travelling on a whim

I've just returned from one of the most enjoyable, unexpected trips yet. I feel certain that this weekend has been one to remember. I feel I've learned a lot about French culture and travelling itself after these past three days.

Everyone here has been really proactive about choosing and planning weekend trips. Meanwhile, I've been feeling indifferent about a lot of the choices and in general just unable to decide. I've got a rail pass with 10 days of travel and I don't know how to divide it or even where I want to go! Two other students had planned on a trip to St Malo in Bretagne for this past weekend. I looked into it, and I thought it seemed interesting enough, so just last Tuesday I said "Oui! I'll go".
So the three of us left the Chateau at 4:50 AM on Friday to trek to the Strasbourg train station and catch our train. At some point that morning I thought, "I can't believe I'm doing this right now". I didn't really know what to expect from the weekend. All I knew was that I wanted to see a different part of France, and the opposite side seemed different enough.

Saint Malo is a lovely beach town. It's defintely a summer town since it was very quiet and empty, but still adorable in October. Maybe off-season is a better time to explore places?
I was surprised how well we were able to communicate in French with most everyone that we interacted with. This is a drastic difference to Strasbourg. I kept expecting the French to switch to English, but they were all patient and tolerated our poor French.

On Saturday, we tried to catch a bus to Mont Saint Michel and somehow ended up leaving the station 10 minutes before it arrived, thinking that we had missed it. We didn't give up, and just thought of our other options. Not going to Mont Saint Michel was not an option. Luckily one person in the group knew how to drive manual, so we said, "okay, let's try to rent a car". And we did.
I was a little in shock. Not one of us was over the age of 20, and they let us rent a car. And so we drove to Mont Saint Michel with no problems (only a little detour thanks to my inability to interpret a tourist map).

The rest of our time in Saint Malo was spent wandering, eating pastries, watching the tides, and exploring the old parts of the city. I loved the emptiness of the town and how it was still very inviting at the same time.

I'm glad I was able to make that last minute decision and that all of us were able to handle everything that came our way. Not knowing what to expect and a positive attitude can really make a trip!

-Maria