St Lo, France
(written 08:31 5/3/2006 CET in Sarlat, France)
A frosty morning greeted us in the boring nothing town of St Lo, so we slid off over the ice to grab some breakfast and be on our way.
First stop was the truly striking
Mont Saint Michel. Sitting on a rocky outcrop in the sea (
pic), it totally dominates the landscape for miles around. We drove up to it, parked in the strange parking lots that only exist if the tide is right, carefully checked what time our car was scheduled to be washed away and then wandered into the town for a look.
As you might expect, it is mostly dominated by tourist shops at the lower levels (which Liz still manages to be consistently excited about!), but as you walk up the gorgeous steep streets, down tiny alley ways (one I almost pulled the plumbing off trying to get into), the beauty of the place takes over. The more you climb, the more you get to look back over the roof tops where you have been (
pic) and see the old buildings which have pretty much evolved to ramble over all available space.
There's Abbaye du Mont Saint Michel on the top which we chose not to go into (still don't agree with paying entry fees for such places) but the view and architecture (
pic Liz in archway) from there are still pretty amazing.
We managed to exit via a locals-only not for tourists way accidentally, which was much quieter but still as pretty, before getting back in the car which was pretty much where we left it.
Next general target was the
Loire Valley, so we headed to the furthest inland part of that called
Blois. Almost back at Paris, actually.
Somehow fluking our way to a
great little hotel called Côté Loire with a car parking spot right out the front (getting used to parking French-style, which means roughly "in any way possible"), we got a room overlooking the river and which also had free wireless internet! Didn't take us long to upload some more blog and pictures - hope you're appreciating it at home!
We had a bit of a wander around looking at the château, Cathédrale Saint Louis and the town in general but it was cold, windy and getting dark so headed off looking for food instead. The magic little place we ended up at called Les Banquettes Rouges gave us what we both can say with no hesitation was our Best Meal Ever. The presentation (
pic of dessert), flavours, atmosphere and service we all second to none, and it didn't even cost us much! Most Highly Recommended. People were being turned away not long after us so the locals seem to think so too.
That was all our stomachs could take so it was back to our cosy room for the night.