En route to Mont-Saint-Michel

It has been a pretty busy past few weeks, there’s quite a bit to catch up on. And so to begin “catching up” I will start with the long awaited conclusion to the Robitaille, Bourgeois, Lamirande vacation… but divided into three parts, since there is still so much to cover!

So to begin where we last left off:

the Lamirande family had made their way back to Arras after

sight seeing along the French boarder in Belgium and the Netherlands. The morning after they returned we all headed out in our two rental cars in the direction of Normandie with the final destination of Mont-Saint-Michel. Andre drove us up to the coast for a nice stop in Dieppe. We had crepes in one of the cafes along the harbour before walking along the beach to the Canadian Memorial Garden.

At the top of the cliff behind the Memorial Garden is le Château-Musée de Dieppe. The museum had a visiting exhibition celebrating the impressionist painters; who were inspired by the colours and landscapes of Normandie. We made the climb up to visit the château museum and for the beautiful view of the beaches and Dieppe.

Above Center: Dieppe Beach

Above Right & Below: View from le Château-Musée de Dieppe

Click here for le Château-Musée de Dieppe website (français)

Once back at sea level we piled back into the car to make our way across le pont de Normandie. The pont or bridge is immense and crosses the mouth of the Seine river that winds its way to Paris.

We had decided to cut our trip to Mont-Saint-Michel in half; so that night we stayed in Honfleur. Back in June we had been advised by a waiter to go to Honfleur and it just so happened to be the half-way point between Arras and our rental house near Mont-Saint Michel. It also happens to be the departure port of Samuel de Champlain on route to Quebec City!

We all met in Honfleur and had a lovely dinner of Mussels in one of the restaurants in the harbour. After dinner we walked around the old city getting chocolate and miniature candy apples filled with Calvados. I do have to add though that one should always be careful with mussels, one bad moule can really spoil the evening. I know from experience…

The next morning we went to the Château du Breuil; a Calvados distillery on our way to Mont-Saint Michel. Calvados is an aperitif unique to Normandie and is distilled from apples. Apple cider is the lighter beverage, and then next is Pomeau followed by Calvados which around 40%.

We did a tour of the distillery, but you can’t go into the château. It’s a very beautiful spot and the tour ends with a taste of Pomeau and Calvados.

Calvados Aging in Oak Casks

From there we drove all the way to our house rental….