Mont St. Michel

On Saturday, I embarked on a weekend trip with the Club International des Jeunes a Paris, which turned out to be a fantastic time. First, we visited Mont St. Michel, an abbey on the Normandy coast. The abbey is built on a rock, separated from the mainland by tidal sea meadows. It is the most popular tourist attraction in France, outside Paris and Eurodisneyland, and there were certainly plenty of tourists in attendance, despite the rain. The second picture shows me in the cloister, a place where the Benedictine monks could go to be alone and meditate, designed to reflect the garden of Eden. I was warmed up by my lunch of classic Breton galette (with wild mushrooms and thick cut bacon) and a bolee of cidre brut (Breton hard cider served from a keg).