Staying in a basic but very nice hotel run by a young couple who seem to work all the hours god sends and are very cheerful and helpful. Bless them.

So many tourists go to Mont St Michel that there is a car park and a shuttle across the causeway. You can also walk but the only cars allowed are those of the residents and those going to certain select hotels.

After a brief visit, off we went to Cherbourg to get the ferry to Guernsey. Lots of driving was followed by chaos as we tried to return the car. We found the return office fairly easily but what they hadn’t mentioned in Paris was the fact that the office was unmanned on bank holidays and that all the roads were up in the neighbourhood. Luckily I found a man from the Enterprise office down the street who told me where to leave the car. Eventually we had to abandon it in a dropping off zone and stuff the keys into the lock box in the office. We then had a hot 20 minute walk to the port in an effort to check in on time. Luckily the ferry was mainly empty and we had reserved seats right at the front. The weather was also beautiful.

Incidentally, the following day I had to phone Hertz to complain about the car return (being the one who speaks French). We had noticed, going through the ferry terminal, a Hertz return box. We were pissed off that we could have returned it there but apparently they no longer allow that – despite the continued presence of the box. I also pointed out the lack of manpower on a bank holiday but that was apparently Paris’ fault. The roadworks? Act of God. .

After a bit of a struggle trying to find a taxi, we ascended to our hotel which is at the top of St Peter Port.