Mont St Michel, Rennes and Chateaubriant

 30 May

I thought we had plenty of time to get ready today for our trip to Mont St Michel.  Our train didn't leave Montparnasse until 10.54am and we thought we'd take an uber - I'd had a look the day before and it was about 16 euro.  However, when I put in Montparnasse STATION in the app that morning the price changed to 50 euro.  Obviously the cost of our luggage!  Luckily Greg likes to be early so he had us going before 10am.  He lugged our bags down the 254 steps while I checked the room and carried our hand luggage.  Then we raced to the metro!  We had to change trains at St Lazare Gare and you'd think a big train station would have lifts or escalators.  No.  More lugging suitcases up and down stairs.  I can't complain as Greg does most of the heavy lifting if the flight of stairs is too big.  We got to Montparnasse and looked in vain for a sign showing us where gate 20 was.  Nothing.  We found someone who spoke English who directed us upstairs (yay, an escalator, how delightful!) where we found a station employee who sent us to the lift.  Up two floors, turn left and right and phew.  There was our platform!  (A few signs would not go astray, French rail!).

The train trip went well and we disembarked at Villedieu-les-Poeles, the gateway to Mont St Michel.  I knew there was a free bus transfer to Mont St Michel but I wasn't sure where it went from.  The website said next to the Tourist Office, but surely that would be at the train station?  No.  It was in the town, a brisk 12 minute walk away. A young Canadian couple were also looking for the transfer so we set off together. Rather than carry our luggage up and down even more stairs, to get across the rail line, we all decided to just carry our bags across.  Easier and quicker.  Then we set off walking.  It was a VERY steep down, down, down - it was hard to control my suitcase.  While taking photos! Did this mean we'd have to go up, up, up the next day?  I wasn't looking forward to that!  The young Canuks had made it much quicker than us and were able to share the news: the transfer bus only goes once a day, in the morning.  Tres convenient.  And the next local bus was 5.30pm and takes a meandering two hours to reach Mont St Michel.  So our only option was a taxi (we did try to Uber, which advertised 50 euro, but there were no Ubers to be had).  It was a 30km journey.  Isn't this the thing travel memories are made of? We agreed to split the cost (110 euro, Greg paid 70 of it as they were young backpackers!) & we set off.  How lucky we'd saved 50 euro on an uber that morning!  I have read so many blogs about  people visiting Mont St Michel - obviously they drove or knew about the once a day transfer! It was a bit of a hair raising trip - I think our driver was trying to tell us she was very experienced (in French, which none of us understood) but she liked to take risks!  Eventually.... we made it to Mont St Michel. 

We checked into our hotel which was on the mainland, 30 minutes walk from the island.  Greg was very excited to discover that we were on the first floor and there were no lifts.  Yay!  More stairs with luggage, really his very favourite thing :-) We caught the free shuttle bus out to the island.  It stops about 350m out so you can get some good photos!  We walked into the town and there were hundreds of people, even though we were there quite late in the day.  It was spectacular even though the tide was out.  We walked up to the Abbey.  Yes, more stairs.  Just as well we are such fans of stairs!

This magnificently located Abbey was once a famous monastery, then a fortress, and finally a prison before restoration works commenced.  The first sanctuary on the site was built in 709, in honour of St Michael (apparently he was the one who slayed the dragon ie the devil).  It was used as a fortress and successfully defended its citizens from the invading English (making the monastery, and St Michael,  even for special to the French).  The monks were turfed out after the French revolution and the restoration started in the 19th century.  We were pleased to see even more steps to enter the Abbey, as we just love steps now!  The circuit you take goes through the refectory, cloister and scriptorium, as well as the church, chapel and crypts.  Its a cold and austere building and the wind whipping around the island added to the coldness! The magnificent statue of St Michael that is at the very top of the steeple was recently recovered in gold leaf and shone beautifully.  We were relieved to see the crowds on the island had dissipated while we were in the Abbey.  We thought we'd have an early dinner (after having brunch on the train) on the island then head back to our hotel. But restaurant after restaurant was closed.  They do all their business during the day apparently!  We found one that was open (they also have accommodation) so we had a drink there, and decided to have their 35 euro plat du jour.  Way too much food - we know we can't eat 3 courses these days! - but quite tasty.  The waiter told us that we were lucky today, they only had about 15,000 visitors.  Most days in summer its an average of 30,000.  Apparently its the second most visited place in France, after the Effiel Tower (and obviously everyone else who goes knows exactly how to get there too!).  There is a coach tour from Paris - four hours there, four hours on the island, and four hours back.  I did look at that and decided against it!  I was keen to walk back along the causeway but Greg was keen to take the bus, and it was still very cold and windy so we compromised by getting off at the first stop on the mainland so I could get some more photos!  There is a barrage there, built to replace the dam that was put in during the 60s.  Apparently the dam was so efficient at controlling the water flow that plants started to grow on the sand and there was concern that eventually the plants would reach the island and change the look of it entirely.  So the barrage allows water in and out.  It's very shallow around the island but apparently also very swampy and dangerous.  You are warned not to walk without a guide!

31 May

Today we had to take a bus into Pontorson, then a train to Rennes. The train from Pontorson to Rennes was only 51 minutes.  We spent the time chatting to a woman travelling by herself in France for a month, Jane.  She hasn't been out of the US since she was 19 so it's a pretty brave thing to do at 69!  She was delighted to speak English, and politics, and a host of other topics!  We had three hours in Rennes.  There was no left luggage facility at the train station but we were able to leave our bags at a nearby hotel for 5 euro each, so we went for a wander.  We managed to see the Rennes cathedral, the roman ruins they have discovered nearby, and several of the half timbered houses which the city is famous for.  Apparently there are 370 left to see.  Most of these houses also feature corbelling, which I have just learnt is the extension of the first floor so it over hangs the ground floor.  We had a quick lunch of delicious fish and chips (cod of course) and jumped on our next train at 12.53 to Chateaubriant.

We arrived into Chateaubriant at 2pm.  It was lovely and warm after our chilly start to the day.  The walk to our accommodation - the Joli studio cosy - was 22 minutes.  There seemed no other way of getting there other than walking.  It was a long 22 minutes, dragging our suitcases over cobblestones and very bumpy footpaths, quite a lot of it a gentle incline, which felt a lot steeper than it was!  What a relief to find the apartment, and realise it was on the ground floor.  While our love of steps is well known, it's a relief to just plonk everything down!  After a small rest to recharge we were out and about to explore.  We were delighted with the city from the moment we arrived, as the spectacular Chateau is right near the train station.  There were so many absolutely gorgeous old buildings, I was itching to take photos of them all!  The Chateau really is quite magnificent.   Its on the grounds of the original castle, built between 1020 and 1050 by King Brient of Brittany.  It has been rebuilt and extended and improved over many decades.  The last private owner of the Chateau, Henri d Orleans, sold it to the Department of Loire-Atlantique and it is used for various events, concerts, and medieval re-enactments!  Only a few rooms are open to view.  One is the "Golden Chamber", said to be haunted by Francoise de Foix in 1537.  The ex lover of King Francois the first of France, the rumour is that her jealous husband had her killed, leaving a great pool of blood on the floor.  There were some steps leading up to the top of the battlements - a mere 70 or so, but Greg declined, leaving me to trot up them for the photo op that was obviously begging.  The view over the city was pretty good and it was worth the climb!   We had dinner in town - Greg had to have Chateaubriand steak, of course, and he said it was the best steak he had had in France.  I had the cod and it was lovely too!  Then we walked back to the apartment at 8.30pm and I still had my sunglasses on!  Daylight saving is great! Our day's walking tally: over 22,000 steps!