A little of snow this morning and we actually have to scrape the car!! We head off from Saint-Malo after a visit to the Surf School on the awesome beach of Saint-Malo. A quick meeting to confirm this summer’s activities for the group. LANDRY sailing on the beautiful beach of Saint-Malo.

Then we are off to Normandie to check out the inn by way of Mont-St-Michel. On our way, we encounter a bit more snow and then a thick fog envelops the car. As we arrive to Mont St-Michel, we are still hopeful as we wait for the shuttle to take us at the foot of the Mont. This place has changed significantly since my last visit in 2007. No longer can we park close to the Mont and walk on the Passerelle. To protect the erosion, we now park quite a distance away and have to shuttle over through hotels and restaurants. The whole thing has taken a commercial air that I am not sure I enjoy. At the foot of the Landmark, we have no luck. We can barely see the first row of houses. We take a picture anyways and hop back on the shuttle to go back to the car.

We hurry over and drive the hour and a bit to make our appointment in Lion-sur-mer just past Courseulle. A great spot for our youth group this summer and very pretty beach.

The whole town seems to be closed though and we can not find anywhere to eat. We drive over to Juno Centre in Courseulle and confirm our visit, walk on the beach and take pictures of the bunkers. What a great private museum and a worthwhile reminder of all the Canadian soldiers that have given their lives for us and the history of D-Day.

We find the only restaurant open and have a nice lunch of soup, quiche and some salads. We now get settled for the longer drive back to Paris for our last night with our cousins. Again we encounter toilet without seats and even one where the women toilets is actually just a hole in the floor. We just can’t do it!!
As we drove all day today we seem to always be going in the direction of Rennes, but finally now, we part ways as we approach Paris. We text our cousin who informs us that his lovely partner has prepared us a Tartiflette (a potato dish with cream, bacon and roblechon cheese melted on top, excellent!!). Now we can’t wait. We get into Paris and find the parking lot quite easily and after a short walk over, we are greeted by a happy Victoria and her beautiful smile 🙂

They were nice enough to find us some great pâte de foie gras to take back home for my husband!!!
A lovely meal accompanied by great wine and great conversation and we are off to bed to get ready for our return flight home tomorrow.

The next day, we find our way to the airport and return the car without any problems and embark on our long journey home. A very satisfying and successful scouting trip for the youth trip this summer and at the same time, a nice visit with our cousins and fun time with my sister. All and all a wonderful trip!

Today we started the day a bit late and so we lost our cab. Apparently, here they just can’t wait 10 minutes for their customers!!
Off to pick up our rental car, visit the inns for this summer’s trip, which was much nicer than expected!! Very impressed by the rooms and the lounge. Great!!
We then leave for Carantec to get a view to the Chateau du Taureau and the beautiful Bay of Morlaix. It is low tide and we are shocked with how far it retreats!! The Chateau is very striking as expected.

We then drive back to Morlaix to cross the Morlaix river and go on the east side on our way to the Cairn Barnenez. Surprise surprise we arrive at 12:05 and the visit ends at 12:30. Guess what?? They won’t let us in because it takes 30 minutes to visit!! Those darn bureaucrats!! We drive around on a dirt road to take a picture still! This is a mausoleum dating back to 5000 years BC!! Blows your mind! Was discovered by accident about 60 years ago.

Now off we go to Saint-Malo passing by Dinan to show Lorraine. We stop by their very unhelpful tourism office and drive down to the River Rance to take a few shots of the beautiful bridge.

It is now 3:30 and all the restaurants are closed for their break. Our lunch has to wait. Off for Saint-Malo. We find our nice hotel and a very helpful receptionist who shows us the rooms, lounge and dining area for this summer. Excellent! She then phones my appointment to reschedule a few and after doing some business we head off for Intra-Muro (la vieille ville). We stop at the tourism office and get fabulous help for my summer activities. Wouldn’t you know, we are here for the “Chandeleur”. The Festival de crèpes!! Yay!! We set out to walk the top of the wall.
Spectacular view!

Towards the end of our walk we come across a creperie on the wall overlooking the “Manche”!! Beautiful view and extensive crèpes and “galette de sarazin” menu!!

We both order excellent choices as well as a flamed rhum banana chocolate crèpe for dessert. yum!!

A great day again and nice discovery.

We are off to Normandie and then back to Paris tomorrow.

We leave our cousins this morning for the Gare the Montparnasse by Uber. That service is so cool!! We take the opportunity to take in the panoramic view of Paris and the Eiffel Tower atop the tower.

A yummy lunch at a brasserie across the train station and once again a very friendly waiter!! What is going on in Paris!!

We climb aboard for a 4 hour train ride and then we have a bit of a scare as we were in the wrong part of a train that was splitting up in Rennes. Once again surprised to get help from a very friendly train controller!! No problem. Walk over to the right coach in Rennes.
Arrive in Morlaix and Oh Joy, get in a cab with the world men handball championship on The radio. France is winning and the cab driver is happy to tell me about the fantastic goal keeper. Am I dreaming? We quickly check in our very beautiful hotel, with lots of history and charm in the heart of Morlaix.

And get on our way to find a bar where the game is on. We make a wrong turn and stumble across the viaduc at night. What a sight!!

I am now running to get there before the end. Still 10 minutes left and the bar is packed with lots of fan. SOO COOL! And bonus France wins!!

Then off to dinner in a charming little restaurant. Yummy mussels to start for me. Not Lorraine of course!! Cool bowl !!

Back at the hotel for a planning session. Lots of places to check out for the camp and not a lot of time. I think we are all set! Big day ahead tomorrow!!!

I arrive in Paris with my sister Lorraine to a bright sunny day despite our cousin’s warning that the weather is horrible in Paris. We decipher the subway system and successful make it to the apartment of our amazing little cousin and his partner Dan and Virginie and their daughter Victoria.
Drop our luggage, a great coffee and off we go to Montmartre, Sacré-Coeur and d’Orsay.
We get to Abbesse subway and we laugh at the bunch of people waiting for the elevator and off we go up the stairs. One flight of stairs going round and round, 2 rounds of stairs going round and round, and more and more and more. What did we get ourselves to!!!! We finally emerge from the depth of the earth and start waking towards Montmartre. We find a cafe facing Sacre-Coeur. How majestic. Beautiful!!! And guess what, we got a friendly French waiter!! He asks if I want a large beer. I had no idea what I got into!!! Large is large!!

After a great onion soup and fries, we decide to forgo the funicular and walk up the stairs. Great view and definitely worth it!! We make our way back, now in the rain and cold on our way to D’Orsay. Not as much fun as waking in the sun :(.

We are all excited when they wave us in for free. Must be that we are so special!! We get to the 5th floor to view the beautiful impressionist collection. Some Monet I had never seen, and I re-discover Sisley. I love his paintbrush. Within half an hour we hear on the intercom, the museum closes in 15 minutes. Oh that is why it was free 😦 was worth it anyways.
Back to Daniel for an awesome cheese fondue, salami and wonderful champaign, red wine, and polish vodka. Lorraine beat her record of staying awake more than 34 hours ! An awesome first day!!

This is where u realize that it is not about what you visit or see, nothing is better than spending time with family and friends that you love. A wonderful day in Paris.