Mont Saint Michel and Saint Malo

Friday night Alee spent the night at my house since we had to be at IES at 7:45 in the morning and she lives way far away and I don't. That was fun, we talked and watched friends....good times. So yesterday I went to Mont Saint Michel and Saint Malo with the rest of IES which was really fun. It took like three hours to get there since it's in Normandy, but it was totally worth it. None of us really like the bus though...but it was double-decker which was SO COOL!! Anyway so we got to Mont Saint Michel and took a tour and we saw real monks! Alee thought it was really cool because she had never seen nuns or monks before (except in Sister Act and the Sound of Music). We didn't see any nuns since it was a monastery but still...anyway so we took the tour. And there's quicksand nearby apparently. We went to explore and there was definitely quicksand. It wasn't Indiana Jones style but still pretty fun. I thought I was going to slip and bite it, and I did slip but I did manage to keep my balance. 

Then we went to Saint Malo, which is this really pretty port town on the English Channel. Samuel (the IES social coordinator and the leader for the trip) told us there was a famous French writer buried on the island (I can't remember his name) and that if we wanted to see the tomb we should go quickly because the tide covers the path to the island and if you don't go soon you'll get stuck. So Alee and I decided that we wanted to go so as we're crossing we notice that the tide is coming in quickly and decide that we should be really fast. So we get to the island and up to the top of the hill and look back down and the path is COMPLETELY covered with water. So without having seen the grave we decided to turn back because we don't want to get stuck so we get close and then take off our socks and shoes and roll up our pants and walk/swim carefully back to shore. We were walking but the water came up to my knees and mid-theigh at the highest point so I think that counts as "swimming" so I can say that I walked/swam across part of the English Channel! It was fun and definitely amusing after we had gotten back to shore, but slightly frightening as we were crossing. The tide was stronger than I thought it was going to be and since we were walking on a stone path, it was really slick.  There were also two IES girls behind us that ended up taking off their pants and crossing in their underwear because the water was up to their waists. But it was all good because it was sunny and warm, so we got something to drink and sat on the beach and dried off before exploring around Saint Malo a little more before we had to get back onto the bus to head back to Nantes. 

My host mom comes home today after being in the Mediterranean for a week, and I'm glad. It's really quiet and lonely here and I'm getting sick of having to cook for myself! Plus I find that I'm slipping more and more into English mode which definitely isn't good...even if it is comforting. 

 I'll try to update again soon..although next weekend I'm going to London and I'm leaving my laptop here so I won't update next weekend, but the week after next I'll update with all of my adventures! Miss you all!