Moulin á Vent de Moidrey and Mont-St-Michel

We left Bayeux in the rain and headed towards one of France's busiest attractions, the island of Mont-St-Michel. While Monsieur Bacon was zoned out behind the wheel, we missed our turn. With no way to turn around, we headed down the road looking for the next road going in that direction. What is that thing poking out from that field on the horizon? A windmill? Is that a windmill actually turning? We took a tiny country rode towards Don Quixote's beast, picking our way across the countryside on unnamed roads to find it.

Did you know the countryside of Northern France is covered in canola? We had no idea before we came. It's really pretty. We were surprised to see the mill was open to tour and even more surprised to see it is still a working flour mill, the only one in the area. The mill was built in 1806 and restored about a decade ago. It was really fun to see. Thank God for wrong turns!

People really made some amazing inventions to make life easier!  The roof supports the blades, or "sails," and the entire roof sits on rails so the miller can turn the blades into the wind. The wind turns a shaft running into a big wooden cog, which then turns a shaft running down to a stone flour mill. All sorts of accessories can be powered by the wind as well, from a winch to lift wheat sacks up to the top floor, to a sifting screen to sift the flour, all powered by the wind.

After touring the mill, we drove on to Mont-St-Michel. Rosemary had told us it was very busy and touristy, but once you "climb to the top", it is really amazing. It was late in the afternoon, raining, and getting colder, and the kids were asleep. We turned in to the packed parking lot to catch a shuttle to the island, but decided to skip it altogether. It just didn't sound fun. We parked the car, gazed at the island with it's ancient abbey standing tall, took a couple pictures and journeyed on.  Alone in cool old working windmill? Yes, thank you. Waking up kids so we can wait in line for a shuttle to an island swarming with thousands of other tourists? Next time. We can see it from here this trip.