Day 5: St. Malo

What I learned today:

1. U.S. Appliances and European voltage do not play nice together.

2. Croissants and corn flakes are not a very appealing breakfast

3. Sea Pools with man-made stairs are truly manmade!

4. French banks don’t have to change your money if they don’t have to and most don’t.

5. French public toilets are holes in the ground that are intended for you to squat over. (There is no toilet paper either.)

6. Some castles are built to watch the people not protect them.

7. Europeans do not believe in providing washcloths to hotel guests.

More Words

rue = road
sa = that
vache = cow
magazine = grocery store/shop

We had a pretty late start today which was nice. We got to sleep in past 6 am. Which might have been my first time since school got out that I was really able to do that. (If there was a day I didn’t have to work, usually Lincoln made sure I was up anyway sometime before then!) Breakfast was once again nothing much to talk about, but I guess we should not complain to loudly as we do get a pretty good rate overall for the trip so I guess we can not expect too much! A little more would be nice though.
I did not describe the hotel yesterday that we are staying at here in St.Malo. It is actually a converted abbey. WHich makes it very unique. It is a very strange layout and all the rooms are very different. We have one set of 4 girls in a two story room while others are tucked away on top of a spiral staircase with a portrait window and a very large bathroom. While we (my roommate Amy and I) are stuck on the first floor in close quarters- well not close compared to the last place, but close enough and a tiny little bathroom. The bathroom wouldn’t be so bad, but you can not sit down on the toilet without hitting your knees on the glass window swinging shower door. That’s right, we have two side walls made of glass that attempt to enclose the shower. But they don’t actually meet in the middle so the water tends to get pretty much everywhere. It’s not quite as bad as the last shower stall that had a curtain that didn’t actually fit the stall and a head that tended to point straight at the back of the shower and onto the floor-my roommate described it as a second flood. So I took extra caution in that one and did not have as much trouble as she did. But here there really aren’t a lot of options. So the water gets everywhere and you pray you don’t slip later. Anyway, all the rooms are very strangely setup and at times quite hard to find. Not just from their locations but from the numbering system. We are number 90 with 91 and 92 up the hall, but across the hall you will find 76 and then 94. The other 70’s are two turns away from where that room landed. Some of the doors you have to walk through are only about 4 feet tall if that, and the ceilings in some areas are so low I really don’t think Justin could possibly get around without crawling around. Which might be a funny sight, but not something he would particularly enjoy!
The day started off a little frustratingly. Many of us have been waiting to exchange our cash for Euros, but they has never been an opportunity since arriving in France. there have been ATM’s you can pull money out of, but nowhere to exchange the US currency we have for European currency. So this morning we drove to a small town just west of the hotel we are staying in to do just that. The problem turned out to be that it was Saturday and a small town in a more rural part of France and the banks don’t have to take your money. So we started out at the first bank and got turned away but were directed to a bank that does exchange. So we made our way to the second location but they happen to be closed on Saturday. So for then next 15 -20 minutes we followed our guide up the main street of this small village stopping at every bank along the way and getting turned away at each one until we finally ended up back at the first original bank. So we did get to see quite a bit of the town at high speed but we still did not get to exchange any cash. I was so tired of it and in need of Euros, that I finally just decided to pull money out of the bank. I figured I would just put the cash back in when I got home as trying to change it was a big hassle. They say Paris will be easier- but not on Sunday as banks are not open!
After that lovely tour of the city we pilled back on the bus and drove to Mont Saint Michel or Saint Michael Mountain. The pronounce Michael more like Michelle though and drop their T’s, so it doesn’t sound anything like how it is spelled. It is a mountain fortification a mile out to see that has been used for many different things throughout its history. It has been a Monastery, a Prison, and a Fortress. And I must say it was pretty amazing. This giant castle in the sky- or at least that is what it looked like from a distance. What is so unique is that the entire thing was surrounded by water at high tide and quicksand at low tide, making it impenetrable for hundreds of years. No one every took the Mount. They now have a road that leads out to the fortification, so they water and sand are not a problem. But you still have to walk up to the top. Once again it amazes me to see history come alive! To be in an actual castle of sorts and to see its different means of protecting itself. From the numerous walls, to the steep, steep roads, It was just like what all the textbooks say it would be like to give the defenders the advantage over those trying to invade.
There were tons of stairs that had to be conquered to make it up to the top which is still a working abbey. But we made it up and with time to spare- so i decided to go back down and peruse some of the shops I had seen. Which meant that I then had to climb back up the stairs. So I definitely got my work out in today. They actually hold tours in the abbey itself so we got to do that. Most of us also opted to get the headsets you used to listen to information about the abbey as you walked around. it was quite interesting to hear about the different types of architecture and uses for the building. There is even a replica of an elevator system they would use to raise items up and down within the abbey itself. It looked a lot like a giant human mouse wheel. Individuals would walk around in side which caused ropes to raise or lower depending on which way they walked.
After the tour we had to make our way down the stairs and steep path and back to the bus as it was ready to whisk us off to our next destination for the day- the beach! On our way we stopped off at the local supermarket and grabbed some picnic lunch type items to enjoy as we spent some time relaxing and hanging out before our tour of St. Malo. One of the chaperones even bought a sheet to use for sitting purposes on the beach. (Too bad her son left it on the bus and she never actually got to use it, but it as a good idea nonetheless!)
We sat around at the beach and had lunch. The kids played and the adults chatted. But no one dared used the public restrooms that were available. As they were nothing like what we are accustomed to. There were no toilet seats. Just a round hole of sorts that you were to squat in and do your business. There was also no toilet paper to use when you were finished, so I am not sure how you were supposed to clean up afterwards. The thing did flush, But it was not like the duvet system where it would clean you too. All in all, it was just a little too strange. We all decided to hold it until arriving at St. Malo! :)
St. Malo is a small town surrounded by walls on all sides. With a castle and fortifications all around. The only problem was the castle was actually built there to keep an eye on the people not an eye out for any invaders. I guess throughout history the people of St. Malo had been a much more rowdy and rambunctious group. Believing themselves to be better at knowing what was good for them as a people. So they had a tendency to not listen to the higher-ups like the Dukes and the Kings. The people actually declared their own republic that they ran for 4 years after sneaking into the castle and killing all inside.
What I also found quite intriguing was that the people of Saint Malo somehow turned pirating into a legal endeavor. Basically there stand was if you made it to St. malo with your goods and were willing to give 1/3 of it to the people then the rest was yours to keep no questions asked. One such gentleman took control of a British vessel carrying nearly 6 million in gold. He made it into town, paid the fee and then never worked again. What is even more interesting is that they have a statue of him up with a finger pointed towards Britain, know if that is just not rubbing it in their face I do not know what is!
We spent a little more time hanging out in St. Malo after our tour, getting awesome ice cream, and enjoying the sights. After which we came back to our hotel, had dinner, and are preparing yet again to move on to a new location. Tomorrow morning bright and early we are heading out to Paris. I know there will be a lot in store for us there, I can not wait to tell you all about it. But I better get some rest or I won’t be able to enjoy it.