Sleepy Paris, still dark as we creep out of our building in the dim hours just after dawn, not wanting to miss our (very early) bus… a second time.
Our attempt to find the Tour Offices the previous morning failed miserably – the maze of foreign streets in combination with a flimsy tourist map left us frustrated and helplessly lost. After asking a nearby hotel’s concierge for directions, we managed to find our coach just as it trucked off loudly past us, the driver paying no attention to our flailing arms – a desperate and futile attempt to redeem our disastrous morning.
With that in mind, I suggest you find your Tour Office before your departure date. This is one of the lessons I learned early on – scout departure points the day before a trip; a warning I myself didn’t heed on this occasion! Luckily, we were able to pay a small fee and reschedule our booking.
Our destination today is Mont St Michel, the iconic floating fortress off the Western shore of France. I have always had a fascination with Brittany and Normandy – a seemingly misplaced piece of mother England in one of her long-time rivals – so I wait with nervous anticipation on the giant coach that is ferrying us there. It’s a four hour drive, so if you’re planning on doing the same, I suggest you take a good book!