France: Mont St. Michel, the American Cemetery and family time

This morning we woke early because we had a lot to fit in today and wanted plenty of time to enjoy the day. We ate a delicious breakfast here at the hotel and then drove an hour and a half to Mont St Michel. Mont St Michel is one of France’s most recognizable landmarks and is also a World Heritage Site. It is a commune located on an island that is completely surrounded by water at high tide and stands alone during low tide. When we went there in 2004, we were able to drive right up to it. Today you have to park at a designated area several kilometers away and ride a shuttle to it. This is the description from Wikipedia, "The structural composition of the town exemplifies the feudal society that constructed it: on top, God, the abbey, and monastery; below, the great halls; then stores and housing; and at the bottom, outside the walls, fishermen's and farmers' housing.” Currently 45-50 people actually reside year round on the island. There are lots and lots of steps circling upwards as you climb all the way up to the abbey. We spent a couple of hours there touring the structures and then bought a delicious lunch from a vendor to take away and picnic in the car. We then drove to the American Cemetery at Omaha Beach. This is located just outside of Bayeux. We watched a film in the visitor’s center that gave some insight into 5 of the soldiers that died during the invasion of Normandy. There are 9,387 soldiers buried there and the names of 1,557 missing in action that are engraved on a wall. It is such a sobering site and the movie only made the people more real. It is so easy to be “removed” from the horror and pain of war when you are not directly fighting in it or have loved ones fighting in it. Seeing the thousands of crosses makes me so proud of the servicemen who died fighting to liberate Europe. We were able to walk down on Omaha Beach as well. We were not able to the last time we were here as it was restricted. After our visit to the cemetery we went back to Bayeux and found a local Patisserie for a snack. We ate supper tonight with our family from Bayeux…Tonton Jean, Marie-Noelle, Marie-Francoise, Marie-Helene, Albert, Noami, and Alice! We ate at L’angle Saint Laurent, a restaurant right around the corner from our hotel. It was delicious!! I think the only thing I did not like was the Foie Gras but that is no surprise to me. We had a choice of Veal or Bass so for me it was the Veal. We also had cheese and I chose a cheese from Normandy and not the Munster! I did eat some of the cheese even though they are usually “barnyardy” tasting to me. This one was mildly so. My dessert was Fontainebleau Strawberries which was strawberries with a a mildly sweetened cream. It might have even been cream fraiche, I’m not sure. It was very good and not very sweet. Hallie did not want the strawberries or pears on the menu, and the hostess gave her a special dessert of three scoops of chocolate ice cream. Had I known that she would get special treatment, I might have rejected the original desserts as well. We were all pleased with our meal, but most importantly we were pleased to share the meal with our family. It amazes me how fast the children grow! Naomi is 18 years old and moving on Thursday to Belgium where she won a lottery to study genetics. Alice is 13 and will now be home alone with her parents. Marie-Francoise cares for the elderly in their homes, much like our home health care. Marie-Noelle is retired. We learned that Albert enjoys fishing for Bass, much like my father. It was an enjoyable evening and I am so glad that we could make it all work out. Tomorrow we leave early for Paris where we will stay for 3 nights. Maybe we will unpack a little, we shall see. Until tomorrow….