I have a very good idea. I'm going to focus on a few things (tehe). This'll leave me with loads of stories to tell later on, meaning those reading this will never get bored with stories from Europe. Another great reason: too much too little time.
This would be my first day in France. Let me tell you, the ride from Poole to Cherbourg in the ferry wasn't very fun. The ferry shook and rocked so much that those people who got up to use the restroom, to go to the restaurant, to shop, and/or to head outside just about stumbled into other people who were sitting down. Ahmee, who gets carsick in the front-seat of a car relatively easily got very close to becoming sick. She sat down close to the restrooms. I told her it might be better for her to get fresh-air, and that that was were I was heading. She stayed inside in the stuffiness, and I went outside where it was nippy, cold, and much much better.
While out on deck I spoke to an Englishwoman. She'd been to Cherbourg many times, and she told me that I was going to love it there. Of course we also talked about divorce in England and America, the attitude of Americans (negatives me, positives her), the attitude of Europeans (her negative, me positive), divorce, parenting issues, anything and everything that popped into our heads really. We discussed social, scientific, political, international, and tourism issues. Yeah. Loads to discuss in 2 hours, but there you go. We tended to jump from one thing to the next. Never got bored of it.
Once we landed we headed into Cherbourg to pick up the car. The main thing I must say about this experience is: ouch. My head started hurting. I was not used to seeing so many signs in a different language, and since I'd never seen French this was an added switch. When we were in discussing with the Europcar lady which car was ours I noticed that even though she worked in an office that probably got many many many English speakers she spoke mostly French. This told me one very important thing immediately: to not expect many people to speak English.
Later Ahmee asked Poppy and I to go take her postcards to the Post office and get directions out of town. She handed us the map and the post cards and kicked back in the car while the two of us headed towards the closed Post Office. Poppy was disgruntled because he knew no French and he was now in an area where he was going to have to drive while Ahmee translated things, and read the signs out. I was absorbing all of the words in as I walked along. When we both discovered that the Poste was closed we turned around and started heading back towards the car. On the corner of the road we stopped at was a flourist. I knew before we walked in that the lady wouldn't speak a word of French, but I went in to see if I could help in any way (and to see if I could understand any of it). Surprisingly enough, I could understand lots of it. I managed to give Ahmee and Poppy directions how to get out, and I also managed to understand a good place to turn the car around (a church parking lot).
We headed out towards Mont St. Michel! Like most of this trip I spent half of my time in the car with my face glued to the window and the other half working on homework. It's no cakewalk taking schoolwork with you to Europe. Thought I'd put that down so that everyone knows.
I was surprised when I was stopped partially through my work by Ahmee and Poppy. They'd found a b&b to stay in whose runner spoke a bit of English!
After we got settled in there we headed off to check out Mont St. Michel. I'd never heard of Mont St. Michel, but believe me, it is a true sight to see! As we went through the countryside I watched out the window at the fields of corn and grass. In the middle of the field a mountain popped into my vision. From a distance it reminded me of Disney's Atlantis that looms up. It also reminded me of the Arabian Knights for some odd reason.
The Mountain was pretty much covered in buildings, that much you could tell from afar, and you could also tell that at the top there was a huge cathedral.
What we enjoyed most of all was walking around the base of this mountain. It was all sandy and sunny and the light from the sun reflected off the tide-pools. Unfortunately it was also windy. Sand kept blowing up in my eyes, and when you have contacts that not exactly a good thing. Ahmee lent me her sunglasses. At first I didn't want to take them because I know that Ahmee needs them for her hurt eyes. She insisted I take them though and so I wore them until we got all the way around to the front gate. 
We then walked up into the fortified mountain. Iain would've hated the steep climb up to the top. I'm sure he would've loved the view as much as we did though. You could see for miles all around the castle. We also really enjoyed making our way into the tiny town that basically consisted of tons of touristy shops (some filled with junk others with nicer things) and restaurants.Once it started getting dark we started heading back to the b&b. We grabbed a bite to eat along the way back and then drove back to the b&b where I spent time working on schoolwork before crashing in my bed.
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