Order of Saint Benedict

Gin and tonics in Spain

Move over sangria: Spain has a new obsession and it’s the gin and tonic!

I had never been a fan of gin and tonics. My husband Dave used to drink them when we first met, but I never developed a taste for tonic water. To me, it always seemed like an old-fashioned drink that should be served in a gentlemen’s club as (male) patrons talked politics and smoked cigars by a fireplace. Martinis and wine were more suited to my lifestyle.

Mont Saint-Michel, Normandy France

The Mont-St-Michele in Normandy France forms a tower in the heart of an immense bay invaded by the highest tides in Europe. It was at the request of the Archangel Michel chief of the celestial militia that Aubert, Bishop of Avranches built and consecrated a small church on the 16th October 709. In 966 a community of Benedictines settled on the rock at the request of the Duke of Normandy and the pre-Romanesque church was built before the year one thousand.