Sunday---Belgium to France

I awoke to the sound of rain on the roof. It would have been a great day to sleep in, but I had to leave Belgium and drive to France. I said goodbye to Monique and Pim, I had a wonderful time there. Monique had made me a sandwich and with my other goodies I set off.



Miracle of miracles, I did not get lost! As I came to an ever present toll booth near Calais there was a spectacular view to my right of the coastline and English Channel. There was a large ferry about a mile out to sea. But there was nowhere for me to pull over and take a photo.



Monique had told me there was a very tall toll bridge at Le Harve. As I descended from the hills I saw a very tall bridge and thought, wow! this is it. As I started up it I wondered where the toll booth was. When I got to the top I saw the second bridge---OMG! It looked like an enormous ski slope. I wondered if I was going to be Evel Kneviel on this trip. There was no turning back now. The toll was 5 Euros, with the added bonus of a faster beating heart. I told myself, don't look down, don't look down. But of course I did--and it wasn't bad at all. There was a fantastic view of the Seine meeting the English Channel. If going over high bridges bothers you I would definitely suggest taking a different road though. There was also a walking/bicycling path. As I came down the bridge I saw a group of young people walking.



As I got closer to Mont Saint Michel there was a heavy rainstorm. I thought---here I am again driving through the rain trying to make it somewhere before dark. As the rain lessened I looked over to my right and there was another perfect rainbow. It will have to be a mental photo as I didn't dare pull over to the shoulder with such poor visibility. I looked in the side mirror for a last glimpse of it and noticed there was a rainbow in the spray from the tires! I felt like I had my own personal rainbow following me!



As I got closer to Mont Saint Michel it also got a lot windier. I was really glad it hadn't been that windy as I went over those bridges. That would have been scary.



When I exited the highway towards Mont Saint Michel I drove down a small, winding road that went through several tiny villages. Some of the large stone houses and buildings were only a foot or two off of the road. I could see glimpses of Mont Saint Michel off to my right. When I got my first good look at it, I had the thought that perhaps I should have climbed those towers in Dijon and Bruges as preparation........