Normandy Day 2!!!

On Saturday morning we woke up around ten, got dressed and ready to go, and headed down for breakfast. The breakfast food was all very sugar-filled; nutella spread, coco puffs, and hot chocolate. But, we did manage with some bagettes with jam, apple sauce, and rasin bran-like cereal. After stealing some jam packets, apple sauce, and sugar packets, we headed out for Mont Saint Michel a bit after eleven and got there around noonish. The drive there was beautiful, winding through fields and little farm houses. We stopped right along the road to Mont Saint Michel to take pictures. It was an amazing backdrop and we got some great shots! Mont Saint Michel is built on Mont-Tombe. A sanctuary was built there in 708 after Saint Michel visited the Bishop of Averanhes, Aubert. At first the Aubert didn't listened to him so Saint Michel touched his head and burnt a hole in his skull. Finally convinced, they built a santuary on the Mont. Since then it's been a pilgrimage site. The sand surrounding the Mont is quicksand, a good defense against invaiders when the tide is out. Unfortunatley, many Monks and pilgrims were lost in the sands and quick moving tides. At one point, the abbey was turned into a prison, until it was restored in 1874 and classified as a historic monument. It is now one of the seven man built wonders of the world. When we entered the village that winds its way up to the cathedral and abbey it felt like we were walking into a real life Enchanted Forest. There was a draw bridge, cobble stone streets, and little tourist shops. There was a lot of people there because it was Saturday and a busy weekend, but we went with the flow of foot traffic and it wasn't too crowded. We climbed up to the abbey and got in line. When we got to the ticket counter, Robert told us not to talk. Since he speaks fluent French, he told the ticket clerk that we were 18 and she assumed we were French, which got us in for free! Afterwards he said "Don't you love having an uncle who speaks French?" We both agreed. The abbey and cathedral was beautiful as were the sights from the courtyards and windows. Inside some parts of the abbey it was quite dark. At one point, Robert was walking behind Sami and yelled "Look! It's Harry Potter!" A boy that was walking infront of them whipped around with huge eyes looking for Harry Potter. It was hilarious! Later, Robert tried many times to scare us while we were in a dark hallway and standings a edges. Some tries were succesful, others were not. He also tried to convince other people that Harry Potter was right around the corner. It was very entertaining and we can't imagine what he would've done at some of our other tourist spots. We went outside the abbey and checked out the gardens. They were very peacful and had beautiful flowers and views. On our descent down through the village we stopped at a creperie. The service was terrible and Robert even got a glass of water with food in and on the glass. We were so grossed out! But, the crepes were delicious and the view was amazing. When we left it started raining so we went into practically every souviner shop. There were some interesting trinkets, including faries, dragons, and knights. We left the Mont in the late afternoon and headed towards Villedie les Poêles, the city of copper. When we arrived we checked into our hotel, a cute building on the main strip in town. Our room was nicely decorated and had its own toilette and shower. Shortly after our arrival we went out to dinner with Stephane, some of his friends, and the film crew that is making a documentary about the festival. It was a fun evening even though we didn't know everything that was being said at the table. After dinner we headed back to the hotel and went to Madame Christine's room, the woman who was doing everyone's hair for the festival. She put curlers in Sami's hair and told us her plan for our hair. She was going to pull it half-way back tight with an "American braid" and have the rest of our hair billowing out. The funny part of that is what we call a "French braid" they call an "American braid." We were so excited for the festival we could hardly sleep! We had to get up early and out by nine to eat breakfast and get ready for the festival.