As promised, this post is all about the one tourist attraction we wanted to see while in France: Mont Saint-Michel. But first, it's my turn again at Vision and Verb, where you will get a different slant on the whole experience.
This isn't France's second biggest attraction next to Paris for nothing!
We arrived at 6:30 p.m. and left by 11:15 p.m., so in this collage you see the beginning pictures to the end, with the largest image being the last one taken at just after 11 p.m. As we were leaving in the car, the sky was almost totally dark...but we knew it would take us till midnight before we'd get back to our B&B as it was, which is why we didn't stay longer. [In case you're wondering why all the pictures don't have a blue sky, it's because I converted some of them to B&W/sepia.]
If you look carefully at the bigger Mont, you can see there is a whole fortress-like section crowned with a spire (the Abbey) at the top. Under that is an actual village of homes and stores, keeping the village alive as a tourist attraction. Technically, it's an island with a population of 41. However, a natural land causeway connects the island to the mainland and has been built up over time to keep high tides from covering it. There are posted signs telling you what time high tide will cover the lower parking lots, in case your car is parkerd there. We were safe because high tide was at 1 p.m. that day. (See the middle image of the above collage.)
Entrance into the village is free. We would have gladly paid to get inside this exclusive community, but they spared us the change, welcoming us with their open arms. It is, after all, a tourist attraction, so every narrow street is filled with shops and restaurants...and even hotels for spending the night. From top left to bottom right, you see the street scenes from early to late evening, before and after we climbed all the way to the top of the Abbey.
As you've correctly guessed, it was the Abbey we wanted to see. While the streets wound this way and that, we kept looking at it towering above us. It was magical, whispering its sweet-nothings to us, like sirens drawing us in. And all the while it was getting darker and darker.
At the entrance to the Abbey was when we had to pay something, and the only time: €8.50 per person. We had no expectation of what we would see inside but after the never-ending maze of ups and downs and backwards and forwards, we would have gladly paid more (shhhhh--don't tell them). What surprised us was its austere emptiness. It clearly no longer functions as an Abbey but is a showcase for the skeletal structure, the bones of which are enhanced by natural and accented lighting throughout.
Lighting and...MUSIC. For our entertainment, musicians were stationed in special places on different levels of the Abbey...far enough apart that you couldn't hear them clashing against each other.
BTW, can you see how empty most of these rooms are? The next morning at our B&B we were told that during the day these spaces are filled with elbow-to-elbow tourists, going with the flow from beginning to end. We were astonished on hearing this because at closing time, when we were ready to leave, we saw no exit signs and had to wing it for how to get back to the entrance. We almost panicked because it really was getting dark and we had visions of spending the night in a place we did not know. Who would have thought it would be sparcer at night than during the day, right?! But no one worries during the day about where to go because the flow of the crowd dictates it...or so said the ticket man who told us we were leaving from the wrong exit. Really? Where were we supposed to leave? There were no signs. Oh, we were supposed to follow the crowd. HA!
There were reminders here and there throughout the village and Abbey that France is a Roman Catholic country.
If you look carefully at the bigger Mont, you can see there is a whole fortress-like section crowned with a spire (the Abbey) at the top. Under that is an actual village of homes and stores, keeping the village alive as a tourist attraction. Technically, it's an island with a population of 41. However, a natural land causeway connects the island to the mainland and has been built up over time to keep high tides from covering it. There are posted signs telling you what time high tide will cover the lower parking lots, in case your car is parkerd there. We were safe because high tide was at 1 p.m. that day. (See the middle image of the above collage.)
Entrance into the village is free. We would have gladly paid to get inside this exclusive community, but they spared us the change, welcoming us with their open arms. It is, after all, a tourist attraction, so every narrow street is filled with shops and restaurants...and even hotels for spending the night. From top left to bottom right, you see the street scenes from early to late evening, before and after we climbed all the way to the top of the Abbey.
As you've correctly guessed, it was the Abbey we wanted to see. While the streets wound this way and that, we kept looking at it towering above us. It was magical, whispering its sweet-nothings to us, like sirens drawing us in. And all the while it was getting darker and darker.
At the entrance to the Abbey was when we had to pay something, and the only time: €8.50 per person. We had no expectation of what we would see inside but after the never-ending maze of ups and downs and backwards and forwards, we would have gladly paid more (shhhhh--don't tell them). What surprised us was its austere emptiness. It clearly no longer functions as an Abbey but is a showcase for the skeletal structure, the bones of which are enhanced by natural and accented lighting throughout.
Lighting and...MUSIC. For our entertainment, musicians were stationed in special places on different levels of the Abbey...far enough apart that you couldn't hear them clashing against each other.
BTW, can you see how empty most of these rooms are? The next morning at our B&B we were told that during the day these spaces are filled with elbow-to-elbow tourists, going with the flow from beginning to end. We were astonished on hearing this because at closing time, when we were ready to leave, we saw no exit signs and had to wing it for how to get back to the entrance. We almost panicked because it really was getting dark and we had visions of spending the night in a place we did not know. Who would have thought it would be sparcer at night than during the day, right?! But no one worries during the day about where to go because the flow of the crowd dictates it...or so said the ticket man who told us we were leaving from the wrong exit. Really? Where were we supposed to leave? There were no signs. Oh, we were supposed to follow the crowd. HA!
There were reminders here and there throughout the village and Abbey that France is a Roman Catholic country.
All in all, it was an experience that exceeded our highest expectations. We both highly recommend a visit, if you ever have the chance. But please visit my turn at Vision and Verb today to find out why we do not need to go back. It was the "once in a lifetime" visit and we'll never forget it.
