21 March 2005

Where Castles Rise up from the Ocean

The drive from Luneville to St. Malo, Britagne (pronounced Bri tan ya) goes through the French region of Normandy.  The countryside is hilly, much like southeast Ohio.

 As we drove nearer to the Britagne coast, a sight caught our eye far off in the distance.  Rising out of the sea, there appeared what looked to be a castle straight out of King Arthur’s adventures.  It disappeared behind a mountain, still too far away to be sure. 

  Our goal was to travel to the Island of Jersey.  We had by now become obsessed with how many countries we could add to the list of places we had visited… and technically, Jersey counted as one more (it is part of the United Kingdom, but like Wales and Scotland, has its own government) 

 But this mysterious island called to us…at the very same moment Jay and I said, “Let’s go see what it is.”  It turned out to be just what we thought it could not possibly be… a magical castle rising out of the sea… straight out of a King Arthur legend…The Mont St. Michel Abbey (Abbaye du Mont-Saint-Michel at http://www.monum.fr).

The closer we approached, the more amazing it became.  With no directions to guide us, we just kept driving towards the rock.

 At the shoreline we paid to park our car.  Then we walked a long way across a causeway to get to the first of a zillion steps.  As we climbed the endless steps to the top of the church, I was breathing pretty hard. Travel is not for the faint of heart!  The steps seemed endless, but once we reached the top of the church the view towards St. Malo and back towards Granville were magnificent. 

 The Isle of Jersey rested somewhere out in a sea shrouded by mist.  The sun appeared above, cutting through clouds and fighting a loosing battle to dry some of the recent rain.  The view was spectacular as the mist rose from the tide pool that surrounded the rock island.

 The very top of the abbey sits on a giant rock and was built around the year 708.  Grand old buildings surround the church.  They flow down the mountain, almost like lava, halting at the fortress wall that surrounds the entire complex.  All of this sits on a rock that rises alone and imposingly from the ocean, about one half mile from the shoreline. 

 We tried to get a hotel room on the island, but soon realized we would have to mortgage our house to afford it.  So we stayed nearby at the Hotel Vert for $55 (including breakfast) and ate at a fancy restaurant called le Pre-Sale (meaning Before you Exit).  We chose regional food:  hake (fish) and a fresh green salad with walnuts and a light olive oil dressing.  They served butter with the bread, which is unusual for the French, so Cat went crazy piling it on to the hard crusty stuff.

 Halfway through dinner, a huge woman walked in with her little Yorkie dog on a leash and sat down.  I will never get used to people bringing their dogs into places like restaurants and grocery stores. 

 The next morning we drove the short distance to St. Malo, to walk the town wall, and then take the ferry to Jersey.  As we drove I was lost in my own thoughts of the places I’ve visited in this world…like New Zealand, and farming towns in China.  Places like Cork, Ireland and St. Petersburg, Russia.

 I thought about all those people I’d met along the way and that somehow I had gotten beyond the fear of things I don’t know or understand.  My own sense of adventure had served me well.  I was thankful to all those history books I read when I was a kid, because they instilled in me a thirst to see this world, to want to understand and get to know people who are different from me. 

 What I have learned is that most of those folks are just like me…they love their families and they want to live in a world where their kids can grow up to be happy.  This big scary world can be such a friendly little place.  I’m awfully glad I’ve taken the risk to travel.