Rooted in Adventure: A windy day at Mont Saint-Michel

The following morning, Marina, my former host sister who is currently studying in another city about 2 hours away dropped by the house to surprise me! Alessandro, Marina, Blake and I decided to go for a ride around Dinan. We drove by the house we lived in, the school I attended and then we stopped to have a drink at Place Duclos, a café in the very center of Dinan. Being in Place Duclos brought back many memories of my exchange as it was a place I frequented often with friends. It was so great to catch up with my host brother and sister and all too soon it was time to go. Marina had to return to university and Blake and I had another adventure planned for the afternoon.

Out of all of the amazing things there is to do in this region of France, the number one thing I wanted Blake to see was Mont Saint-Michel. This island with a large abbey lies right on the border of Bretagne and Normandy and is located about 1 hour from Dinan. I told Amparo that I really wanted to take Blake there and she generously offered to take us. The island of Mont St. Michel is located just 600 meters from land and was accessible at low tide but became totally inaccessible at high tide before a land bridge was made for tourists. In some areas, quicksand also provided a natural defense for the island. Recently, improvements have been made to the area. A new, larger bridge has made the Mont accessible at all times, an information center has been built, and the parking lot has moved further away. Today, buses or a fairly long walk are required to get to Mont Saint-Michel. Before these updates, cars could drive all the way up to Mont Saint-Michel. However, this old system caused many headaches for tourists and workers as the rising tides forced drivers to move their cars before they filled with water! As the tide is no longer a concern, tourists like us could freely visit this UNESCO World Heritage site without worry. It took Amparo, Alessandro, Blake and I about 30 minutes to climb up the hill to the Abbey. We stopped at the top to eat our sandwiches and take in the views before taking a free tour of the Abbey. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t very nice and the winds were very strong; A typical occurrence for this region in France during the early months of the year. All in all, we spent about 3 hours at Mont Saint-Michel before driving home.

Back in Dinan, Amparo treated Blake, Alessandro and I to a galette and crepe dinner downtown. A galette is similar to a crepe but it has a more savory flavor and crunchy texture as it is made from buckwheat flour. Normally, galettes are considered more of a main course dish as they are filled with ingredients typically found in omelets: egg, ham, tomato or bacon. For dessert, Blake and I had banana/Nutella crepes, a favorite of ours. After dinner, Alessandro said his goodbyes as he had to return to Rennes for university. It was so nice spending the day with Alessandro. His bright and happy personality and his persistent adoration for his dog, Cannelle had me feeling like nothing had changed since my exchange in 2011-2012.