Paris | All About Eiffel
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Postcards from Mont Saint Michel
I'M WEARING>> Coar: from Albert Cuypmarkt, Amsterdam// Bag: Louis Vuitton// Sunnies: Monki// Shoes: Nike
Mont Saint Michel is an island situated in the middle of a...lake? Sea? in Normandy, France, and where Leon and I decided to spend a whole day following our first day in Paris. As we always do when we travel, we decided to leave our main destination and head to a second one within the same country just to see more and experience even more new things.
When choosing our trip within a trip for France, of course the first thought we had was to head to Versailles, only an hour out of Paris. Unfortunately though, we just missed the low season (when tickets to the surrounding areas are free) and we decided we weren't in the mood to pay for entrance. I do still wanna see Versailles for myself someday, but I can wait till we come back.
So began the scramble to look for another destination. We went through about maybe seven options? Some were just too far, some were not so special for a day trip, and still some were better explored in more than a day. Then I finally stumbled onto Mont Saint Michel. When I showed Leon the photo of the place he asked me on the spot if we could confirm that one. I usually get my way when it comes to planning where to go during our travels, so the rare chance that my husband asks me to get his way, I'm usually happy to oblige.
Finding info on how to get to Mont Saint Michel is not easy, let me tell you. I had to dig around for a whole day until I finally found what I was looking for. So here it is, all the transport info you need:
- To get to Mont Saint Michel, you have to take both a train and a bus. The whole trip will take you about three hours.
- The train is usually from Paris > Rennes. It departs from Gare Montparnasse. You can buy your tickets online (if you want) or from the SNCF counter in the train station. You can buy combined train + bus tickets to get to, and return from, Mont Saint Michel, which I highly recommend doing because the transfers get quite convoluted sometimes. I bought ours at the station because we planned to leave on the 7:30AM train but we weren't confident if we could wake up and get ready in time (we did). I suggest buying at least a week or at least a few days before.
- Once you get off the train you have about 20-30 minutes to find the bus.
- The bus won't stop right in front of Mont Saint Michel. It will stop you at the tourists' center. To get to the island, there are free shuttles, paid horse carriages, but you can also walk if you want.
After that we just walked along the outer wall, which is a lotttt of stairs. The view is worth it though, even though it was raining and unbelievably cold at the same time. Yep, all the while Paris was having another sunny day, go figure. But I wasn't fazed because when I think of beautiful, solemn medieval settings, I always imagine them in overcast, cloudy weather with showers anyway. It didn't remove from the experience. You can also enter the abbey at the very top of the island, but as always, Leon and I opted out of that.
We were in Mont Saint Michel from 10AM to about 4PM. The bus station back to Paris is situated near the Tourist Center, so make sure to give yourself enough time to wait for a shuttle (which gets full) and walk back to the bus stop. We left about 2:45PM? Our bus back was to depart at 4:00PM.
All in all, Mont Saint Michel was a different and worthwhile experience we had the pleasure of experiencing while in France. While I don't think I'll be returning anytime soon, only because we were quite thorough with our walk around the battlements, I would still think fondly of this time.
So, would you take this day trip? Yes? No? Maybe?
Let me know in the comments below! See you soon - Che
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Paris | Sacre Coeur et Montmartre
Instead of making our way to the Eiffel Tower right on the first full day, Leon and I decided to be creative and head to the other side of the Seine instead. Yep, the infamously artistic left bank. Back when I was still so into art, drawing and the like, my persistence to go to Paris lay with the fact that it is considered an artist's paradise. I had dreams of just leaving everything behind and making it as an artist in Paris, or at least taking an extended holiday to just explore, sketch, and live. Yep, the naivety of an eighteen-year old so confused with her life. I'm glad of how my life turned out eventually, but that would have been the adventure of a lifetime had I gone through with it.First up of course was a trek to the Sacre Coeur, on top of the hill. Again, French architecture at its finest. As always, we made the executive decision to go really early in the morning, which is the best decision because can you see how empty it is? By the time the crowds had come we were well on our way down from the Sacre Coeur to head into Montmartre, the quintessential French area with cutesy little buildings, street music, and art. Lots of art. We even came across some art class students gathered around drawing sceneries.We spent the rest of our time getting a late breakfast at a quintessentially French restaurant in my fave color (5 points for anyone who knows) called Au Cadet de Gascogne. It started with coffee, fresh juice, omelet, and croissants, then we shared a crepe de sucre as well, all while reveling in the marvelous sunshine that persisted our whole time in Paris.We ended the first day with a quick and rewarding shopping trip at Galeries Lafayette, which I'll show you in a future post! So till then sweeties, see you soon - Che
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