Mont Saint Michel
Originally uploaded by SaurabhA.
In March 2005, while Aliya was in town, we decided to take a road trip out to Brittany and Normandy over the weekend. So we rented a little car called a Modus, by Renault, packed it up, and hit the autoroute in hopes of finding our way to Mount Saint Michel, Saint Malo and Dinan.
The french countryside was absolutely beautiful. There were little villages and farms all the way to Saint Malo and, as luck would have it, the weather was gorgeous (25 degrees Celsius - in the middle of March nonetheless).
Our first stop was Mount Saint Michel. You really have to see this site to truly grasp just how amazing it is. Basically, it is a mountain with a walled town on top; all of which sits out in the English Channel. When the tide is in, the whole mountain and town are surrounded by the Sea. When the tide is out, everything is surrounded by sandy plains.
Our second stop was Saint Malo which is also a walled city on the English Channel. We spent the night here at a quaint little hotel with very friendly and helpful owners. We spent our time in Saint Malo enjoying the beautiful coastal scenery while walking around (and sitting on) the wall that surrounds the city. This was one of the most beautiful cities I have ever visited. To sum it up in one sentence, Saint Malo is what you'd get if you mixed an old medieval town with the climate and environment of a coastal resort.
On our way home the next day, we stopped by another walled city called Dinan. Again, this quaint little town had a character of its own, with winding stone roads, a beautiful port and bridge. We had lunch here (crepes and seafood) and relaxed on a patio in the sunshine before heading back for Paris.