Rachel's Visit

Rachel's visit was such a gift. 

She arrived directly from Israel where she had been working for the last few months, and I couldn't believe she was with me in Kraków. It was so good to see her and we had so much to share with each other that we pretty much talked non-stop for four days straight. As my nurse, she got me all caught up on the medical field buzz and updated me on the million new things she's doing in her life. It felt so good to be with a close friend again. I had forgotten what it's like to laugh with your girlfriends. 

Rachel on the Rynek with flowers she found

It was 11pm by the time we made it back from the airport, so I decided to introduce her to the Rynek and Grodzka street by night. We made a stop at a new vodka bar during our walk and Rachel chatted up the guys who had us try shot after shot of vodka - gratis. It was the beginning of many of these types of adventures. One of Rachel's gifts is that she can talk to everyone and anyone and she does exactly that wherever she goes. It is always interesting. After our stroll, we headed home where she enjoyed her first Polish beer. We then stayed up chatting until 4am.  

Bein goofy on the Rynek

The next day we got up an at 'em and did some wandering about. We had lunch at 'U Babci Maliny' where Rachel fell in love with żurek, the best soup in Poland, and then we explored the many shops and the craft fair that was taking place on the rynek. After this, we picked-up the key at the Airbnb apartment where she would be staying and met one of our roommates; Rudy, from France. He was on a long, worldly trip and doing a million touristy things every day. Rachel and I had other plans. We had a great food share at one of the cafes for dinner and then watched part of a French film on the small square before meeting up with Nico at the vodka bar. After several vodka flavors and some honey beer, the famous late-night kiełbasa was a must. There we met some delightful Polish girls with whom we chatted with for over an hour. From there we ended up crashing on Nico's couch, too exhausted to drag our stuff to the Airbnb apartment at 4am. 

There's nothing like real laughter

The next morning I whipped up a frittata for a noon breakfast and then Rachel and I moved-in to the Airbnb apartment. After a quick re-group, we headed to Marek's for a barbecue. It was fun to hangout and meet lots of new people, but pretty soon we were getting eaten alive by the skeeters. No amount of bug spray seemed to help, so we called it quits earlier than expected. On the way home we made a stop for ice cream where we were joined by Krzysiek. It was a hilarious encounter because he doesn't speak English and my Polish translation is less than stellar, but somehow he and Rachel managed to communicate on a very primitive level. As we ate our ice cream, a band played standards on the rynek and Rachel and I got up to shake it to the music, to Krzysiek's amusement. On the way home, Rachel wandered off toward one of the kebab stands and Krzysiek gave me a quizzical look. 'She's going to ask them if she can try something, just wait' I explained. Sure enough, a few minutes later Rachel arrived with a piece of kebab in hand. 'I laughed and said to Krzysiek, 'see? free sample.' He couldn't believe it. 

A plethora of pastries to try

The following day, we intended to go on a tour of the Jewish Quarter, but Rachel wasn't feeling well so we decided to take it slow in the hopes that she would feel better. We did some shopping and food tasting. Our first stop was the bakery where we tried some Polish pastries. After getting Rachel's shopping under way, we stopped in one of the famous chocolate shops and ordered several funky flavors to try. Sitting in the cafe, Rachel came up with the idea to video each other tasting each flavor because they were so intense. The faces and food descriptions on the videos were so ridiculous, that we couldn't stop laughing. From there we tried several flavors of pierogi before going back to the apartment to re-group. Rachel immediately passed out and slept all afternoon. In the evening, she came with me to meet my new potential roommates with whom we really hit it off. They immediately handed me the keys and told me to move in asap. From there we did some wandering around Kazimierz where we were joined by Nico before picking up some snacks and heading back to the apartment for a chill night. There we acquired a new roommate from New Zealand who was in town for a big bike race that was taking place the following day. She was quite a character. She was probably in her 60s, traveling alone, and a complete biker fanatic. She also was very unhappy with the place and passive aggressively complained about how much she was paying and the fact that she only had one pillow. After being her sounding board for awhile, Rachel and I hit the hay. 

The next morning we packed up Rachel's stuff, brought my bags back to Nico's and headed to the airport. It was hard to say good-bye. I was so happy she had come to visit, it was like a dose of medicine. After a very long bear hug she headed toward the plane and I returned to Kraków to re-organize my life after almost a month of travel. 

Roadtrip

the sunrise

The first leg of our trip was the worst. We left Bricquebec at 12am after a full day in the sun, so we weren't exactly fresh when we hit the road. Our first destination was Nancy, a town on the eastern border of France, not far from Luxembourg. It's a 7 hour drive from Bricquebuec and there we planned to stay with Nico's Aunt for a few days. It was a loooong night. I'm not allowed to drive in Europe and to make matters worse, Nico's car is a standar which is not my area of expertise. Needless to say, Nico had to do all the driving and I played the role of passenger. I didn't want to sleep because I was afraid he would sleep. It wasn't easy staying awake because I was pretty tired from all the running around. We did okay until about 4am when we took a break at the side of the road for coffee and sugar. We had to shout to hear each other because there were so many semis zooming by. At around 6am, Nico started nodding off, so we pulled over again so he could take a nap. The semis zooming by made the car shake violent as they passed, so I was unable to nod off. However, I did get to watch a stunning sunrise progress and unveil a completely new landscape. It no longer looked like a Van Gogh painting, but more like a hilly midwest with lush green fields on all sides. I tried to take pictures, but they didn't do the scene justice. After about a 40 minute nap, Nico awoke and we made it to Nancy a little before 9am. I met his Aunt, we dragged our stuff in and then crashed for a couple hours so that we could function. 

one of the entrances to the square

fountain in front of the ornate gates

After about four hours of rest, we dragged ourselves out of bed for some breakfast and a LOT of coffee. Chatting with his Aunt was a riot. She speaks French, German and a minimal amount of English. But throughout the whole trip she was the only person who really tried to have a conversation with me despite the language barrier. If I spoke really slow English and she spoke to me in French, we could get by without Nico as a go-between. She is also very animated and talks a lot. After a great deal of chitchat over breakfast, we went for a wander around Nancy. 

Nico studied for a year in Nancy, so he knows it pretty well. First he took me to the main square, which is known to be one of the most beautiful in the world. Each entrance to the square has an elaborate black iron gate with real gold leaf. There is also gold on the surrounding buildings and ironically enough, the statue in the center of the square is of a Polish king, Stanisław Leszczyński, who received the square after the War of the Polish Succession in 1737. 

rainbow in the fountain

We spent a great deal of time sitting in the Cathédrale Notre Dame, listening to the organist practice for a concert that was scheduled for that evening. Then we took a stroll through the park and had a little ice cream on the way. In one of the gazebos in the park there was a piano concert being held, performed by university music students. After listening to a little Chopin we took a little rest in the grass before going to see the fountain. The light was perfect when we reached the fountain, producing a double rainbow right through the middle of it. Only in France.

gazebo concert

That evening, after dinner we returned to the main square for a light projection show. It was one of the coolest things I have ever seen - although I was informed that this is a common occurrence all over Europe. Different lights and images are projected onto the buildings and timed to music. The theme changes every year, and this year the theme is The Renaissance, so the history of the renaissance was projected artistically onto the buildings. It was amazing how the lights completely transformed the buildings so that you felt like you were in a different place every few minutes. Here is a taste of what I saw:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiZ8pZEtbqY

flowers outside the museum

After the light show my battery was running on empty. I suddenly was so tired, I couldn't even function. Nico kept asking me if I was ok, but I was so drained, I could barely respond. I think I fell asleep before my head hit the pillow and slept past noon. When I finally did wake up, I felt like I had been hit by a truck as I had definitely tapped into my sleep deficit. We slowly got up and moving and then headed to the park to meet with Nico's friend from Normandy, Rafael. 

the rose garden

I had met Rafael several months earlier when he came to visit Nico in Kraków. It was fun to see him again. He took us on a little walk in the park through the rose garden, which was stunning as it was in full bloom and the zoo where I saw animals I have never seen before. Then we got to see where he works, and print our roadtrip plans before heading home for dinner with Nico's Aunt. That night we spent a great deal of time sitting on her balcony, chatting and sipping on some homemade cider. A perfect summer evening.

stained glass window in the church

We got an early start the next day, said our good-byes and headed to Heidelberg for the day. Nico had insisted it was worth seeing, and he was right. The town is itty bitty, but absolutely beautiful. It's a very lush, hilly region with a river, a castle and all the buildings have terra-cotta rooftops. We started out in the Church- of course - where I really liked the stained glass windows. Half of them were very old, classic stained glass designs, but along one side of the church they were very contemporary, artistic interpretations in stunning colors. 

top of the church

We then climbed the winding staircase to the top of the church where you can have a 360 degree view of the city. We spent a great deal of time up there, enjoying the stunning view.

the rooftops of Heidelberg as seen from the top of the church

Next we decided to go see the castle, which ended up being easier said than done. We had some trouble finding the road up to the castle, and once we did find an entrance, the gates were locked. Nico was pretty frustrated at this point, and told me that the last time he was there he had the same problem and his friend, who is from Heidelberg had just jumped the fence. He asked me if I could manage jumping the fence, so that we didn't have to walk all the way down the hill and back up again on the other side; I just laughed. Years of playing cops and robbers with the Frayn boys has made jumping fences like riding a bike. To his amazement, I hopped the fence without help, and we headed up the woodland path to the castle. 

in the gardens outside the castle in Heidelberg

Once you've seen a castle in Europe, you pretty much know what's up. They are a dime a dozen and are all relatively similar. The castle itself was nothing extraordinary, but the view was unbelievable. You could see the entire town, the river and the mountains. After viewing the castle, we started losing steam in the sweltering heat. Walking through the castle grounds we collapsed on a bench and stared into space for a good 20 minutes. It was the beginning of the end. From there we dragged ourselves to the fountain, another lookout point, and barely made it to the main bridge. From there we surrendered and had our first German beer of the trip on the main square. That helped things considerably, and we made our way back to the car and started our four-hour drive to Munich.

Heidelberg - castle in the distance

We arrived in Munich around 11pm. We had arranged to stay with a friend of my Dad's, Dario, and his family for a few days. Unfortunately, Dario was away on a business trip in Spain, but his wife and daughters graciously offered to host us, anyway. His wife, Laura, had waited up for us and she gave us a quick orientation before we hit the hay. Their youngest daughter was going to Austria the next day for camp, so we wouldn't be able to meet her, but she had written us a lovely note in English, welcoming us to Munich and hoping to meet us again soon. 

view from the castle in Heidelberg

Staying with Dario's family was unbelievable. We woke up the next morning to a full breakfast spread laid out for us, as well as several maps and guidebooks to help us orient our way around the city. 

the river

A 20 minute trainride and we were in the city. We wandered around aimlessly for several hours and became familiar with the layout of the city. It soon became apparent that Munich was huge and very spread out. Things that looked fairly close together on the map were actually very far from each other, so instead of walking everywhere, we had to alternate between the train and walking to save time. 

first church of the day in Munich

The first day we took it easy. We saw a few churches. The Frauenkirche (a huge cathedral) in the city center is absolutely stunning. The vaulted ceilings are enormous, and everything was carved in white marble. I was surprised at how much I liked this. It made me think of Nana for some reason, so again, in one of the smaller alcove chapels, I lit a candle for her. 

Another square in Munich

As we were in Munich, we felt it was appropriate to have a touristy experience and so we had a lunch of traditional bratwurst and beer in the Hofbrauhaus. We had a lovely table in the outside garden where we could hear the live music and enjoy the fact that it was once again warm and sunny. 

the square in Munich

We returned home in the evening, later than we intended, to have dinner with Laura. When we arrived we were welcomed by an absolutely lovely scene. She had set up a dinner table in the garden that was beautifully arranged with candles. An assortment of bread accompanied each place setting. We had campari as an aperetif and then an assortment of beer was presented to accompany dinner. She had made pasta, followed by deviled eggs and a prosciutto salad. For dessert, she served us five flavors of homemade ice cream that she had whipped up that afternoon, accompanied by a scrumptious fruit compote. It was an absolutely delightful evening. We really enjoyed her company and had so much to talk about in a variety of languages. She is from Italy, where she studied French, so she and Nico often had exchanges in French. Nico said her French was excellent, which is saying a lot because he is an impossible judge when it comes to his beloved tongue. Laura and her family moved to Munich close to ten years ago, when her husband, Dario, got a job there. Since the move, she has been working for an Italian ice cream company part-time and studying German and English on the side. Their house is now a mixture of languages as her daughters also speak Italian, German, English and French. 

cathedral

In the morning along with breakfast was a note from Laura, asking us to write a little something in their guestbook, which was a lovely little record of all the guests they had hosted since their move to Munich. I enjoyed reading a few of the entries, and even managed to find my Dad's entry from his first stay before adding my own praise to the masses. We then headed back into the city via train and had a little episode on the way. We approached our stop where we were to transfer train lines and when we arrived both sets of doors on either side of the train opened. Nico exited to the left with the map, and I followed the people in front of me and exited to the right. The doors closed before I realized my mistake and we were separated by the tracks. Nico hollered the train line where we were supposed to transfer across the tunnel and we headed out to rendezvous there. Well, I misheard what he said and went to the wrong tunnel. I knew something was wrong when I didn't see him on the platform and I ended up getting stuck in this one tunnel because all the stairwells contained escalators going down, when I wanted to go up. I finally found the main tunnel again and received a text from him with the name of the line where I was supposed to be. I headed that way and when I rounded the corner, I was greeted by a very unhappy Frenchman. He looked like he had seen a ghost and he immediately started hollering at me asking why I didn't answer my phone, where I was, etc. He had had a moment of panic because he thought something had happened to me. I was surprised and mildly amused, because I hadn't been the least bit worried. But then again, I was the one that was lost. 

view from the dome

walked around the enormous park where we saw the hofgarten dome and even managed to find the forbidden surf site. It was pretty deep in the park so that it is almost hidden, and we managed to find it based on the laughter and voices of the people surfing. The the river has a very strong current which makes surfing possible. It was amazing to watch not only the surfers, but the people jumping into the water and letting the current carry them downstream. 

surfing

After the Englischer Garden, we walked along the northern part of the city where we got a gorgeous view of the river and a lovely fountain before heading to the Botanic Gardens. There we took a break for our last German beer and re-charged a little. We were struggling on the energy front, as we had yet to have a break from travel and sight-seeing since we started our trip. But time would not allow for rest, so we battled the fatigue with coffee and determination. 

View down the river in Munich

In the early evening we returned to the house and had coffee and another round of ice cream with Laura before thanking her for her outstanding hospitality and jumped back in the car for our four hour drive to Vienna. 

Botanic Gardens in Munich

Vienna was the final stop on our trip, and there we set-up camp with Julien, another friend of Nico's from Normandy who I had also met several months earlier during his visit to Kraków. We arrived in Vienna around 10pm, parked the car outside of the city and then took the train into town where Julien met us at the station. We stashed our stuff at his apartment and then headed out for a late-night walk around the city. Before we headed out the door, Julien handed each of us a beer. I gave him a quizzical look, as I was not in the mood to be shotgunning beer after such a long day. He smiled and informed me that in Vienna, it is legal to drink in public. 

the beautiful streets of Vienna

Julien took us on a night walk around the city, beers in hand. It was stunning. The buildings were big compared to most of the European cities I have been in and very ornate. The architecture was admirable and the atmosphere was rather elegant. After about an hour I could no longer walk a step. We headed back to the apt and while Nico received the full orientation, I collapsed into bed, exhausted.

rose gardens

The next morning was slow. We had breakfast and then headed out into the city to re-discover our night walk by daylight. We wandered for hours and hours, but I was too tired to even take pictures. I just enjoyed the view. For dinner, we decided to hit-up a kabob place. We stood on the corner, discussing which way to go and out of nowhere, this older man appeared in front of me and asked if we needed help. He was dressed in jeans and a white polo, with nice shoes and carried a briefcase. His hair was completely white, and he had the most piercing, pale blue eyes. I looked at him for a minute, and decided to take a chance. I said, 'do you know of a good place for kebab'? He said, 'you know that's not viennese, right'? He then informed us that he could show us a great place on his way to the post office. This seemed a little fishy and I locked eyes for a moment with Nico in quizzical hesitation. Then I thought, if it gets weird I can always run, so I agreed to follow him. He showed us a good street-stand and chatted with us along the way to a restaurant, because I really needed to sit down. He gave us all kinds of advice about places to see around Vienna and chatted with Nico in what he assessed as excellent French. Then we arrived at the post office where he received and phone call and he we parted ways. The restaurant he recommended was exactly what we were looking for. All through dinner, Nico and I marveled at how nice and unassuming he had been. Kind strangers? What?

top of the hill where we had ice cream

The next day we dragged ourselves out of bed and after breakfast at the crack of noon, made our way to the Schönbrunn Palace. It was immediately my favorite. We decided to wander the grounds and buy tickets for the palace later if we were so inclined. It was immense. We wandered for four hours and didn't even see all the gardens!

ice cream!

We started out at the back entrance of the palace and were met by a stunning sight. A long series of gardens led stretched before us into the distance. Groomed lawns with sculpted hedges and beautiful flowers were framed by two paths that led the way to a large fountain and then up the hill to another palace-like building which perched at the top. I asked Nico, 'are we going there?!' He looked at me like I was an idiot and said something along the lines of 'of course'. 

fountain in one of the side gardens

We made our way slowly to the top of the hill, stopping at many points to capture snapshots along the way. I loved the fountain. You could climb up behind it and look out on the gardens and the palace in the distance through the fountain. Standing there you were hidden from the view of the people below by the giant sculptures spurting water. 

view from the palace

At the top of the hill, we stood for a very long time admiring the view and then decided ice cream was a must. I mean, we hadn't had ice cream in over 24 hours! We sat on the terrace and enjoyed huge sundaes before continuing our exploration. 

The fountain behind the palace

We wandered through the woods on the way down the hill and on the way encountered a squirrel, to Nico's amazement. He took way too many pictures of the thing, and I was less than entertained, as squirrels in Chicago are as common as pigeons in Krakow; they're everywhere. We got sprinkled with a light rain shower as we enjoyed the many fountains, which was the first time we'd seen rain our entire trip. It lasted all of ten minutes to my enormous relief. 

view from the fountain looking at the back of the palace

Soon the palace closed and we headed wearily back to the apt, picking up some dinner on the way. Back at the apt, I enjoyed my dinner on the balcony, while Nico cooked in the Kitchen and Julien gnashed in the living room. There is a pass-thru in the kitchen leading to the living room and a window leading to the balcony, so the three of us could have a conversation despite the fact we were all in separate rooms. After dinner, Julien's friend stopped by and we had a few drinks on the balcony before heading out on the town. We sat in this area outside one of the museums where there are these huge plastic 'seats' that are much like small halfpipes. You can fit about four people comfortably and they were all full of people hanging out and drinking. While we were sitting there, two German guys came over to talk to us, intrigued by the mix of languages we were using. We talked to them for a good while and then were joined by two girls (friends of Julien). We tried to hit the clubs, but it wasn't in the cards that night. We ran into problems at every entrance and so we headed home; sober, tired, and a little disappointed. 

top of the hill

The next morning, Nico and I got up and moving relatively early. We had breakfast on the balcony and then packed up our stuff and headed to the car to start our journey back to Kraków. On the road we hit terrible traffic, and ended-up being in the car for over seven hours. I was a little worried, because Rachel was arriving at the Kraków airport that evening and I was concerned I wouldn't make it back in time to pick her up. Fortunately, I just made it in the knick of time. As soon as we parked the car in front of Nico's apt, I had to leave him to unload himself and hopped a bus to the airport.

Normandy

July 11th, Nico and I hopped a plane to Paris. The plan was to visit his parents for a week in Normandy, and then drive back to Kraków making stops in Nancy, Heidelberg, Munich and Vienna along the way. 

the beach

Nico's Dad, Pierre, picked us up from the airport in Paris and from there we had a 4-hour drive to Normandy. I immediately got a taste of the type of hospitality I would be experiencing, as Nico's Mom had packed a cooler of snacks for us - fresh fruit, mineral water and madeleine cookies. 

We arrived at Nico's home around 9pm. I got a tour of the house and then experienced my first French dinner. Before we arrived Nico had prepped me by saying, 'the French live at the table' and I soon learned he wasn't kidding. I quickly learned that meals were events in France and a time for slow digestion and lots of conversation. Dinner began with an aperitif and appetizers, we then moved on to the first course of melon followed by the main course paired with wine. Then a cheese course was served (also accompanied by wine), and finally dessert, a nightcap and finally a special type of digestive tea. By the time we finished, it was 2am and I was exhausted. This occurred every night, we had four or five course meals paired with alcohol. Each night I tried a different aperitif - muscat, Ricard, whiskey, port, champagne, etc. I really liked Ricard because it was licorice flavored. Nico and his Dad really like whiskey, so they drank that just about every night. 

French breakfast was also an event for me. Each morning Nico's Mom bought two types of fresh baguettes (traditional and regular) and a few pastries for me to try. Nico would eat his baguette with nutella, and I opted for butter and fresh jam accompanied by very strong coffee. It was delicious. I finally understood what all the hype about French baguette is about. It's something you can only taste in France. 

The first morning, I slept until almost one. I actually slept a lot while we were in France. All the active listening left me completed exhausted every day. While I know practically no French, the fact that I speak Spanish and English ended up being a huge comprehensive tool. I was amazed at the amount I could understand by comparing what someone said to Spanish and or English. Unfortunately, this also meant that I couldn't just tune out while people talked because I understood enough that my brain felt the need to actively listen. This made it a little easier on Nico, because he didn't have to translate every single sentence, but he still got a brain workout every day keeping me up to speed. But it was still exhausting for both of us because we speak Polish together, so he was translating from French to Polish. An adventure, to say the least.

the harbor

The first day Nico took me to his favorite spot in Normandy, the beach. When we pulled up along the coast I was completely dumbfounded by how beautiful it was. It was like seeing Ireland meet the Caribbean. The water was an array of pale tropical blues, but the terrain along the coastline was green, mountainous and rugged. We spent several hours sitting on the cliffs enjoying the view. On the way home Nico introduced me to the local Biscuiterie - a quaint specialty shop known for their biscuits, chocolate, jams and an array of other delights you might want to have in your kitchen. We also made a pit stop at the local castle in Nico's town before heading home and joining his parents for another delightful, prolonged dinner.

Me, Nico & his parents on the boat

The next day the weather was beautiful, so we headed out to Cherbourg, a small town about 20 minutes from where Nico lives. It is right on the coast and that is where Nico's Dad has his sailboat. We spent the day out on the boat, and we even got Nico's Mom to go! She is afraid to be out on the water because she doesn't swim. She was very nervous, but I think she enjoyed being with everyone. Unfortunately, once we got out on the water there was no wind and we had to come back using the motor. But it was still a lovely afternoon, and we even met up with a friend of the family who also was out on his boat for the afternoon.

Produce in umbrellas

After coming back to the harbor, Nico gave me a walking tour of the town, accompanied by delicious ice cream. I got to see where his Mom works and the quaint little market. One of my favorite spots was a produce stand where everything was held in upended umbrellas! There were also beautiful flowers everywhere. It was probably my favorite thing about France.

Layin on the beach

When we returned home in the evening, a few of Nico's friends joined us for a 'grill'. While we were waiting for the guests to arrive, Nico's Dad showed me his garden. He has all kinds of fresh vegetables, lettuces and fruit trees. He showed me the biggest zucchini I have ever seen (about the size of a small baby), and several fruit trees. The strawberries from his garden were unbelievable. Like candy. The main course of the girl included a variety of sausages and pork chops and couscous with ratatouille accompanied by rosé. Grill food is always accompanied by rosé, I was informed. I'm not a huge fan of rosé, because it is sweeter so I did not drink as much. But as soon as the cheese course was served, we were back to red wine, so I had no means to complain.

view of the castle from a little passageway

The next day was Sunday, Bastille Day. When I awoke, Nico's parents were watching the festivities on TV. Other than that, there was little done to celebrate. In general, the public was a little miffed that the holiday fell on Sunday, because usually it means a day off of work. After lunch of shrimp, Nico and I spent the day laying on the beach. We did manage to get in the water at one point, but it was so cold I didn't last long. After dinner we were supposed to go to the coast for a night view, but I fell asleep while we were waiting for it to get dark. The next thing I knew it was morning.

Mont Saint Michel

We woke up early for the first time the next day, had a quick breakfast and jumped in the car. Nico had a day trip planned and it involved a lot of driving. First we stopped to view a castle, and then drove several hours to Mont Saint Michel. This is an island commune in Normandy, which has held strategic fortifications for centuries and is also the site of a monastery. In order to approach the mount after parking, you must take a shuttle all the way up to the entrance. Once you enter, it feels like you have gone back in time, as you are in the throngs of a small city with very narrow winding cobblestone streets. As you walk along the streets, you slowly make your way to the top of the mount and eventually can enter the fortress and explore the various rooms, chapels, passageways and gardens. it takes several hours to do this, but is well worth the views. The water surrounding the mount is very shallow and stunning colors of blue. You can even do tours out on the water if you wish as it is like walking on a sandbar. Unfortunately, the entrance and the bridge leading up to the mount is currently under construction, which didn't make for the best pictures, but the back side of the mount was still a lovely view. They are currently creating a foot bridge, so that you will eventually be able to approach the mount by means of a long walk. After we finished exploring, we hopped back in the car and drove a little further to see the town of St. Malo.

view of the fortress

View from the first tier

 a walled garden

beginning the climb

St. Malo is very small and much like a fishing village directly on the coast. There is the amazing wall that runs along the coast that you can walk along and look down on the beach and even a few islands. The islands are approachable on foot by a sand path. Unfortunately, there was an incredible amount of fog while we were there, which made it impossible to see almost anything. It felt like we were in a scene from Pirates of the Caribbean because visibility was so limited. Nico was incredibly disappointed, because he said the view is normally stunning. However, we still managed to make our way to the islands where we saw some lizards. After wandering around a bit, suddenly the sound of badly played bagpipes started coming out of the mists. It was so awful, I couldn't help but laugh. We decided it was time to head back. On the way to the car, we came across an ice cream place with an ENORMOUS and eclectic selection of handmade ice creams. Nico and I love ice cream so of course we had a couple scoops. My favorite flavor was licorice, and the portions were enormous. After eating I was so cold, I turned purple and was shaking so we jumped in the car and drove back to Bricquebec.

view from the island

giant licorice ice cream!

view of the island

The next day we had a slow start and then headed east to the coast for some more exploration. We headed to a small town to which Nico had never been before, but had heard there was a fort that was worth seeing. We wandered around the town, and eventually discovered the fort. Around the fort between the water and land was a stone wall built in the water. It was about two feet wide and you could walk along it, around the entire 'island' at your own risk. Signs everywhere discouraged people from doing this during uncertain weather because the water level rises making it slippery and treacherous. We had a great time wandering around enjoying the view. Then we ended up at the fort where we climbed a very narrow, winding staircase to the various levels which held small exhibits explaining the history of the fort and it's uses. It was pretty cool because the history was illustrated on these enormous canvases that hung practically from floor-to-ceiling with descriptions of the events written in French at the base. On the way back from the fort we took the land route versus walking back along the wall. It was like walking through a hidden forest as the path was completely covered by trees. The sun shining through the trees and the sound of the water on the other side of the wall was magical.

walking along the wall

The foresty pathway

view from the base of the fort

standing at the top of the fort - it's a looong way down....

From the fort we drove a little further up the coast and stopped in another small town where we walked along the harbor and checked out the various fishing boats. At one point we got to watch a couple fishermen sort and clean their catch from the nets. We also spent some time in the Church at the end of the pier. From there we headed even farther to see the big lighthouse. Unfortunately, it was late already so we couldn't go to the top, but I wasn't that disappointed because by that time I was so hungry I was more than ready to head back. That night I got to try some very nice whiskeys as an aperetif and had rabbit for the first time. I was surprised, because I really like it. It was like eating super tender chicken. That evening we managed to stay awake and spent several hours on the cliffs overlooking the beach. It was so black that you could only hear the water and we had a storybook moon to admire that had a perfect streamline reflection in the water. After some star gazing, we headed back home around 3am.

fisherman's boat in the harbor

heading back to town from the fort

enjoying the view

The next day was full of errands and socializing. I went with Nico to the doctor in the morning and then we headed to the store with his Dad to buy a few French favorites to take back with us. We bought a LOT of wine for us and our roadtrip hosts - French wine is good and very cheap - as well as some sweets and the like. Sadly, I was forbidden to buy any cheese because Nico abhors it, and we'd be driving back so after a few days in a hot car, it wouldn't be so appetizing. It was definitely an element I was going to miss. After shopping, we walked down the road a few houses and payed a visit to Nico's uncle who treated us to some delicious homemade pear cider. From there we moved on to a different uncle's house on the other side of the family, who lives about five minutes drive from Nico. There we had several rounds of whiskey and I also got to meet his Aunt and cousin. After drinks we hurried back home because Nico had a friend coming over for dinner. We had another round of drinks as an aperetif and then enjoyed another delicious grill and several hours of conversation before hitting the hay.

the trunk full of wine

my turn to steer the boat

Our last day in Normandy Nico, his Dad and I headed back to Cherbourg after breakfast and boarded a family friend's boat for the day. It was a beautiful day to be out sailing, but unfortunately halfway through our trip, we lost wind power again and Nico and his Dad were feeling rather seasick. Everyone was making fun of me because I was freezing out on the water and everyone else was wearing just their suit. After our trip we made one last trip to the store and picked up some flowers and chocolate as a thank to for Nico's Mom to thank her for her wonderful hospitality over the week. When we presented them to her she was completely overwhelmed, but happy. We had some nice champagne as our aperitif and then after dinner and ice cream, we loaded up the car, said our good-byes and started the first leg of our roadtrip back to Kraków.