With Normandy and the D-Day Beaches in the rear view mirror, we next went to see Mont Saint Michel. This not to be confused with Chateau Ste. Michel which is a winery in Washington. Mont Saint Michel is an Abbey built just off the French coast and is one of the most visited sights in France.
When I say that it was built just off the coast, that is literally where it is. You can walk to it at low tide and many people do as a matter of fact. They even offer “sand tours” where you see lots pf people walking through the tidal flats and sand, but I honestly have no idea what they are looking at.
Most people including us took a bus to the island. You can either walk or take the bus. No cars especially since there is no place to park or even a place to turn around.
So how do the buses do it? Turn around? They don’t! They have a drivers seat at each end of the bus. When they get to the abbey, they just get up and go to the other end of the bus and drive out the opposite way. Genius!
As I mentioned, the Abbey is situated on the off-shore island. The abbey occupies the upper portion of the island, but there is also an ancient village that surrounds the lower part of the island below the Abbey. This village now is home to tourist shops, restaurants, hotels and whatever else is needed to support the thousands of tourists who visit each day.
The village is free to visit and walk around, but the Abbey charges a fee. And there are lots of stairs to hike up to get there too, so we even got to work on our fitness!
As you walk through the Abbey, you learn a lot about the history of it. The abbey was not always the majestic structure that exists today. It started off as a very simple church and has evolved over many centuries of expansion and increasing religious significance to the area. We very much enjoyed our visit to the Abbey and surrounding village. But I still have no idea what everyone is looking at in the tidal flats!