St Michel & Jean-Yves

I met Jean-Yves Rivier in Morlaix (he's the one that awoke me when I was snagged on the lock wall on a rising tide and later introduced me to Bretagne food).

He had left his car in Cherburg and suggested that he could visit us in St Malo (when he retrieved it) and take us around.

After spending a few days with him, I have to say that he is the special kind of person that you meet only a few times in your life...

Jumping ahead (just so you get an idea of the man) we came across a car in a parking lot at St Michel with a dog inside and windows just slightly lowered., the heat here is not the same as Florida, but no place to leave a dog (with the owner obviously gone on a several hour tour). We where aghast and determined to do something.

Jean-Yves made some calls and got the local town fire department (and later the gendarmes) to come to the car to free the dog.

St Malo, our current marina, turns out to be about 30 miles South of (one of) the most famous spots in France, St Michel (please google it and check it out).

In the back of my mind, I knew of it and thought it might be around here.

Jean-Yves suggested that we drive there and off we went.

Amazing, no way to properly describe the place. And, Jean-Yves (a very discerning individual) said it was among the top two places in all of France.

We climbed up (following Jean-Yves who trailed a bread vendor) and got to a set of stairs...the entry to the cathedral and everything above the town, the real treasures of the place.

I would have been quite happy to have taken the (long) line up and paid the 8 Ero to go in.

But, Jean-Yves is from here and I will always defer to local knowledge.

Jean-Yves took the group stairs, went up to the gatekeepers and procured 3 green stickers that had a time written on them.

We were given a warm smile and ushered past the waiting throngs wearing bright green stickers that said En Masse 11:45.

Jean-Yves had a sly smile (Ok, remember the part about the dog before you judge harshly)...it turns out he had explained that I was a devout Roman Catholic from the US there to attend Mass!!!!!

I was starting to sweat a bit as I thought I may have to fake my way through a religious ceremony, but we quickly took off the stickers and wandered around the place with the other pagans (the Mass would have taken an hour...might have saved my soul but I wasn't going to gamble 1 hour in a church against eternity in Hell).

By the way, if you are really a Catholic and do visit, take the line on the left...hey, it's a Catholic deal and why not play that card?

Absolutely one of the most fabulous places that I've ever been. Jean-Yves said it is one of his favorite places in France (not to take him to task, but it apparently is still considered a part of Bretagne...had it been considered Normandy I'm not so sure if he would feel that way).


St Michel....Thanks Jean-Yves!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!