Mont Saint-Michel Small-Group Day Trip from Paris with Abbey & Cider Tasting

Bonjour Patrick, I am sorry for the slow reply to your review. I was waiting to hear back from all of the other guests who joined the same tour as you with our guide Jaime. I finally have heard back from the last one just today. I didn't want to respond without first chatting with the guide, Jaime, and also the other tour participants. Now that I have their feedback and I better understand how your day trip unfolded I am ready to have an open discussion with you. First off, our company has been leading Day trips to a dozen different places all over France for more than 10 years and your review is the very first one to ever mention that the guide was a poor driver. I just wanted to put that information out there for anyone who happens to read your review and who might wonder if it is a common complaint. Next, I would like to mention that the drive to Mont Saint Michel is 2.5 hours long including the 15-minute restroom break that we make on the way. It is never 3.5 hours long (as you state in your review) not even on the worst traffic days. If you don't want to take my word for it then I suggest that you use Google Maps and it will show you that I am correct. Now, I would like to offer my theory about why you were uncomfortable in our van. It is only a theory and I do not claim that it is the truth but it sure seems plausible. Perhaps, you have the habit of being the primary one to drive any motorized vehicle that you travel in. This is true for 85% of all American citizens so it could be true for you as well. This means that you are used to seeing the road from a completely different angle, from the driver's seat, and being the one who is in complete control over the vehicle. As such it might automatically seem unnatural for you when you are not the driver but the passenger in a vehicle. Perhaps, you have never driven in France before. This is true of 99.99% of Americans. If that is the case then you might be surprised to learn that while the highways in the United States are all a minimum of 12 feet wide, here in France they are usually, at least, 6 inches less wide. This can give the impression of always barely staying in your lane. Which, actually, isn't an impression, we DO drive closer to the other cars in the lanes next to us and we also drive closer to the edge of the road over here. That's just how it is. We drive on the roads we are given and we can't make them any wider nor can we make our vans any thinner. Finally, I would like to mention that your driver used the cruise control for 81% of the trip that you were on. I know this because we have trackers in each of our vans. They are a great tool in helping us keep up with our vans' maintenance appointments and also our tour quality standards. They tell us the average speed our drivers drive over every 20-kilometre section of road and also how long they stay at each spot that they stop at and tons of other cool stuff. Your guide used the cruise control for all but 20 minutes of the time that you were on the highways which means that he drove at a steady 110 to 120 kilometres an hour for most of your trip to and from Mont Saint-Michel. Different sections of the highway impose either a 110 or a 120-speed limit. Finally, I would like to share with you that every one of the other tour participants thought that Jaime did a great job both driving and guiding on the Island of Mont Saint-Michel. You did not mention that he guided you all around the island telling stories and sharing its history with you. You only mention enjoying the free time that you had once the guided part of the tour was over. Anyways, I would like to leave you with a quote from Winston Churchill: “There is nothing noble (in) being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.” I just thought it was a nice one worth sharing. Best regards, -Hava Cofounder Blue Fox Travel