Le Mont-Saint-Michel

After the Eiffel Tower, Le Mont-Saint-Michel has to be one of France’s most recognised, and visited, sites. It stands a kilometre off shore in the tidal estuary of the Couesnon river. A causeway wasn’t built until the 1800’s.
It is built on a small rocky island - apparently after the archangel Michel appeared to the Bishop of the neighbouring city in a dream in 708 (His skull remains in the nearby cathedral with a hole in it where the angel touched it! True!). What began as a sanctuary for pilgrims became a Benedictine abbey in the 10th C - by the 14th C it grew to occupy the entire island (and double it’s height). It became an impregnable stronghold in the Hundred Years war but after the French Revolution it was sacked and turned into a prison which remained until 1863 when Napoleon III restored it to a national monument and restoration has continued to this day.
As you approach the tidal flats it suddenly appears like a mirage from a fantasy RPG computer game - it takes your breath away even though you’ve seen pictures of it before.
The tide was going out when we arrived so the muddy quicksand was visible all around. The Abbey is enormous built on three levels with multiple halls,chapels and crypts but no decorations as they were removed by the revolutionaries. A very informative audio guide provided a fascinating walk through for several hours.
We lucked upon a mass in progress in the main church with nuns singing - see videos. As always it’s difficult to show the magnitude and magnificence of such a structure in photos but I tried.Read more