It was a bit overcast and a cooler day when we set off for Mont Saint- Michel, a place that I have always wanted to visit after reading about it as a child. I had dreamed of medieval times, of unpredictable tides, of quicksand, of dragons and of monks. Reality wasn't quite like that. It started out well enough. We parked in the reserved carpark on land clearly retrieved from the salt marshes and spotted the mount in the distance. We walked to a well organised meeting point from which you could walk for about 3/4 hour to the island, or hire a carriage pulled by 2 stout horses, or, as we did, catch a free bus to the causeway. The wait wasn't long and we descended from the bus to the sight of this amazing abbey built of rock on rock, with shops nestling at the bottom.
After this, modern reality struck. Given it is summer, and school holiday time, even though tourism numbers are down in France, I should have expected crowds. Unfortunately, I hate crowds, I loathe being with other tourists( I know, I'm not making sense. I am a tourist), I hate queues, and I hate spruikers. Once you get it the gates, you get all of this, crammed into a narrow winding street with shops aimed at tourists the whole way up to the abbey ticket office.
The only good thing is that the steep climb is so slow you don't notice it, and there is time for photos.
Once in the abbey grounds, things improve and the crush magically disappears, a bit like how the traffic speeds up once you are past a crash on the freeway. Signs stress that one should respect the abbey as a holy place, and people did pray there, we saw priests and nuns and there were all the signs that this is a Christian holy place
However, there is also the feel of it being an art gallery. For instance, there is the hint of a dragon lurking round the corner
and maybe an eagle
The Knights' Hall has prints of weird animals
and the Salle des Hotes has an exhibition of photographic works by Michael Kenna. The cloister has a large ball reflecting the plants and the architecture,
while the Knights' Hall has a reflective ball too.
Even in the refectory, there is an installation of feathers:
In addition, despite the Mont being a site of great Christian significance, there are strong pagan elements with the gargoyles
and even to a certain extent, with the dragon, representing the devil, being slain by St. Michael on the belfry.
Today, with the starkness of the rooms unsoftened by furniture or tapestries or curtains, the interior of the abbey appears like a pretty bleak living area, but life, must have been very hard for the religious inhabitants living in the abbey judging from the amount of moss growing on the inner walls. Nevertheless, the gardens add a warmth to the place which must have made life here a little more joyful.
Life was undoubtedly much worse for the prisoners who were force to reside here as the huge wheel used to haul up provisions reminds us.
The views of course are splendid for us, and must have been in the past for the church, the soldiers and the prisoners. Looking back towards the mainland, you can see the river, the flat salt marshes which contribute to the special flavour of the local sheep, as well as islands.
Mont Saint- Michel still has magic, but if I could wave a magic wand, I would explore it on my own, both inside and out.
We headed over to Saint- Malo after this. 80% of the town was destroyed in World War Two when the allied forces tried to oust a German commander who refused to surrender. Nevertheless, the old town has been rebuilt and it is very hard to tell that it hasn't been there forever.
Being a popular tourist destination too, the town was stuffed to overflowing with tourists - we heard French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Chinese and Swedish but I am sure lots of other nations were represented too.
In spite of this, we enjoyed our walk on the ramparts which gave us wonderful views of surrounding land, sea and sky.
Going back to our car, we also came across a really good band, Orquesta Chilaquiles, busking at the exit. Of course, we had to hang around to enjoy the music.
What a great way to end another very busy day!
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