today.  The major sites like Notre Dame, Les Invalides, the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe were all packed with people,  but all the parks and gardens were full too.  As you might guess, there was a lot of traffic on the roads that slowed us down to a crawl at times.  It was good for picture taking though!

All-in-all, it was really a great way to see most of the iconic monuments without walking our legs off.  While we did end up with a little sunburn, the fresh air and beautiful sites totally offset our red noses.  I have some pictures to share, but you should really play some French music or at least sing “Frères Jacques” while viewing them.

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at Les Deux Magots for a bit of lunch and some wine.  We had a nice bottle of Rosé Sancerre along with a croque monsieur for me and Sue had warm cheese with toasted Poliane made bread.  Everything was delicious and the people watching was awesome.

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Today is also a special day in France.  Each year they celebrate the return of summer with the “Fetes de Musique” throughout the country.  There are concerts and performances throughout the city here in Paris, plus there are impromptu concerts in various locations.  Hopefully we will find an accordionist or two to celebrate with.

Before heading back to the room, we made one quick stop.  That stop was at the Alain Ducasse Chocolate shop.  I’d tell you how much I want to share them with you, but they’re gone.  They were delicious though.

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Dinner was at the Jazz Club Chez Papa.  It’s just down the street from our hotel and is a decent restaurant with live jazz music.  The club is kind of funky.  People have scratched or written their names everywhere on the beams, the walls and even the ceiling.  Some of the all-time jazz greats have performed there.

Tonight we would be entertained by a talented woman named Leslie.  She was accompanied by a piano and upright bass.   She had a wonderful voice and the musicians were terrific too!

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‘We were seated so close the piano player could have spun around and joined us for dinner.  It was really cool.

During their first break the bass player stopped over to say hello.  We were able to chat for a few minutes and we found out that he was originally from the Bronx.  After he left us, the singer stopped by to see if we were enjoying the show.  She was very pleasant to chat with and told us that the piano player is her husband and that they sold it all in California and moved to Paris.  I can’t remember her last name, sorry Leslie, but I’ll note it later if I can find it.

So dinner was good, but not great.  I had a salad of buffalo mozzarella and tomatoes and Sue had warm goat cheese and toast points as a starter.  We both had grilled prawns as our main and then I had a Creme caramel and Sue shared it with me.

We left after the second set having enjoyed our evening.  On the way out we got a wave and a “Goodnight Buffalo” from the bass player.

On the walk home, we came upon one of those impromptu concerts just outside of St. Germain des Pres church.  We stuck around for a few songs before feeling a little chilly, so back to the hotel we went.  With the windows cracked, we could hear the music in our room.

After a little while we both got tired, so off to dreamland.

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Delacroix and the Louvre

Posted on June 24, 2018 by herktrav

Today we get a little artsy.  We have tickets to see the Eugene Delacroix exhibition at the Louvre, plus admission to the Eugene Delacroix museum.

We had a good breakfast and then headed over to the Delacroix museum.  It is literally two blocks away from our hotel, so we’re there in no time at all.  The museum is basically the studio he worked in, several small artworks and a lovely garden.  Most of the paintings were moved to the Louvre special exhibit, so our visit was relatively short.

Afterwards we took a nice walk over to the Louvre.  It was fun cutting up some of the small streets and seeing the little shops, galleries, cafes and people.  It provides a glimpse of the real Paris that you don’t see when you stick to the bigger streets.

We arrived at the Louvre and the ticket line was already pretty long.  Luckily, since we already had our tickets, we got to go to the short line and walk right in.  Sue made me promise not to make faces at the people who were looking at us as we strolled right to the front – but mentally – I did!

Under the pyramid, the sun was shining down and there were people everywhere.  The Delacroix exhibit was in a special area and tickets were issued by time, so it wasn’t as packed as the rest of the museum.  When our time came up, we headed in.

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We were familiar with some of his work, but didn’t realize the extent of his talent and how much he contributed to the art world.  The following photos will hopefully provide a little glimpse of his art.

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We were really glad that we bought the tickets for the exhibit.  It was enjoyable and educational.

Our tickets also allowed for admittance to the Louvre so we thought we would revisit a couple areas that we’ve not seen since we first went to them some twenty years ago.  We decided to first go to the Denon Wing to see the Italian works.  Unfortunately it was packed with people, many of whom don’t exactly practice good manners.

The first of the “famous” works we came across was the “Winged Victory”.  It stands at the top of a staircase, which means people bunch up on the stairs to snap pictures.  We were somewhat lucky in that we were at the tail end of a tour group, so once they moved on we had a open view.

Next we followed the crowd down a corridor.  We stopped about halfway down to see a few works by Leonardo Da Vinci before heading over to see the Mona Lisa.  They have her on a wall by herself, under plexiglass.  The area is cordoned off so as to create a corral for people and yet some try to push their way forward rather than waiting patiently for their turn.  Seriously, I’m not kidding.

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After maneuvering through the throng of people, we made an executive decision that we had had enough.  A gallery of that size with so many masterpieces should be a pleasant experience; today was not a pleasant experience.  So glad we saw the Delacroix works without the crush of people – wish there was a better way to see the rest.

We walked back to the hotel, but made a stop to buy two palmiers and water for a little picnic back in the room.  I have to say, French pastries are just so good and a good way to tide one over before dinner.

We rested for a little bit before getting ready for dinner.  Tonight’s dinner is at a small restaurant called “La Bourse et La Vie”  It’s located close to the Bourse or stock market and just up the street from the Grand Colbert (featured in the movie – “Somethings Gotta Give”).

Anyway, dinner was excellent.  We enjoyed our Kir Royals and then started out with asparagus with a sabayon sauce.  For our meals, Sue had chicken prepared two ways: white meat chicken with white asparagus and the dark meat sautéed with mushrooms.  I had the night’s special, which was a grilled lobster with roasted white peaches.  We had a nice bottle of Auxey-Duress white burgundy that paired up perfectly.

Very happy we chose the restaurant.  Food was excellent, service was wonderful and prices were reasonable.  Definitely a winner, especially for such a small place.

Grabbed a taxi home and rested our legs.  Lots of walking today.

 

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Off we go to Paris

Posted on June 23, 2018 by herktrav

We really enjoyed Pontorson, but today we’ll be moving on to Paris.  Our train leaves at 9:14 am, so we needed to get up early to clean up, check out and walk over to the train station.

While checking out, we met a really nice couple from New Zealand.  They had only come in the day before to visit Mont Saint-Michel.  They were traveling on the same train as us, so we had a nice time chatting with them.  Sue and I chuckled as they had bicycled around Brittany, while I struggled to walk to the train station without huffing and puffing.  Oh well, you can’t win them all.

The train was right on time and we were whisked off to Rennes Station.  It’s a pleasant trip and only takes about 50 minutes.  Once we arrived, we had about an hour before our next train.  We found a comfortable place to sit and listened to a young lady play the same song over and over on a piano.  We enjoyed her playing – really!

Our next train would take us from Rennes to Paris.  It also arrived right on time and since it was a TGV, we cruised along and only took an hour and a half to get to Paris.  We arrived at Gare Montparnesse, which all things considered, was not too busy.  We were able to grab a cab and get to the hotel in about 20 minutes.  All said and done, our travels took about four and a half hours.

We are staying at the Au Manoir Saint-Germaine des Pres.  It is located in the 6th arrondisement of Paris, which is the arts and fashion area.  For those of you who know Sue and I well, we won’t be hanging out with the fashionistas.  In fact, I’m surprised they let us stay in this arrondisement.

Anyway, our hotel is located directly across the street from Cafe Flores and kitty-corner from Les Deux Magots – so maybe the intellectuals will also get a chance to chuckle at us!

We were greeted warmly when we arrived and within 10 minutes were checked in and up in our room.  We have a room on the first floor that overlooks Boulevard St Germain.  Pretty nice room too.  Nice big, comfortable bed, a couple chairs for relaxing, a desk and a decent bathroom area.  The real plus is that we have two large floor-to-ceiling windows that we can open for fresh air and to hear the sounds of the city.

Since it was already after 2:00 pm, we stayed in the room and rested before getting cleaned up for dinner.  Tonight’s reservations are at 6:30 pm, our earliest dinner of the trip, but one of my most anticipated.  I managed to get a reservation at “Restaurant Frenchie” after trying for the last three trips.

We had a cab for 6:00 pm and he was right on time.  Hotel manager said it’s about a ten minute ride.  Of course he wasn’t counting on there being heavy traffic.  Without the drama, we pulled up to the restaurant at 6:28.  We were a little worried about getting there on-time, and I think our driver was a little worried for a while too, but he came through for us.  When we exited the taxi, there were other patrons awaiting the opening of the doors.  Our timing was perfect as we were able to check-in and be first to select our table.

Frenchie’s has no menu.  Each evening there is just one five course meal that they serve.  We chose to go with the wine pairing menu, which the sommelier and chef put together.  How was it?  Awesome!  In all honesty, it is up there with some of the best meals we have ever had (outside of Mom’s beans, wieners and bacon).

Each course was described in loving detail and the paired wine explained as well.  The staff couldn’t have been nicer.  They kept things moving without feeling rushed.  There were two amuse-Bouche, four excellent dishes and then two desserts.  So much for a five course meal, the nice part is that while plentiful, each course was not a mountain of food.

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Afterwards, we took a little stroll and then grabbed a taxi back to the hotel.  Since it was still early, we went across the street to Cafe De Flore for a Rosé nightcap before heading up to the room.

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It was a nice day and a great way to start out in Paris.

 

 

 

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Enjoying the day in Pontorson

Posted on June 20, 2018 by herktrav

Since today was a strike day for the railroads in France, we took advantage of an extra quiet day to check out the town.  Pontorson is a lovely little town that typically is used by tourists who want to visit Mont Saint-Michel.  They use the train station and shuttle bus, but never really see much of the town.

Unfortunately, being Monday, many places were closed.  With the Medieval Festival or “Pontorsonnades” being wrapped up, there was a lot of cleaning up going on.  Temporary structures being taken down, streets being washed and a total lack of people.  If you’re a Sci-Fi fan, it was like we stepped into the town with no people.  We kept expecting to see Rod Serling on a street corner.

The town of Pontorson lies on the Couesnon River and is home to about 4,300 people.  It was founded in the 12th century by William the Conqueror.  Our hotel, ‘The Hotel Montgomery’ was the residence of the aristocratic Counts of Montgomery and dates back to the 1500’s.  The main church – Notre Dame de la Paix was built between 1050 and 1120.   And that’s today’s history lesson…  Otherwise, the town is small but cute.  The people were all very friendly and seemed to enjoy being asked questions about their town.

Hopefully the pictures give you an idea of what the town was like.  A misty rain started as we were walking around, so we ducked into a Creperie for a bite of lunch.  So there are two types of crepes that they have.  The first is a buckwheat crepe known as a galette.  It is typically served as a savory item with meat, cheese, eggs and vegetables.  Mine had ham, cheese, onions and an over-easy egg on top.  Sue’s had ham, leeks and gruyere cheese.  Then comes the second type, which is the sweet version.  I had one with apple and salt caramel.  Sue’s had chocolate and banana.  Both were really good.  And, of course, we did manage to find a bottle of Rose wine to wash it all down.

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Afterwards, we went back to the hotel and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon – Sue reading and me writing.

Since most of the restaurants were closed, we tried a hotel restaurant called Relais Montois for dinner.  They feature a Mediterranean cuisine, which for us meant Couscous  served with vegetables, broth and grilled meats.  The meats included lamb, chicken, sausage and beef.  Really good and really reasonably priced.  It was a pleasant surprise and different.

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We took a stroll back to the hotel to relax and got to bed early.  Tomorrow we leave for Paris.

 

 

 

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The Beauty of Mont Saint-Michel

Posted on June 18, 2018 by herktrav

Woke up feeling refreshed and excited, as today we are heading to Mont Saint-Michel.  I have seen pictures and read about the Mont for years and today the pictures turn to reality.

Getting there from Pontorson is easy.  They have a shuttle bus that runs back and forth between the Mont and the train station.  It runs regularly during the day and evening and coordinates with the train schedule.  I guess that makes it easy for the day trippers too!  No gouging on price either – it’s €2.80 each way per person.  The ride takes about 20 minutes and the bus drops you off just about 150 meters from the entrance and picks you up in the same place – very convenient.

Laugh if you will, but the first glimpse of the Mont is magical.  It hardly seems like a real place.

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Mont Saint-Michel rising from the sea

When we arrived, the skies were grey and the tide was already retreating from around the Mont.  It is amazing to me that when the tides are low, the water completely leaves the bay.  It goes from being an island to a rocky mass jutting from the muck.

Approaching from the causeway, it’s really special as it grows before your eyes.  Once off the bus, everyone automatically reaches for their cameras and crowds the railing to get their iconic first shot.  Sort of like this:

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If you notice on the above picture, the tide is already pulling out leaving just shallow puddles around the ramparts.  Later in the day, people will actually be walking out on the drying sea floor.

It’s just a short walk to get to the gates and to begin your exploration.  The views change as you approach and get different angles of the structures.

Once inside, it gets a little bit crowded.  The narrow, inclined walkways and abundance of stairs can test one’s patience if you aren’t prepared to deal with the people using them.  For instance, you might question why someone would be blocking the way with a stroller, and then be even more confused when there is no baby in the stroller, just a dog.

Anyway, the first part of the walk is hotels, restaurants, souvenir shops and the ramparts, which you can merrily enjoy for free.  The second part is the Abbaye, chapels and cloister; there is a fee of €10 each and you can also get an audio guide for a small additional fee.

Lots of people were catching their breath after the climb to the Abbaye.  I don’t know how many steps there were, so I’ll just guess – Lots!

Our first stop was in the chapel where there was a Mass taking place.  We stayed and participated until the end of the Mass, which was a lovely experience.

Afterwards, we ventured into some of the other chapels, crypts and halls until we came to the Cloister.  Such a beautiful and tranquil area.  Keep in mind that the church and abbey have been around in part from the 700’s.  While the use of the structures has changed throughout the centuries, it’s interesting to see the efforts that have kept it intact.

As our tour came to an end and we started down from the Abbey, the wind picked up a little bit and it started to rain.  Luckily we both had jackets, so we stayed dry, but we also had a bit of a wait until the bus returned.

We opted to grab a quick sandwich and drink and to sit under cover for a little while.  Needless to say, it doesn’t take long to eat a sandwich.  In that time, the clouds blew by and the sun came out and the skies turned blue.  When that happened, the views became incredible.

Soon after we took our pictures, the wind picked back up and more clouds rolled in.  The bus arrived and we were headed back to Pontorson.

We arrived back at town and the Medieval Festival was still going strong.  There were more people strolling along, but the cooler weather was not helping at all.  Still, people were enjoying themselves and that’s the important thing.

To my bowling buddies:  on the chance that my bowling career is over, I may have found something a little easier on the back – Medieval Bowling!

Back to the hotel to clean up before dinner.  We enjoyed it so much, that we are returning to Le Relais Gascon and the wonderful Isabelle.  She was too nice not to visit again.

We had 8:00 pm reservations and good thing, as there was a full house tonight.  It would have been more difficult to just do a walk up.  The two-day festival was tiring, so Isabelle’s jester outfit was gone, but the blue hair remained.  Mind you, we believe she was grandma to the younger folks working there and probably mama to the folks doing the cooking.  We ordered a bottle of red wine from Saumur, which went perfect with our duck confit.  I also had a salad with grilled anchovies that was delicious.  Throw on a bit of dessert, especially my profiteroles and you get two happily sated people.

A slow walk back to the hotel and another day was complete.  Just a little relaxation before heading off to sleep.

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