Saint-Malo et Mont Saint Michel

One week ago today my host family took me to Mont Saint Michel! Now if you don't know what Mont Saint Michel is, here: http://www.sacred-destinations.com/france/mont-st-michel.

Mont Saint Michel

Done reading? Okay!
So, last Saturday morning we got up early and took the two hour drive to the parking lot for Mont Saint Michel. After, we took the half hour walk to the actual thing. The parking used to be right by the monument but on a quest to make the mount more "natural" they decided to put the lot a half hour away. 

View from the terrace

The Mont Saint Michel is so beautiful! There is a little winding road all the way up to the grand monument with many little tourist shops and restaurants along the way. After we made it to the giant medieval abbey we bought our tickets and climbed the hundreds and hundreds of steps to the "terrasse." As I was looking at the amazing view, I was swarmed by a group of about 30 Japanese tourists who wondered if I could take their picture. Of course, I said "sure". They then explained to me what they wanted the picture to be of, in a mixture of English with the occasional French word thrown in (they clearly didn't realize that I was American), and handed me about fifteen cameras. Okay fine, three, but still! As I was struggling with holding the cameras and all of the pamphlets I had grabbed, one of my host sisters graciously offered to help me take the pictures. Several minutes later, after the proper pose had be established, we took the photos (they had us take 10, not joking, literally 10 photos with each camera). Just as we were about to hand the cameras back and be on our way they changed location and poses and asked us to take another photo (another 10 photos). Eventually we gave them back their cameras, and, assuming the rest of the group (I was also with my host mom, dad, other host sister and her boyfriend, and some family friends) had gone ahead, continued our tour through the "église."

Yum! Cake!

Many photos later, my host sister and I finished the tour and were surprised when we couldn't find the rest of our group. About an hour later everyone else came out the exit and after lots of confusion we realized that they must not have ditched us on the "terrasse" and we must have ditched them! 

Saint-Malo

Then, we went to great restaurant where I had a fantastic meal followed by a fantastic chocolate cake dessert! I bought some post cards and then got back in the car for the hour drive to Saint-Malo.
If you don't know what Saint-Malo is, here: http://wikitravel.org/en/Saint-Malo.
Now, before I tell my next story, let me set the scene. It was rainy, windy, and cold when we arrived. I mean incredibly freezing cold. Like 40˚F, maybe even 38˚F!! As we were taking a lovely walk around, looking at the beach, we saw a guy skinny dipping in the ocean. Oh my goodness, I can not believe he didn't get hypothermia and die. After seeing that little adventure we went to a cute bakery and got two slices of five tier chocolate cake for later that night. YUM! 

Crazy skinny dipper

We drove home and stopped to pick up Mexican food for dinner! Obviously not as good as California Mexican food but still amazing! 
There you have it, my fabulous weekend filled with amazing sites and amazing cakes. Stay tuned for more! À bientôt!