Paris - Day 3

Has it only been three days? It feels like three lifetimes. We have covered so much ground. Today took us out of the city. After consulting where we wanted to go and all the ways to get there, we decided that the most efficient thing to do would be to get a driver who knew the area. We found Christian, an ex-pat from New Mexico and Hawai'i (Keihi, no less!) who has three daughters and who has liveed in Franch for quite some time now. He speclizes in driving Americans around to wherever they want to go, as he straddles both cultures. He was an excellent choice. Christian listened to our ambitious itenerary, and suggested that we start at our farthest point - Mont St. Michel, on the border of Normandy and Brittony. It was a four hour drive, and mostly unscenic, as he choice the highway in the interest of time. But, it was worth the wait. Again, words fail me at the magnitude of Mont St. Michel. If you can't picture it, I highly recommend that you google a picture. In the year 709, St. Michael the Archangel appeared to the bishop of a local town and said that he wanted a church built on this particular rock next to the water. An abbey was built there, and a town to surround and support it. The whole mount rises out of the water like something from another world. After the long, long, LONG walk to get there (this is along the path of the famed Santiago Walk), we came to a fortress-like gate. Everything was cobblestones and turrets, thatched roofs and stonework. We passed through a second gate - this one with a drawbridge. The metal gate looked as if it could impale you if it were to fall. We strolled throgh this pre-medieval village, now full of shops selling tacky trinket. We bypassed these, continually working our way up the mount. There was not one right way to go. As long as you were going up, it was the right way. Christian knew his way around, and our favorite path was through a street - yes a STREET, not an alley - that was MAYBE 24 inches wide. And, like everything else, it had a steep staircase. I only wish that I had counted the number of steps we climbed. It would both impress me with my math skills and explain why I am suddenly sporting very strong legs. After a walk through more ancient buildings and a cemetary, we reached the line to enter the abbey. It was very long, and Christian estimated that it would be at least a half hour. We decided not to wait, as there was much on our agenda to see today. He said that he had another way for us, and led us around the corner to a door that he opened. He ushered us in and said that he'd meet us down by the shops. It wasn't too long before a wave of people walked in our direction, with us going upstream, and we realized that he had let us in through the exit. By this time, we were a short way up a very narrow spiral staircase. We were set to turn around, when a lady encouraged us to move forward because we were almost there. We continued up the staircaes, up many more stairs than her reactino had prepared us for. Basically, we took the Mont. St. Michel tour in reverse. After marveling at the magnificent cloister, grand church, wheel and pulley system, and unusual windows, we arrived at the entrance and let ourselves out. Our second stop was Lisieux, the home of St. Therese the Little Flower. We saw its incredible basilica, which was only built in 1954. Yet, instead of some of the ghastly modern architecture that churches were bulding at that time, it was classic and ornate. Next, Christian drove us to Le Buistonets, which is the home thst St. Therese lived in with her father and sisters. I went there when I was four years old, and it was one of my oldest and fondest memories. We walked through her kitchen and parlor, and upstairs to her bedroom. I saw the toys that I remember so much from when I visited before. Finally, we went to the Carmel Convent where she is entombed. Our last stop was to Camembert. Even our driver had never been there. It was not near anything else. The draw was the cheese that we love so much. The town of Camembert was MAYBE a quarter of a mile long, and yet it had a city hall, church, and stained windows. We walked through the process of what it takes to make cheese, and helped ourselves to samples as we left. We were nearly the only ones there. We made lots of cheese jokes. Sadly, Giverney just could not be fit in, but I figured that since that it an easy trip from Paris by train, we might go there later in the trip, or hopefully on a future trip. Mont St. Michel, on the other hand, it just the opposite, so it was well worth going to this time. Ok, friends. Thanks for reading it. It's 2am, and I'm going to boed.