This weekend our group went to the east coast, specifically the departments Normandy and Brittany. The bus was in front of the residence at 7:45 on Saturday morning, but big surprise, it took everyone an extra 30 minutes to get on the bus.
Our first stop was Mont Saint-Michel, which from a distance looks uncannily like Minus Tirith, the capitol city of Gondar in Lord of The Rings. Mont Saint-Michel is actually an island when the tide is high, but other wise it is just a big rock in the middle of a plain. It sits in the middle of the bay over looking the English Channel. The abbey on top was once a monastery, but like hundreds of other monasteries, it was shut down after the French Revolution. Mont Saint-Michel was converted into a prison. There is a big wheel attached to a pulley system in which prisoners worked like hamsters to pull tons of brick up the steep abbey wall.
We had to climb about 300 steps to get to the abbey. I continued my work as cinematographer for our film project and filmed everyone running out of breath and panting as we finally reached the top. Our guide was really cool. He was a Frenchman but had lived in England for a long time and really likes the Kinks. He said we shouldn’t believe anything he told us about the history of the Abbey because all of the archives were moved after the revolution to a city that was destroyed during WWII.
After our tour we piled back on the bus and went to the city of Saint-Malo, a beautiful former fortress on the beach that was completely destroyed during WWII and rebuilt to resemble the original. We didn’t take any tours so I don’t have very much historical information about Saint-Malo. I did take some pictures so once I find a place to process my film look out for those. There is a big wall surrounding the entire city and you can walk all the way around on top of it. The view of the ocean and all the islands was beautiful.
Our hotel was right on the beach. We all had dinner at a restaurant nearby. Our meal consisted of raw oysters, grilled salmon in a spinach cream sauce, baked potatoes, and a lot of raw vegetables. I got so damn full it was amazing. I also had several glasses of a pretty dry white wine and for desert, a crepe with caramel on it.
After dinner we walked downtown and found a couple nice bars. Being near the beach it only seemed appropriate that I drink a couple caprihinas, which were surprisingly well made.
In other news, I have had a stomachache since lunch on Monday. Last night I got to video skype with Jake, Lisa and Rachel, which was pretty cool but my internet sucks so it didn't work that well and it would have been better had Corinne not been at work. I miss Austin a lot. I wish I was home for SXSW.
I'm working on my spring break plans. I'll be in Paris for April 10-14. Then I am meeting Rachel Coley in Dublin and staying there for 3 mights. Then I'll go back to London with her for a few days. After that I might go meet up with some friends in Barcelona or maybe take off for Istanbul by myself. Who knows.
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