Normandy Trip… Mont St. Michel

Our day trip to Mont St. Michel was fun.  I was quite anxious to see it and it did not disappoint.  Miles away we could see it standing above  the flat fields and it was shocking really, and so cool to see from a distance.  Wow.

“For more than a thousand years, the distant silhouette of this island abbey sent pilgrims’ spirits soaring.  Today, it does the same for tourists.  Mont St. Michel, among the top four pilgrimage sites in Christendom through the ages, floats like a mirage on the horizon.”

Mont St. Michel is an island connected to the mainland by a two mile causeway.  It’s surrounded by a vast mudflat said to contain quicksand.   The small village has only one street that winds it’s way up to the fortified abbey on top.

We parked a few miles away and walked a ways and then took a free tram along the causeway to the entrance of the island.  A picture of the island from inside the front seat of the tram…

In the sixth century, hermit monks in search of solitude lived atop the island mountain.  The island was only reachable during low tides.    The surf speeds eight miles in and out with each tide cycle.   Pilgrims crossing the mudflat had to be aware that tides came in at 12 mph, or about 2 feet per second.  Quicksand was another peril, as was (and is) the thoroughly disorienting fog.  In 1878 a causeway was built, letting pilgrims come and go regardless of the tide.

We skipped the one main touristy street and headed up the narrow stairs following the ramparts up to the abbey...

…then we sat in a shaded courtyard to rest and have a snack.

  

Touring the abbey was interesting. Fun to see these models of the development of Mont St. Michel.

  

View from the top of the Abbey.  The specks on the sand are people walking out on the mudflats.

Abbey Cloister

  

After touring the Abbey we were ready for some food.  We wandered through the NARROW street down, bought some sandwiches and made our way back up to the same shady courtyard half way up to the Abbey to eat and enjoy the view – and mostly enjoy sitting down on the benches.  It would have been fun to take a walk around the mudflats but without a stroller our little ‘walking’ boys were out of energy.  Luke is a good walker but that little Matthew is a complete wimp and Chris ended up carrying him on his shoulders most of the day.  Our double stroller just completely died this week and we’re SO close to not needing a stroller that we’ll just have to struggle through – not without some frustration though – that boy just wants to be carried all the time. 

One last look at Mont St. Michel on our way out…