Yesterday was an interesting day, to say the least. We had a five hour bus ride to Mont St. Michel, but we made a couple of stops on the way. The first time we stopped, everyone headed for the restrooms. When I saw the squat toilet, I couldn't believe it. I thought they were only in Italy. No one seemed to be making a fuss, however, so I didn't complain. Turns out all the toilets were normal except for mine! But that's not the end of it. We next stopped for lunch at an awesome midieval village called Fougeres. The specialty of the area was crepes, so I was in heaven. Before we left, I thought I'd stop in the restaurant restroom. Big mistake. It was a unisex restroom....with no door....one urinal and two stalls....and the urinal was occupied! I stepped back and tried to nonchalantly look at brochures until the guy was gone. One of the stalls had a light but no paper, and the other had paper but no light! Oh, I can't wait to see what we get in Italy. The next stop we made was Cancale to see the oyster farms and have an oyster tasting. Arnaud, our guide, told us there are rules for everything in France, and he had to show us the correct way to eat oysters. There were two different kinds. Ann ate both kinds. She has been very adventurous in her eating! You should see what she had for dinner tonight. She had an appetizer which included the whole shrimp, eyes and all. They are black, beady eyes, and I thought they were fake eyes, but no--they were real. She ate them--not the eyes, just the shrimp. She also ate big snails, baby snails, and baby shrimp as well as oysters. This part of the country, Brittany, is known for omelettes, so that's what I had for an appetizer. I had some poison for my main course. Actually, it's poisson in French, which means fish. It was cooked in parchment. I don't know where the French come up with this food! And the cheese in this part of the country is nasty, made from sheep I think. Not at all like the others we've had. We both said we were anxious to get to Italy and just eat pasta and gelato. We are in Mont St. Michel now. There's a monastery built on a mountain, and the town is built around the monastery. We were a little disappointed because the tide is so low. Usually when the tide comes in, it's really cool because this place becomes an island, but now it's more like a sand dunes. There are tons of flies and mosquitos, and the stairs! Oh my, the stairs! Our room was the highest of anyone's, and we had a terrace. There's a cemetery about two stories down from our room. We figured it was for the people who couldn't quite make it as far as our room! But wow, what a view! After dinner, I went for a walk on the ramparts and got to the top by the abby. Robin, it's like Matera but with five times as many stairs. And Billie Jo, be sure to do some heavy-duty walking in the evenings or you're going to have a hard time keeping up with me when we walk in the park! The bus ride was great. The French countryside is beautiful with its stone houses, some with thatched roofs, with brightly colored roses threllised along the walls. There were white cows, black roosters, sheep, horses, and even windmills. So, so beautiful! I’ll try to write again tonight to catch up with today’s activities.