Well, my dreams have finally come true. After 20 years of life, I have now visited Hogwarts. Today, we visited Mont Saint Michel, a cathedral from the 11th century. It is one of the largest Catholic pilgrimage sites in Europe. Built on a island in the middle of the Bay of Biscay, you must walk over a small land bridge, visible only at low tide to get there. The trek through the waters symbolizes baptism. Upon entering the walled city, you are surrounded by junk shops on all sides as you wind up and up endless stairs to the actual cathedral itself, situated at the top of the rock. My only regret of the day is that my pictures will never do this place justice. It is truly the most beautiful building I have ever been in. We called it a combo of Hogwarts, the Beast's castle from Beauty and the Beast, the high king's castle in Narnia, and the castle in Lord of the Rings. Aka, super cool. The front half of the cathedral is Roman architecture, and the back half is Gothic, making for a weird visual sight as you turn from the front to the back. Mt. St. Michel is still an active cathedral, with monks living in the upper floors (we even saw one from afar!) Its incredible to think that structures as beautiful as this exist. We just don't have buildings this old in the US. We could have stayed there all day, with so much to do, see, and explore, but eventually we had to make the 3 mile trek back from the city to the bus parking lot. A long and tiring day, but well worth it!