So I didn’t really rush to get going this morning because either option really sort of left a later exit. I had reserved the car with Alamo but I was not sure how likely I was going to be able to pull it off and then also get back to Paris from Caen. The rental place didn’t open until 8am and if I had to go straight to Paris I wouldn’t really be able to check into the hotel until 12 at the earliest.
I had the hotel call me a cab after I checked out and he appeared to use some roundabout method of getting to the train station but after all was said and done the fee was cheaper than I expected (I wasn’t going to walk with baggage to the train station, far too long a walk timewise with stuff in tow). When I got into the station I asked what times the trains left for Paris in the afternoon and the girl showed me a schedule that went pretty far into the night at worst case. I was told I wouldn’t need to reserve any seats on any of the trains I chose.
Armed with that concept I walked about a block away (not far really) to the Alamo rental place which is actually just a small part of Citer who is a French car rental place. In any event the guy was on the phone but I explained my intentions and he said that it was doable. The time to get to Mont Saint-Michel he said was really in the 1:30 range not 2 hours. It was still before 9am when I had the car rented and was on my way. The car was a Citroën C3 hybrid diesel that I chose purely on the fact it was an automatic. It was a sluggish car at best being a hybrid economy vehicle but the mileage (kilometerage?, fuel efficiency?) did appear to be pretty good after all. I think the trip turned out to be 250 or so kilometers from Caen to Mont Saint-Michel and back. That’s rounded. I am not sure of the exact. The guy from Alamo/Citer gave me basic directions to get to the highway then told me the signs would get me there. He was spot on. It really was an easy drive and I was actually in the monument by 10:10am.
As I said in the phone posting, the moment I rounded a corner past a hedgerow I saw it from a fair distance still but it was striking to look at. I really did swear in awe. I drove a bit further to look for a pull off to take a picture from and eventually found something, though much closer than I had initially seen it. Without getting into a long boring history lesson (You can look it all up on your own if you are interested. Wikipedia would work fine.) Le Mont Saint-Michel is a very old abbey and monastery that was also used as a prison by the French for many years. Legend has it that the idea to build the abbey was provided by a vision from God somewhere in the 9th century. In any event the island is a large granite island and the structures are built atop that, giving the whole its massive appearance. It was built and rebuilt a couple times and was used as a fortress during war where it was never captured. It also has survived the World Wars and several natural disasters amongst other things. The bay around the mount will draw out and in with the tides giving the appearance that is totally accessible by land (without the artificially built bridge that now serves as the way in and a car parking area) when the tide is out as it was when I was there. I would have loved to have had the time to stay long enough to see the tide come in. Aside from the man made bridge the whole island is then surrounded by water and the pictures of it that way look very spectacular. I will take what I can get though because this almost didn’t happen I figure.
I again had to conquer the issue with money and now this tops the Pierrefonds expedition in total cost but I believe in this instance every penny of it was worth it. I walked through the whole of the moment, went through most all of the gift shops at some point and of course did the abbey tour using one of the preprogrammed audio guides. Actual guided tours provided by the facility were only done in French it seemed plainly obvious. The place is truly incredible and I am very glad I got there as early as I did because by the time I left at about 1:30 or so (maybe a tad later) the parking lots were absolutely full and there was just a ton of people around. I really liked the abbey tour and guide was even informative. I was able to listen to all the audio and I liked it in general. I walked all around the ramparts and was able to get a lot of pictures from many different angles. They said the abbey was not off limits for taking pictures as well so I chose to ignore my basic rule of not taking pictures of the insides of churches and the likes. The ramparts and the town itself are a veritable maze to wander through. Along the way I bought myself a hot dog at a small shop. Well, closer to the end really. In any event it was a hot dog on a cut of French bread. It wasn’t bad but I couldn’t help but feel I tasted mostly the bread (which they had toasted after the hot dog was done). I liked it but it was a quick meal on the go because if I sat somewhere I’d want a beer and I was driving in a foreign country for the first time (aside from Canada which doesn’t count).
When all was said and done I probably should have stayed about an hour longer because the train that I ended up taking to Paris didn’t leave until over an hour after I got to the train station. The drive back from the monument to Caen was a bit squishy. I missed a turn on the way out but I was able to wing it a bit and make an educated guess or two and have a lot of luck on my side (for a change) so that I ended up on the A84 sort of by accident and was heading back to Caen probably only losing about 5 or 10 minutes time. The return into Caen was partially a worry issue for me because I had to refill the tank and the directions out were easy but I had no directions in. They don’t use exit numbers here and it seemed rare that the signs actually mentioned the names of the highways. I picked the first sign that said Caen Centre and tried that. It brought me in through about 4 rotaries (roundabouts) and eventually I found that I was coming in from a completely different direction than I had expected but fortunately one that I recognized from the cab rides and walking. I was able to negotiate past the train station, past the rental place and find the gas station he had mentioned then turn around and park somewhat close to the place with relative ease after all. I even put diesel in it for them when I filled it up. The guy was surprised I was back so soon but I told him I had no traffic and did not really eat lunch there so it worked out well. I had about 3 and a half hours there and I got to do what I wanted to do. He said ok and took the key and I was on my way.
Getting to the train station I found that I should have made it about 4 and a half hours but by then it was already too late. Better to be safe than sorry I generally figure. So I listened to The Edges of Twilight by The Tea Party on the cell phone which killed the intervening time perfectly then boarded to the first class car sans reservations because I was told I could. The car was pretty close to full at the outset and the first stop of Lisieux (again) filled it up even further. I was glad there were fewer stops on the way back than there was on the way out.
From St Lazare I had to reverse navigate my way back to Gare du Nord where it would be a straight walk to the hotel in less than 5 minutes even including the luggage. I did find that there was indeed an underground route to the RER magenta line which would go to Gare du Nord. Actually I think it is just the E line which on the maps is colored magenta and the E line stop that connects with Gare du Nord is called Magenta. Either way when I got to the ticket counter outside the metro entry it was closed and there was only a ticket machine which wouldn’t let me select English though I could kind of figure out what was going on sort of. I was lucky enough to have a French woman behind me who realized I didn’t understand French well enough and offered to help me. The machine did not take bills. I only had copper change by this point and was expecting to pay a person with a 5 Euro bill. So I tried both of my cards and the machine would accept neither. The lady was very nice and paid my fare for me. I offered her the 5 but she refused to take it. I thanked her profusely and got my way down to the train where I had to wait about 5 minutes for it to leave. St Lazare is a terminus and works east only from that station. Gare du Nord is only one stop away. It is at least a 4 minute ride. I would expect the walk is not terribly long but I wasn’t about to try it with luggage in tow.
After issuing out at Magenta I wended my way through till I found the Gare du Nord exit near the Grande Lignes I was expecting and headed straight for the hotel. The woman at the desk remembered me and gave me my key. While I was begging for a different room and got one, they sent me to room 49, right across the hall from 47. It may be slightly smaller with a larger bed (only one) but you still have to climb up and down 49 steps to get to it (not great with luggage in tow). I really only just dropped off my stuff and turned right around to get something to eat because by the time I was in the room it was already 8:10pm. I was pretty tired and very hungry. My plan was to try the Café Indiana again because I was pretty sure they were serving food and I was right. I may have spotted a couple places to use Tuesday and Wednesday as well as I am now entrenched in Paris for sleeping quarters until I leave on Thursday. I had the steak again and didn’t take a picture of it because it was a repeat. Unfortunately, the waitress didn’t ask me how I wanted it cooked and I got it murdered to death. Fortunately, I was very hungry and was able to eat it anyway. I accompanied that with two Affligem and then followed with an espresso and the Apple Pie Indiana which was a sort of dry American style apple pie with crème fraiche on the side and vanilla ice cream too. I wasn’t sure how they expected me to eat it since the ice cream and crème both came in little plastic cups. I opted to dip the pie in the crème and then ate the ice cream separately.
A note about French service. When they ask you if you are done they for some reason don’t even remotely consider bringing you the bill. They just wander off and leave you there. I can’t even conceive of the concept in America where they are dying to get people out of tables just to get rid of them or to clear up space so new people can come in. In America we are agreeable to the concept because unless in party of some format we don’t really need to hang around the restaurant after we are done. I witnessed this waitress just forgetting about several people (most of whom were French) as well as myself. I and the guy at the table next to me had to flag down another server to get our bills because she apparently even decided to go out and smoke. This of course is not a solitary incident. You have to specify that you want to pay blatantly or you will sit for another 20 minutes for no reason at all. Personally it kind of offends my northeastern sensibilities but when in France…
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