Mont Saint-Michel is a bucket list destination
Mont Saint-Michel has been on my bucket list for a few years. Bayeux was close enough to make a small detour to mark it off the list. We had the rental car, so it was an easy excursion to do on the way to Rennes. My plan was to be there at high tide to be able to see it completely surrounded by water. Unfortunately, it was about a 2-hour drive from Bayeux and high tide was at 8:30 in the morning. I had planned to be there on time, jetlag had other plans.
Unfortunately, we arrived about 10 and missed high tide due to a baguette stop along the way and leaving Bayeux just before 8. Nonetheless, it was a stunning and amazing view, even from the visitor center. They have a shuttle service from the visitor center that is free, they charge 6 Euros for parking though. The shuttle is a quick 5-minute ride and they drop you off near the island on the causeway.
What is Mont Saint-Michel?
The streets are lined with tourist traps looking for you to spend your money. There were a lot of school trips and other tourists walking around and some of the narrow stairways were backed up. The tourist did not spoil the visit, and I would highly recommend it if you are in the area. It is a mind-blowing experience to see a 1000-year-old structure, not to mention the setting that it calls home. This is a bucket list worthy destination. It would have been nice to stay longer and see everything, but the rental car had to be back in Rennes by 2 in the afternoon. The next shuttle we could hop on took us back to the parking lot at the visitor center and back in the car we went. We spent about 90 minutes walking around Mont Saint-Michel.
Rennes
The rental car needed to be filled up and finding a gas station in downtown Rennes was a larger challenge than we had thought. After several wrong turns and one-way streets we had a full tank and returned the car. It was time to use our Eurail passes at Gare du Rennes and head south towards Nantes and to our next overnight stop in Bordeaux.
The station had a lot of construction taking place and it took a few minutes to find the ticket office and to verify if we needed reservations or not. Most high-speed trains in France do require a reservation, only about 10 Euros or so per person for first class. Also, when you use a Eurail pass, you have to validate it on the first trip to start the clock whether you are using a continuous pass or not. This is completed at the ticket counter in most stations.
Nantes
The train to Nantes was not very long, about 2 hours. Our initial reservation was only for Nantes, so back to the ticket office to do that part, again. The next train was a couple of hour wait, a good time to sit down for some food and a short walk to stretch our legs. There was a nice little cafe across from the station and some bakeries as well. A small snack and drinks in the cafe then to the bakery for some food for the trip. It had been a few hours since my last ham and cheese baguette, this was a good time to stock up.
On the way back to the station I saw a little park next to the cafe. It was a peaceful park with a small pond and a lot of greenery. It turns out it was the Botanical Garden – Jardin des Plantes. We boarded our train and a few hours later we were in Bordeaux at our hotel room taking a well-deserved break.
OOPS
Fast forward 6 weeks, we received a letter from the rental car company. Apparently, I was in quite a hurry to get to Mont Saint-Michel according to the local authorities.
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