MONT-SAINT-MICHEL

During the final days of my vacation, I spent some time in the countryside near Montbray.  From there, I took a morning trip to Mont-Saint-Michel.  It is truly one of the most amazing places in France if not the world.  I’ve been there before and did not want to pay 9 Euros to see the abbey again.  (If you’ve never been, you simply MUST take the full tour.)  This time around, I was more interested in the exterior of the building as well as taking a walk around the famous island.  The monastery was founded about the year 708 by St-Aubert, Bishop of Avranches.  According to the legend, by direct command of the Archangel Michael himself, who appeared to the bishop in a dream on three separate occasions, a church was to be built on the rock once called Monte-Tombe.  People come from all over the world visit this place, still occupied by an order of monks, some of whom I saw worshiping in the parish church of St-Pierre.  If you plan on visiting Mont-Saint-Michel, be prepared to do a lot of climbing stairs.  It’s great exercise.  If you aren’t in a hurry, take advantage of the low tides and walk across the bay with a group of fellow pilgrims.  Be sure you go with a group at the right time or else the tides can wash you out to sea.  I won’t go into great detail about Mont-Saint-Michel since its history and architecture can be read about in books and online quite easily.  Needless to say, I had a wonderful morning and got some photos I was unable to get the last time I visited in 2004.