Mont St Michel and Paris

A lot has happened since our last blog including a train crash (seriously) and a magnificent time in Mont St Michel and Paris. More about the train crash later.

Mont St Michel (MSM)
This is one breathtaking place. Its an historic Abbey built on a rock of an island and is surrounded by water when the tide comes in. We witnessed the change in tide from miles of sand to being surrounded by the sea. Lovely accommodation and spent the day exploring the Abbey and surrounding village. Way too many photos to do the place justice.

MSM to Paris (the train crash)
We left MSM and caught a bus to Rennes where we jumped onto a fast express train to Paris. About 20 minutes into the journey we heard some debris hit the side of the train (travelling probably at 160km/h). Paul witnessed a car being flung into a pole and that was that. The train came to an abrupt halt, and that's where we stayed for 3 hours while things got cleaned up. We returned to Rennes and jumped onto another train, eventually getting to Paris 6 hours late. Thankfully we met up with the Palmers and Bennetts for a lovely night out.

Paris
The last 4 days have been spent all over Paris. Notre Dame, walk along the river, Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triumph, Sacre Coeur (a big church), boat along the river, Versailles, Champs Elysees, past (not into) the Louvre, the Moulin Rouge area, and a whole heap of other stuff. Too many wonderful sights and too many  photos taken.

The Parisian architecture is lovely. Lots of 5-7 story buildings with planter boxes etc. Narrow streets. We sorted the underground rail quickly and with Steve and Sharon, have averaged about 15km walking each day not including the steps up and down towers.

We leave this lovely city tomorrow and head for Dubai for a few nights, before getting home on Thursday. The fairy tale is coming to an end, but after living from our suit cases for 6 weeks, we are also looking forward to being home with the family.

Love Paul and Judith