I am excited to fly to France in two days. [View all]

We are going to visit family and tour around. From where we are based (near Nantes), we are going to be driving around to various spots. In particular, I want my wife to experience a place that is magical. I went there as a kid with my parents. It is Mont-Saint-Michel, now a UNESCO world heritage site. This is a near island (used to be, but now you can drive to it) that is a medieval city.

It has this incredible Benedictine abbey (circa 9th century, upgraded over the centuries) that you can visit. I booked a nice hotel inside the walls of this little medieval city (Auberge Saint-Pierre : https://www.auberge-saint-pierre.fr/en/ )




I am taking my sketching and gouache painting kit.

That is one of the wonderful things about France. Pretty much from anywhere, you are within three to four hours of wonderful locations, given that it only takes 10 hours or so to cross from top to bottom.