Amsterdam-France - day 10

26 September 2014

We woke up to witness a wonderful sunrise that morning. The plan for the day was to drive to Mont Saint-Michel, a small rocky island best known for the stunning and well-preserved Norman Benedictine Abbey of St Michel. One of France's most recognisable landmarks, it is a UNESCO World heritage site, visited by more than 3 million people each year.

The hotel buffer breakfast didn't look too appealing so we decided to pack a crepe for Xena and figure out our breakfast later. And off we went, with our chhotu car doing 130 kmph! The night before, Viv had read up a bit more about French traffic rules as some of them were quite different. 

It was a stunning drive, full of magnificent colours. Can you spot Mont St Michel Abbey in the distance?

We parked and set off to grab some breakfast at a cafe there. Xena was fascinated by this blue cow and absolutely insisted on taking a picture with it. 

The abbey was about a kilometre away and one way to get there was to take a horse carriage. The horses looked really sturdy! The other option was a reversible shuttle bus. 

Of course, given that it was a gorgeous day, we decided to take the third option -- walk! Xena was quite enthusiastic about it too.

I am so proud of this picture I took. I felt like I was standing smack in the middle of a postcard, where the backdrop is already photoshopped and all relevant filters have been applied. 

The blue of the sky was something I just couldn't get over. My Asus Zenfone phone was making me proud. For a budget phone, it sure captured the scenery very well.

Soon, Xena was tired and boarded her favourite mode of transport. 

Ahhh... finally we reached!

We climbed the stairs to get to the top of the abbey.

View from the top

Ladies in red

Xena takes a breather. Her dragon jacket was a source of much amusement to the other tourists. Every time, someone would stop to admire the hoodie, she'd say "Roarrrrr! I'm a dragon!"

The beautiful interiors 

Xena listening to the audio commentary

The li'l dragon at the gift shop

Viv took this picture of me after we'd climbed down.

We decided to take the reversible bus on the way back. 

Back to her favourite cow!

There weren't a lot of vegetarian options so we had lunch at the same place where we'd had breakfast. 

Next, we headed for Rennes, the capital city of Brittany, which was 68 km away. 

Like clockwork, Xena fell asleep in her car seat. 

We reached our hotel by 5.30 pm. It was too early for dinner and there was not much to do, so we took Xena to a nearby playground. 

It was such a fun playground! Who wouldn't want to to go down that slide? 

The monkey and the frog

Tired from all the playing, Xena takes a break on the giant frog's thigh. 

Swing away!

We also did some scouting for dinner, but didn't find any eating place. We headed back to hotel to eat at their restaurant. The waiter spoke a bit of English and helped to translate some of the words unfamiliar to me. 

I had a yummy savoury crepe with chicken, potatoes and mushrooms. 

Little girl, big fries!

Nothing on the menu was vegetarian, so Viv asked if they could make a vegetarian pasta for him. Fortunately, the waiter said that they could. After a while, he returned to ask if Viv just wanted some pasta or some vegetables with it? Oh dear. 

Poor Viv literally got some boiled pasta mixed with some boiled carrots. 

Well, at least there was strawberry ice-cream to end the day!

Click here for Amsterdam-France - day 11.