25

Yes, it has taken me over a month to come to terms with it, but I have now accepted reaching the quarter-century mark in this thing we call life.

Below are a few pics from my mourning weekend.

hedge 4 life

The food was bad, but the drinks were ok.

And yes, it was just barely, but we made it up past:

After the Friday night 'bbq' it was on to the coast for some proper fish and chips on the Brighton pier...
The next day saw the arrival of some proper English weather, so, what else could we do but ROAD TRIP

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Ok, maybe you had to be there, but this was the best parallel parking job in the history of man

Anyway, moving on, we found the white cliffs of 'Dover'.

Game hair is back baby!

From here we thought, hmmm, where else is there to go.... let's check out the map... wait, in Portsmouth you can take a HOVERCRAFT to the Isle of Wight... what are we waiting for! So, we decided to hover on over for some dinner.

No my friends, it doesn't get much better than that.

The last hurrah..

And the Griswold family vacation comes to an end... but not before we go out with a bang in a 24-hr, whirlwind tour of Paris...

View from the hotel room window... a lovely (loud and polluted) bus stop (but, right next to a metro station, and, unbelievably, still less than the omelettes we had for breakfast :))

I had us wandering for a bit through the side streets of Moulin Rouge, but we eventually made it to the Sacre Coeur.

The next morning it was up early for the walk till you drop Hodel tour of Paris. First stop: Notre Dame.

Next, off to the Louvre.

Isn't that holy grail thing supposed to be somewhere around here???

Next, time for a walk through the Tuileries Garden and up the Champs Elysees (and a stop for baguettes and crepes of course)
Where's this Lance guy everyone has been talking about?
Next, the Eiffel.
And what better way to end the day than with a stroll along the Seine.

!Au revoir!

Mont St Michel

Sorry in advance for the glut of pics (and the long history), but this place was unbelievable.

Mont St. Michel (named after the arch-angel St. Michael) is known as the Merveille de l'Occident or Wonder of the Western World. The granite used to build the abbey was transported by boat from the nearby Isles of Chausey. Construction of the original abbey took more than 500 years, from 1017 to 1521.

The origins of Mont St. Michel can be traced back to a legend that has the archangel Michael appearing in a series of dreams to Aubert, Bishop of Avranches. Saint Michael implores Aubert to build a church on what was then a barren rock called Mont Tombe. The original church structure was completed in 1144, but other buildings were added in the 13th century to accommodate monks and pilgrims who flocked to the abbey even when the Mont was in English hands during the Hundred Year's War.

The Monks of Mont St. Michel were revered for their copying skills before the printing press was widely in use. The Romanesque Choir was rebuilt in the popular Gothic style during the 15th and the 16th Centuries. Currently Monks live and work here again, just as in medieval times.

Perched on a 264 ft high rock formation, during the season's highest tides the abbey is surrounded by water. During low tide the flats provide food for the world's only herd of salt water plant eating sheep. Mont St. Michel's tides can rush in at incredible speeds. It's not uncommon to hear an announcement in French over the island's PA system that a car must be moved from the auxiliary parking lot within minutes or be completely underwater. The sea can rise 45 ft during high tide.

Ok, this place is huge, and it seriously just pops up

out of nowhere in the middle of some open fields.

In the winding streets below are restaurants, hotels and shops...

Including a famous restaurant with the 'best' omelettes in the world.

Anyway, moving on, it's time to head up (and up, and up) to the Abbey

The views from the top...

Inside...

And on the way back down...
Watch that water!