Europe
mont st michel: a photo essay
There are quite a number of places in the world that we have seen photos of and have therefore decided that we wanted to go there.
Mont St Michel is one of them. It has been on our dream travel list for as long as we can remember. Plus the added bonus that it was on the UNESCO Heritage list that we are trying to tick off slowly. We missed going to see it last time we were in France. We were not letting it slip away again this time.
It is certainly not the easiest place to get to (particularly if you don’t have a car) so we decided to stay two nights – which turned out to be a double “thumbs up” decision. It gave us plenty of time to explore and relax without feeling like we were rushed.
After travelling several hours from Paris on a train and then a bus, we finally arrived! In the distance, we could see the outline. The feeling we often get inside when we get to finally see something we have been SOOOOO looking forward to: a tingle in our stomach and the goosebumps of “we are really here!”
It’s as majestic and grand as we have seen it in the pictures. Without wanting to sound cliché, we will be cliche anyway by saying that it truly took our breath away.
Once we were inside the walls after crossing the bridge, it was like we were zapped back in time to the Middle Ages (except for maybe the hoards of tourists in modern clothes).
Crowded as it was, we looked past that and found the entire place so surreal to witness. Walking up all those old stone steps to the top before exploring the inside. And the inside? It seems to carry that little bit of mystery, intrigue and plenty of history that we love when we explore places like this.
With the tide being out, we were able to walk around the outside of the walls on the mudflats. We didn’t stray too far as we were warned that there are sections of “quicksand”. It is recommended that you join a tour group before venturing too far.
To finish off our time there, we sat down for a local Normandy feed. We tried a soufflé omelette with bacon… let’s just say, it must be an acquired taste!
The other local dish we tried was creamy chicken cooked Normandy style and that was DELICIOUS 🙂
Mont St Michel was listed as a
UNESCO Heritage site in 1979.
To see the other UNESCO sites we have visited,
visit our unofficial bucket list
Have you been to Mont St Michel? Tell us your experiences/thoughts.
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weekly photo challenge: achievement
We didn’t even need to think twice about what photo we would use for this challenge.
Our Camino passport says it all! Stamps showing that we walked approximately 800 km (500 miles) from St Jean Pied de Port in France to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. It took us 6 weeks. We still can’t believe we achieved this 🙂
Happy Weekend to All!
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weekly photo challenge: minimalist
Minimalist: relating to minimalism, providing a bare minimum of what is necessary
The “minimalist” is the pizza we were served in Rome is what we are submitting for this week’s photo challenge.
It looked bare compare to the pizzas we are use to which are laden with toppings.
Have you been served something that was not what you expected?
Happy Weekend, Everyone!!
Please feel free to leave us your comments.
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mural art in lyon
For us, Lyon was a convenient city to stop into for a few days before we ducked on over to Switzerland.
But not only was it convenient, it was an incredible place for us to explore for three days. There is so much to do (free and not) and plenty of little surprises, like the Miniatures and Cinema Museum that we stumbled across, we really enjoyed Lyon!
One of it’s free attractions is the city’s mural art. There are certainly a few scattered around the city. Our favourite is at the corner of rue de la Martiniére and Quai St Vincent, it depicts and honours Lyon’s famous citizens such as the Lumière brothers (the first film makers) and Laurent Mourguet (creator of the famous French puppet, Guignol).
We sat on a bench right across from the artwork and spent quite a while staring at it. The mural is detailed and life-like, there is so much depth in the art and it simply drew us in. We ended up with pretty sore necks after we moved from our vantage point.
Here are the Lumière brothers:
And Laurent Mourguet and Guignol:
We love how the ground floor of the mural looks so realistic. We could easily have tried entering the building and walking up the staircases …
Or enjoyed a warm drink in that cafe.
So if you ever find yourself in Lyon looking for something to do that won’t affect the budget; walking the streets to explore the mural art might just be the thing.
Have you been to Lyon?
What did you think of the murals?
As always, we love hearing what you have to say.
wise monkeys abroad 