Photo Credit: Philip Plisson, Peintre Officiel de la Marine
We spent the night, just outside of Cancale, at a great little B&B called La Vieuville. It is run by a fun couple, and the place, though obviously very old, had been renovated to a beautiful french country manor. They had the best breakfast of the whole trip, and one of my favorite dishes ever, an apple and almond tart. The man of the house makes all the jams served there, and the pumpkin-fig jam was heavenly.
Now I know I haven't written much about the food on this trip, it was mostly amazing. Everything was fresh (bien sur) but there was always a seafood theme to every meal. We had a great fish soup in several towns, but Pat really loved the one served as an appetizer at La Mere Champlain, me, not so much. I had a seafood pot pie in Roscoff that was an excellent idea! Of course the fresh oysters were fab -- in Cancale, they serve them with a sauce of red wine vinegar with pieces of cucumber diced finely floating in the bowl, and fresh lemon wedges. Delightful flavors!
Ah yes, onto the Abbey, Mount St. Michel. From the moment we talked of going to France, people said will you go to Mt. St. Michel? It is like the Louvre or the Eiffel Tower. It was a mecca for the pilgrims who sought religious something, but now it is a mecca for the tourist in France. We have some great photos of it, but this postcard really tells the story much better than we could.
It is built on an island just off the coast, not in Bretagne, but in Normandy, though there seems to be some debate about that. There is a tiny village wound around the base of the abbey that serves the 3 million plus tourists who come every year. We were there on a Sunday in November and the town was wall to wall people. I can't even imagine how claustrophobic it would be in July.
Because there were only two english speaking tourists (us) signed up for the tour, the guide wanted to cancel it, but Pat appealed to him to take us anyway, and the result was a fascinating private one hour tour. I don't think the Mt. is the most magnificent building in France, as do some, but I was intrigued with its history, its romance and of the mysteries that those walls could tell if they spoke. It somehow encapsulated the whole feel of this trip through Brittany, or Bretagne, and I did feel like a pilgrim who had traveled to the mecca when we left.
