After escaping from Gasthaus #17, we headed towards Saint-Malo to take a ferry to the Island of Jersey (as in Jersey cows) to be followed by Guernsey (for Guernsey cows). We were just in the mood for cow islands and had there been an Island of Holstein, Angus or Texas Longhorn, we probably would have booked that as well. Jersey and Guernsey are part of a group of islands known as the Channel Islands which are loosely affiliated with the United Kingdom. These islands are a lot closer to France than to England, but they are definitely English.
They are loosely affiliated as in they speak English and they have full English breakfasts, but they don't pay tax to the Queen. They are, in short, heavenly. Our ferry didn't leave until 7 p.m. and it was only a 130 mile drive to Saint-Malo, so we had some free time. We originally talked about touring Saint-Malo and it may be a great place to visit, but we got side-tracked by Mont Saint Michel, or Saint Michael's Mount (I refuse to stoop so low as ribald humor at this point, but it is difficult).
Mont Saint Michel (it sounds more priestly in French) is an amazing place. It dates back to forever (as in 600 AD and earlier). It has a lot of links to Normandy, which in turn has a lot of links to the Channel Islands. I did some research on the various Dukes of Normandy. The only one I'd heard of before was William ("Bill") the Conqueror who was written up in the Bayeux Tapestry.
Turns out that there was a lot more than just Wild Bill. First, there was Bill's great grandpa, William ("Bill") Longsword, who was the butt of a lot of early 10th Century Saint Michael's Mount jokes. Bill's eldest son was "Richard ("Dick") the Fearless". Bill had some other sons, "Bill Jr., the Pretty Brave, but Doesn't Like Spiders" and "Raul, Don't Ask Him to Go Down to the Dark Cellar".
Richard the Fearless's eldest son, Richard II (clever name), became known as "Richard the Good". He had several other children, Robert ("Bob") the "Okay, But Not When He Drinks" who became Archbishop of Rouen, Emma of Normandy (the "Really Good") who married Ethelred the Unready, King of England, and then went for King Canute, King of Denmark and England (after Ethelred became Etheldead), who was always ready and was Great, at least per Emma, and Maud ("Who Would Have Been Good, But Hated Her Name"), of Normandy.
Anyway, Richard II married the daughter of Conan (I assume the mom was Red Sonja, but the history books aren't clear) and had Richard III who was just known as Dick. Duke Dick wasn't around for very long and didn't get a funny name, but his brother Robert ("Bob") took over after Duke Dick's Death and became known as Bob the Magnificent, though most people think he was exaggerating, and a lot of people (including several of his mistresses) referred to him as Bob the Devil.
One of Bob the Magnificent's (or Devil's) kids was Wild Bill, so it all comes back in one big circle.
All of these Norman Dukes were central to Bayeux, the tapestry, Mont Saint Michel and the Channel Islands.
Originally, Mont Saint Michel could only be accessed by a walkway which was covered by seawater at high tide. They have built it up, but I discovered in reading about this place that some of the lower parking areas still get covered by the tide, so I tried to be careful of where I parked (even though it is a rental, we are a long ways from anywhere). After parking, we hiked up the Mont.
It was originally built up as an abbey. In the past 1,400+ years, they have added chapels, a cathedral, lots of extra rooms, hotels, some bathrooms (but not too many), restaurants and an abundance of souvenir shops. Over the years, most of Europe's favorite conquerors have spent time at Mont Saint Michel, expanding the buildings, adding fortifications and souvenir shops. The place is a marvel!
We hiked up about a million stairs, made it to the top and had a marvelous view! We then started our trip down, made it down a few dozen flights and then it took us up again! This went on for what seemed like hours. The monks obviously had a highly developed sense of humor and amazing leg muscles. I've had "false summits" in hiking before where you think you have reached the top, but I can't remember having a false descent before. You'd finally catch your breath as you were winding down a circular staircase and then "Oh, my God, it's going up again!"
Eventually, there were more down stairs then up and we found ourselves wheezing and gasping for breath, but outside the damn place. It was very beautiful.
We made it back to our car, which was still above water, and drove on to Saint Malo. We had originally thought we would park the car at the Saint Malo ferry terminal and then ferry to the islands and return after a few days. However, it turned out that the return ferry from Guernsey didn't arrive in Saint Malo until close to 9 at night, which did not quite jibe with our planned 200 mile drive after getting back to Saint Malo. Karen hit upon the idea of flying back from Guernsey, so we parked the car at the airport and took a taxi to the ferry terminal.
Off to the Cow Islands!!
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