Amboise to Mont St. Michel, July 22

Although we had a 3.5 hour drive from Amboise in the Loire valley to Mont St. Michel on the Normandy coast, we were able to do a fair amount of sightseeing today. Neither Rich nor I were overly "awed" by Amboise, but it does make a nice homebase to see the chateaux in the area. (We'll be returning here during our bike trip for a couple of nights)

After breakfast this morning we drove to the chateau in Cheverny and toured it. The interior was beautifully furnished with fresh flowers in every room (both of which I guess is unusual for chateaux in this area), and the grounds were immaculately maintained, but I think it looks a little stark without any landscaping around the front of the chateau.

We left Cheverny @ 11:00 and drove to Mont St. Michel, stopping for a picnic lunch along the way (having picked up a baguette of French bread, some Camembert cheese and fresh peaches at an "Autogrill" type market). After checking into our B&B, we walked to Mont St. Michel (@ 2 miles). It felt good to be out of the car and, since we hadn't been walking much the last few days, we thought this would be a good break. Mont. St. Michel is a very picturesque island abbey with an awe-inspiring skyline (I think Rich must have taken more than 50 photos!). We were able to take a nocturnal tour of the abbey (with mood lighting and live music) and then stopped for dinner at a small restaurant on the island. By the time we finished dinner, it was after 9:30 and we still had the 2-mile walk back to the B&B! We were able to watch the sun set as we walked, making it a very nice way to end the day.