About an hour north of Rennes is a world heritage site known as Le-Mont-Saint-Michel. It is located in Normandy, but there’s a little argument about whether it is in Normandy or Brittany. I had been wanting to visit this place since early high school because there was a poster in the French classroom and I remember thinking to myself that I have to go there one day. This was made possible when I chose CIEE’s Rennes program. Sadly I only went on one, but the program includes three excursions throughout the semester. I didn’t make it to the second one, because I went to Paris with my family from the states. The second excursion got moved to the weekend my family was planning on visiting. That was two weeks before I had to leave.

CIEE recommends not planning travel until you get to Rennes, because sometimes the excursions do not have set dates. They aren’t mandatory but they are included with the program, so if the bill wasn’t covered by scholarships or grants then that means you paid for the excursion and you’re missing out on it if you don’t go. Also, the excursions are really fun so I highly recommend going. After classes start at CIREFE, you might not see the others from the program that often if they are in a different language level than you, so the excursions are a great way to bring everyone back together.

For our trip to Le-Mont-Saint-Michel, we met at Université Rennes 2 at 8:00 a.m. and loaded onto a charter bus. People encouraged me to sit closer to everyone when I got on. I’m just so used to sitting towards the back of the bus because that’s where I normally sit for crew races. This time I sat at the very front. I actually really enjoyed it because the driver pointed out to me, Le-Mont-Saint-Michel in the distance.

When we arrived, we got off the bus and headed to the welcome center. There were interactive information boards. We all used the bathroom before we headed onto the shuttle that would take us to the island. It’s during low tide that the shuttle takes you and the shuttle was pact. We were the first few on and then more and more people got on. It felt like the metro in Rennes, but honestly a little more squished. The ride had to be no more than ten minutes though. It drops you off at a distance where you can get a full landscape picture of Le-Mont-Saint-Michel and then you walk the rest of the way to the entrance.

Be prepared to walk up hill. I’m honestly super happy that I wore my knee brace that day. I have one because my left knee is a little weak and I wanted to start wearing one for when I go on runs. I also walked around Rennes for a long time the day before, so my legs were already a little tired. It is called a mount for a reason. Once you enter the little village you are constantly going up hill.

As you walk up the hills, there are little cafés and souvenir shops along the pathway. The pathway is actually pretty small. It’s just enough space to either walk up or down. There are lantern lights that hang over you as you walk along it (first picture above). I remember when we were leaving, someone giving a tour at the bottom the stairs said “this is where most people give up.” (middle picture) There is a small plateau area after you get to the top of the first set of hills and stairs. There are different levels you can walk up to. The view from up there is already amazing. You can see the sea expanding all around the island. (Picture on the right is the start of the tour after the plateau and another set of stairs)

We were only with our assistant director and she got us our tour phones. As we walk through the abbey, we type in the number we see on the signs on the walls and listen to recordings by holding the phone up to an ear. The recordings were in English but there are other languages available.

You’re outside most of the time during the tour and the heat isn’t really regulated inside the abbey, so if you’re going when it is colder be prepared to layer up. When we went it was super windy and I made sure to wear a sweater and my wool coat, since it was early February. The tour gives you the history of the abbey and of each room you walk into. Also, you learn about the monks and nuns that lived there in 966. At the end of the tour there is a gift shop. I noticed there were a lot of leather notebooks and items with the abbey on them. Most of the merchandise was very expensive in this shop.

After the tour, I went and sat with my friend at a stone ledge, which seemed like built in bench by a window to eat lunch. You could buy lunch there, but most of us packed lunches. We were free to walk around a little bit afterwards. My friend and I bought some post cards.

We all met at the entrance at a specific time to head back to the bus. The wind got super crazy and it felt like I was going to lose my earrings as we ran towards the shuttle, because we didn’t want to miss it. We went to the welcome center one last time to finish eating some of our lunches and used the bathroom before we left.

For the second part of the excursion, we stopped in a town called Dinan on our way back. Our bus driver made a wrong turn, but he also seemed like he knew where we were. We stopped at this random open field, but there was a monument next to the road called Le Menhir de Champ-Dolent. It was just a giant stone that sat straight up and it had an oval shape. We have no idea why we stopped to look at it, but we had fun and took pictures. I read that it’s the tallest standing stone in Brittany at over 9 meters high.

In Dinan we walked around and the group split up into smaller groups. We ended up going into a lot of different jewelry stores. I like thinking about how happy my one friend was when she bought a ring and a matching bracelet and another friend who bought a mineral bracelet. I think the other group went on a search for crepes. My group also ended up walking on top of the bordering wall where you can find a nice view of the town.

It started to rain a little bit when we left. There was a really steep hill we had to walk down and a few people in the group were slipping. At the bottom, we found a river and could see a large bridge. The bus driver arrived to pick us up only a few minutes after we got there.

I really enjoyed this excursion and I was happy to see the whole group together again. Definitely use these excursions to make the most out of your study abroad experience.

À bientôt

– Nicole