As my time in France slowly comes to an end, I am trying to use my free time wisely. We are in the playoffs, so I want to ensure that I rest my body, but the traveller in me wants me to go and tour all of France! As of late, rest has been winning which is why there are fewer travel blogs on the site in the past few months. However this week, I could not turn down the opportunity to make the day trip to Mont-Saint-Michel!
We had our first playoff game last Saturday against Basket Landes, which we won, so our coach let us have two days off (Sunday and Monday). I recently came across the website http://www.booking.parisinfo.com/ where they listed all the different activities one can do in the city of Paris. I remember at the beginning of the season when I was talking to one of my teammates of places to visit while in France and she showed me an image of Mont-Saint-Michel, so when the website gave the option to take a day trip, I booked it immediately.
The program on the website explained that the bus left from the meeting point in Paris at 7:15 am on Monday and would return by 9:30 pm later that night. So, then I checked for trains leaving out from Bourges in the early morning for Paris, but found none, so I booked an evening train Sunday night. I would sleep in Paris on Sunday night and explore Mont-Saint-Michel all of Monday. I would then sleep in Paris Monday night and catch a 7:07 am train in Paris and arrive back in Bourges at 9:15 am on Tuesday morning. This worked out perfectly as I was well rested and on time for our 10 am practice.
View of Mont Saint Michel from the restaurant, talk about great lunch views!
The ride up was a pleasant and scenic one from what I saw because to be quite honest, I slept for a good amount of the trip. It took about five hours to arrive at our destination in lower Normandy. When we arrived, they gave us a free lunch at a hotel located 1600 meters across from Mont-Saint-Michel which had a breath taking view. As soon as I finished my lunch, I headed straight for the Mont. I, and a few others were confused as to where to find the bus stop to the shuttle that takes you directly to the Mont, so I ended up walking. It took me 25 minutes, but it can take a lot longer.
Making my way to Mont Saint Michel, great day for a nice long walk!
Look, look, I'm getting closer!
Views along the shore.
I'm here!!!!
Working my way to the top!
Views along the way.
Such a gorgeous day!
Once there, I could not contain my excitement! I had about 3 hours to explore, before we had to meet to take the bus back, so I wanted to take full advantage of it. I decided that the best option was to start from the top and work my way down. I took my time to admire the view on the way up, but my first stop was Mont-Saint-Michel Abbey! There was a fairly long waiting line, but it moved at a decent speed. You need to pay to explore inside, which for me cost 10 Euros as an adult.
Made it to the top.
The details!
Views from inside.
Team too tall, what else is new?
When God and man made creation collide.
Breath taking.
Throughout this blog are just some of the many pictures I took while exploring this iconic, beautiful and mesmerizing place. While exploring, I could not help to wonder how people were able to build these incredible structures years ago and include such intricate artistic details regardless of if it was part of the bridge, statue, or ceiling. It was a beautiful mix of ancient man made architecture and God's beautiful nature coming through. It was truly an incredible place and it was so peaceful that I did not want to leave. The sky and the water also shone a beautiful shade of blue.
I normally share a history component of each place I visit, but I am not going to this time. If you are interested in the history of this place, Google is your best friend.
On that note, I hope you enjoy the pictures, and if you ever get the chance to visit France, this is definitely worth visiting. I will leave all of the information (hotel, website, apps, etc) below so you can also book a day trip to Mont-Saint-Michel because it is absolutely worth it.
Booking information: Website: pariscityvision.com (Book a variety of different events from excursions, plays, cooking and more. The link takes you directly to the Mont Saint Michel trip and booking options.)
Hotel: Hotel Lumen Address 15 Rue des Pyramides, 75001 Paris (Literally a 2 minute walk from where the bus is located that takes you to Mont Saint Michel.)
Paris Metro App: Paris Metro Map (Makes it easy to find the metro stop closest to you, how to get from point A to B, the simplest and/or quickest route to take, etc. It is available in the app store.)
Thanks for stopping by and God bless,
K!
Perfect end to a perfect day, views on the bus ride back to Paris.
Kindly edited by Aneela Khan