We flew from the Azores, landing at Orly Airport, Paris. But having been to France before, this time we had just a few priority destinations we wanted to visit, starting the following morning by catching a Metro train then a high speed TGV train, to the west of France near Normandy.
But first, a very simple looking route map of our travels in France.
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| It's a simple looking route in France because we were focussed on fewer priorities |
Saint Malo & Mont San Michel
Our first priority involved booking 3 nights to stay inside the historical walled city of Saint Malo, which is located near Normandy on the coast of France almost directly west from Paris.
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| This route map shows in more detail detail our wanderings using Saint Malo as our base |
Saint Malo was founded in the 6th Century, but the first ramparts of the wall, were built in the 12th Century and our accomodation was inside the walled city with all its cobble stone streets, and with a view over the ramparts themselves.
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| The gates we entered through for our stay in Saint Malo |
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| The view from our accommodation... rampart in front... marina beyond |
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| The view from our windows at night |
Our host who met us to explain the unit to us, spoke no English and we cannot speak French, so we used AI based active translation for the first time and it worked well for both of us.
Very soon we located how to climb up onto the ramparts, to start walking trying to circumnavigate the wall, naturally taking quite a few photos as we progressed. Finally we reached the ocean side of the wall, where 2 small islands are located just off shore.
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| Walking around the rampart of this walled city |
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| Apartments located inside the wall |
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| View down one of the streets within the wall... from the wall |
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| One of the islands visible from the ramparts |
One of them is called Grand Bé, and when we saw it for the first time, we noticed a narrow causeway used for people to reach the island from the beach, so we used steps to come down off the wall, reached the causeway and stepped onto it.
In this part of France, they have some of the largest tidal movements, of up to 12 metres between high and low tides, and we were visiting when the highest tidal range was happening. So what you may ask?
As we stepped onto the causeway, we were literally watching the water beginning to cover the causeway bit by bit as we started walking across it.
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| With water increasingly covering the causeway this couple and ourselves had to start retreating quickly |
Our goal was to get pictures looking back to Saint Malo from the causeway, and we only reached half way across the causeway as the fast moving water reached our feet, so we turned, took some photos and rapidly headed back to land, our feet already wet through our sandals, well before we reached the shore.
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| We had walked onto the causeway looking back at Saint Malo |
These very high tides were to play an important role later during our visit to this part of France.
We spent many more hours walking through the many roads and lanes of Saint Malo, full of restaurants, cafes, souvenir shops and of course, tourists.
We had decided to rent a small manual car to achieve the main goal for being here, because the bus schedules were not going to suit some of our plans. So we walked back to the railway station we had arrived into, collected the car, got used to changing gears with my right hand and not my left, and started exploring the numerous small towns as we worked on our way towards the goal for being here… Mont Saint-Michel.
Some of the small beautiful towns we visited follows.
Dinard
Dinard is set directly across a large bay from Saint Malo and is a lovely small seaside town, with some lovely homes and buildings within it. There is a path that follows the coastline which we walked, whilst also watching people enjoying swimming and using the beach.
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| Typical houses whilst walking through Dinard |
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| Dinard is popular with French tourists for its beach |
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| People enjoying the ocean with a view back to Saint Malo |
We were using many backroads and constantly came upon different scenery which caught our eye and becoming a reason to stop constantly to take more photos.
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| Whilst driving the back roads we stopped for this blue house... |
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| ...then further on we stopped again, this time for the red house |
Cancale
We spotted another seaside town called Cancale from a hilltop before descending down into the town itself. It was throbbing with tourists, so it took a little while to find a carpark right on the foreshore.
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| View of Cancale from a nearby hilltop |
Cancale is renowned for its oysters we had been told by the Info Centre in Saint Malo, and it seemed to be true with the oyster beds just off shore, with rows of restaurants selling oysters and crowds of tourists gorging themselves on them.
A short jetty we walked ont gave us a good view of the oyster beds being worked and as we returned back to the start of the jetty, to the right were little stalls selling freshly farmed oysters and people sitting on small tables or steps to the beach eating them.
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| The oyster beds of Cancale |
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| Very fresh oysters anyone! |
Each time they finished eating the contents of each shell, they simply threw them onto the beach in front of them, resulting in a large piled up layer of used shells lying on the beach.
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| They call this 'shuck & chuck' |
Hirel
Still following the shore in the car, we stopped for a while at another shoreline carpark in Hirel, to watch some newbies in a group on the sand being taught how to sand surf.
We had to wait to see how the teaching turned out by doing it on their own and it wasn’t long before most were confidently making their way around a temporary course and bollards set up on the beach.
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| Newly taught sand surfers letting it rip on the beach |
Mont Dol
Mont Dol is regarded as one of the prettiest villages in France, by the way, we don’t know how they determine this because there are lots of pretty villages in France. It certainly was delightful as we walked around some sections of the town.
We were a little lucky in that a wedding was being held at the church, which added to the atmosphere during our visit.
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| Pretty church with a wedding underway |
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| Strolling through Mont Dol |
Beauvoir
We were nearing our final destination for the day, but Beauvoir being not far away from it seemed a good place to have dinner.
We had seen many signs of crepes in the other towns and villages we had gone through, so thought we would try something similar but a local specialty, buckwheat crepes, otherwise known as ‘galette de sarrasin’.
We sort of knew what we were ordering but did not expect to be delivered what we received!
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| Delicious ‘galette de sarrasin’ |
Said earlier there were a limited number of things we had come to France to visit and the first one was Mont San Michel which from now on would simply like to call it ‘Le Mont’.
This destination is an industry in itself. It receives 10,000 to 15,000 visitors every day or between 2.5M to 3M per year. To handle the volume, there are multiple very large, well organised car parks close to Beauvoir to use.
Once the car is parked, you walk to a bus terminal to catch shuttle buses running 24/7 which take you about 2/3rds of the way across a purpose built causeway to reach Le Mont. The shuttle bus fare is built into the parking costs.
A few fun facts about Le Mont first:
- It’s a tidal island & commune
- Started life in 708 AD after Bishop Aubert of Avranches reportedly had a vision of the Archangel Michael, with a Benedictine abbey established on the site in 966
- It was progressively built over 1,300 years
- Napoleon closed it and turned it into a prison
- Withstood all attacks by the British during the 100 yr war with France and was never captured
- Has a tiny population of up to 40
After a fairly short ride on a bus, we stepped from it onto the causeway, everyone including us, reached for phones and cameras and rushed to the fence, madly clicking away and most likely in their minds going “wow”!! It is quite the sight when we saw it up close for the first time.
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| Rob was out of the bus quickly to start taking photos... note the sand in front of Le Mont |
We however were not here to go onto the island and visit Le Mont, we had timed our first foray here to try and photograph it at sunset and because the very high tides we described earlier.
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| Tide has now almost right in but the sunset wan't going to happen for us |
As it turned out, the high tide and sunset just about coincided, which meant Le Mont would be surrounded by water, including under the causeway, at sunset.
So we waited on the causeway for the sun to set, hoping the clouds would clear, and for the tide to come in, which began very slowly and then started happening very quickly, BUT the clouds did not clear as the skies darkened.
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| One of the shuttle buses which would return us to the carpark |
It was still a wonderful experience as we returned to Saint Malo.
Day 2 at Le Mont would be different, as we needed to be there in the morning, replay the parking and shuttle bus routine, this time walk across the remaining causeway and enter through quite small gates, into Le Mont, with the tide rapidly coming in yet again.
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| Next morning back at Le Mont... the tide coming back in |
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| The small entry into the commune of Le Mont |
Once inside through the wall, you enter onto a stone covered path with old buildings either side, now serving as restaurants, cafes, souvenir shops etc etc and we started our climb upwards to reach the entry into the Abbey right at the top. Everyone has to have a ticket before they enter.
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| Starting our walk through the narrow streets of Le Mont |
Walking through the Abbey was like walking through a time capsule labyrinth, in that, various parts of it had been built on to it over time due to fires, the need to expand or to take it higher.
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| There are many stairs to conquer in Le Mont |
There were many large and very austere rooms, small chapels, the crypt of great pillars and numerous steps to negotiate within the Abbey, both upwards and down. It’s VERY impressive!
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| Crowds in the Abbey |
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| Negotiating more stairs inside the Abbey itself |
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| Inside another part of the Le Mont Abbey |
We left the Abbey and found our way walking around the ramparts of the wall which are impressively high and thick before finally making our way eventually back down to the lane and onto the causeway and after 2.5 hrs back to catch a shuttle.
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| Walking part of Le Mont's ramparts |
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| View of the causeway from the walls of Le Mont |
This time on the way back, we got off where the causeway where it reaches the mainland and walked to Les Barrages, where a controlled system to manage water flows is operated and upon which some very large bean bag style chairs sat. Rob enjoyed them whilst I took more photos of Le Mont from a very different perspective.
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| View of Les Barrages with Le Mont behind it |
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| Rob settling into a bean bag on top of Les Barrages |
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| Not a bad view of Le Mont |
On the way back to Saint Malo we stopped off in two more villages.
We took so many photos whilst walking through Le Mont, have decided to add a specific link to more of them if you're interest.
CLICK HERE for more photos of Mont Saint-Michel
Dol-de-Bretagne
Dol-de-Bretagne is famous for its Cathedral, built from 1203 but it’s north tower was never finished due to fears the Devil would knock down anything built the day before, so it stands to this day one tower short.
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| Dol-de-Bretage's Cathedrals missing tower |
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| Display inside the cathedral |
Dinan
Dinan is a walled city and nearly 1,000 years old, famous for its medieval ramparts, cobblestone streets and halt-timbered houses which we enjoyed walking through.
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| Dinan was full of old half timbered houses |
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| Some of the houses were a little 'wonky' |
Versailles
The following morning it was back to Paris by train to visit our 2nd primary goal in France the next morning, that being Versailles, the famous French palace. Again we had tickets for a 09:30 entry and found ourselves near the 09:00 entry queue waiting for our turn to also enter, buses full of tour groups arriving as we stood there.
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| Walking towards the entry gates to Versailles 'complex' |
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| Having entered one of the palace's courtyards |
Now everyone had told us we would normally need a full day for the actual palace and another day for its famous and very large gardens. The latter was not going to happen due to the drought and long running heatwaves impacting Europe, plus the fountains were not working to conserve water.
Some fun facts about the Versailles Palace:
- there are 2,300 total rooms spread over 63,000+ square. metres of flor space
- there are 2,000 windows, 1,250 fireplaces, and 67 separate staircases
- started being built as a modest hunting lodge in 1623 and became official Royal residence in 1682 and in 1789, the French Revolution forced the Royals to abandon Versailles
Inside the palace itself was certainly impressive as we shuffled our way from room to room, compressed somewhat, by a slow moving wall of people, especially all the group tours and everyone with their earpieces in, oblivious to everyone else around them. Think we liked all this… nope!
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| Amazingly ornate and crowded |
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| It was packed in many but not in all areas |
So we worked our way through the crowds, not reading all the words on every exhibit but certainly admiring much of what was inside. Must admit, we hadn’t seen so many and such big paintings before, especially in the Gallery of Great Battles, War Room and Peace Room and the Hall of Mirrors was also a stand out for us.
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| Part of the King's apartments/rooms |
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| No wonder the French had a revolution! |
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| The Queens bedroom |
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| One of the numerous other areas |
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| Napoleon Bonaparte figured a few times in very large paintings |
We did visit some of the garden areas and am sure during normal seasonal times with an abundance of water, they would be magnificent.
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| The gardens went a looong way further back |
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| Very well maintianed |
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| Very nice fountain not working due to drought & hot weather |
After nearly 3.5 hrs we had had enough due to the constant surge and thronging of people, so departed this famous palace. We were certainly impressed with it all and pleased we had at long last ticked it off our list, but we both share the view that Catherine's Palace in Russia was more impressive for us.
On our way back to our accomodation, Rob took me to visit Galerie Lafayette Shopping Centre with its magnificent 43 metre high centrepiece dome called known as La Coupole and a place she had visited with my mother and sister some years previously. It is also impressive.
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| La Couple dome in Galerie Lafayette |
Paris Catacombs
More by very good fortune, we were able to buy online tickets to finally visit the Paris Catacombs the following morning. There are only limited tickets available, especially now having finished the renovations of the catacombs themselves.
There we were again next morning in a queue, waiting to descend 20 metres below ground or 131 steps into potentially 1.5 kms of tunnels eventually taking us to the skull and skeletons of the dead.
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| Down in the tunnels of the Paris Catacombs |
Why are they here you ask? Starting back during the Roman era, through the Middle Ages then into the Renaissance period, tunnels were dug under Paris covering 300 Kms quarrying for limestone and gypsum to build everything above ground
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| There is no complete map of the tunnels and don't expect you to be able to read this - core message... there are a mass of tunnels |
By the 18th century, the cemeteries in Paris were massively over crowded and the bodies were creating a major health hazard due to collapses in the cemeteries, so very simply, it was decided to use the tunnels and relocate skeletons and millions of bones into them in 1785, by King Louis XVI.
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| The tunnels were well built and now renovated |
So there we were, underground in Paris for around 1 hour, walking through tunnels past hundreds of skulls ‘looking’ back at us and related bones, all very neatly stacked and some in very intricate shapes. It was fascinating, somewhat gruesome, but at all times, extremely respectful. Backpacks had to be worn on our fronts to stop disturbing the bones or skulls when we turned.
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| Skeletons and skulls everywhere |
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| Turned some into works of 'art' |
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| But always respectful of the dead |
After finishing climbing the stairs back to the surface, we were all searched to ensure none of us had decided to souvenir part of a skeleton!!
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| To finish off our 'day of the dead' we walked through the Montparnasse Cemetery, one of the largest above ground in Paris |
There was a final destination on our agenda which was a quick visit to a fully restored and very famous Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral, now back to all its glory post the devastating fire in April 2019.
We had no intention of going into the Cathedral, simply to see what it looks like post its restoration, having already visited years before. There was certainly a very large crowd queued and waiting to enter, which is the norm these days throughout Europe during the prime tourist season.
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| Crowds waiting to enter Notre-Dame |
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| Notre-Dame in more peaceful repose next to the Seine River |
Our relatively short and very focussed time within France had come to an end, so it was time to head to Charles de Gaulle Airport and make our way to our next destination for this trip and continue our journey, this time eastwards.
CLICK HERE if you want more photos of France 2026 visit
There is a lot more to come so until next post… go well!
