When my eyes opened this morning, they were greeted with the sight of the sun rising on Mont St. Michel. Talk about a room with a view! Later, we went up to the abby. When we finally got to the door of the abby, I thought that wasn't so bad. But it was like a Disney line--as soon as you get in the building, you see more lines. Well, once we got in, there were probably another two hundred stairs. It was worth it, though. We had a great guide, and it was so interesting to hear about how the abby was built. It was started in about 700, and it was built on a peak of the mountain. Crypts were built first to make the top flat. Only 13 monks live there now, and the youngest is only 19 years old. Only 25 residents altogether live on the island. Only two rooms had fireplaces--the room where royalty stayed when they made pilgrimages there and the room where the monks copied manuscripts because they couldn't write if their hands were cold. The abby was so fortified with the walls that it was never invaded in any war. Legend has it that St. Michel always protected it. The statue of St. Michel acts as a lightning rod and still protects the mount today. Very interesting tour. Ann decided to skip the walk up to the top and spend her time shopping. She enjoyed that very much except for when a pigeon made a deposit on her! In the afternoon we went to Bayeux to see the famous tapestry depicting the Battle of Hastings in 1066. We really enjoyed seeing it. It's unreal that this was done nearly a thousand years ago! Afterwards we went into the cathedral and saw where the tapestry was originally displayed. Ann has been lighting candles at every church we visit. We had the very best meal by far tonight with our group--well, except for the topping on the salad which was foi gras, gizzards and bacon. We picked all of that stuff off, and the rest was pretty good. The entree was great. It was filet mignon with a wonderful mushroom sauce. FYI, filet mignon is pork. Arnaud said he can't get over how in the states we call beef filet mignon. The dessert was awesome too--raspberry Charlotte. Bathroom update: Today we were happy to find one that had a men's door and a women's door; however, once you got inside, there was no wall between the rooms! In case you missed it, I posted earlier today also as yesterday I had no Internet access. More pictures too.