Tuesday, June 17, 2014 (St. Pair-Au-Sur, Normandy, France)

Today we got up early to marvel as the family packed everyone and everything into two small cars for the trip home. The plan had been for some to take the train home, but Paris is having one of their infamous train strikes, so the only option was to rent a second car to get everyone home. Six adults, two small children, one infant, one dog and all of the luggage into two very compact cars. I’m sorry we didn't take a picture!

After everyone had departed, Linda and I decided to make this the day we drive to Mt San Michelle. It was a beautiful drive, as all drives in France seem to be, involving some highway, but also miles of country roads meandering through old stone villages and farms.

Mt San Michelle arises on the horizon a good half hour before you arrive there. The visit involves a significant amount of walking and stairs, as our picture will attest, but with all of the French food we have been consuming, we can spare the calories, and the walking felt good.

After spending several hours at the Abby, we drove to the town of St Malo and had dinner at the restaurant “Le Lion de Or”. This was the best meal so far! I had a “Starter” of warm Camembert cheese and toast, followed by the most delicious scallops I have ever eaten! OMG!!

After dinner we started home, but on the way noticed that we were running low on gas. We stopped at a station, but we got there one minute after the cashier had left, and it was then that we discovered that our credit cards don’t work at the pump. European credit cards all come embedded with a chip, and those are the only cards accepted without a signature. I thought about trying to get someone to put gas in the car for us with their card, and then reimbursing them with cash, but it was too late and we were too remote, so we just crossed our fingers and headed for home.

The good news is that we did make it… barely, but the bad news was that when we got there I was unable to find my wallet. We got out flashlights and tore the car apart, then checked the driveway and even the street, but to no avail. I spent the night worrying about lost money, driver’s license and credit cards, and what I was going to have to go through to deal with all replacing all of them.

Wednesday, June 18, 2014 (St. Pair-Au-Sur, Normandy, France)

Got up this morning to a brand new day! The first thing I did was go out to the car for another search in the daylight and, viola’!, found my wallet!

The second thing we did was go out and get gas, groceries, and some additional cash. Linda made breakfast at home and then we set out to find a farm Jacque has directed us to where they make a local specialty liquor called Calvado from apples. Couldn't find the farm, but ended up repeating our walking tour of Granville and having dinner at MonTePego Pizzeria where Bill discovered Ham and Au Gratin Potato Pizza. Who says you can’t make the best food in the world better?