Nevertheless there's sights to be seen so we head out in our Renault Twingo for a day of soggy adventures. We drive out to the town of Avranches about 25-30km south and stop there for a bit of morning exploration. It's 10:30am and the town is dead. Apart from a vintage car gathering in a carpark in the central village there's not much happening. The rain seems pretty well set in too which is probably keeping most people at home in bed. After a quick 20minute walk around the central village we decide we've seen enough and head for the shelter of the car. Driving out of town and there's an interesting old medieval fort as well as another large and grand church in Avranches. The town is quite elevated and apparently looks out over the bay of Mont Saint Michel below but todays rain and clouds have created a thick blanket of white so it's not visible at all. We also pass a large WWII monument with a big tank and French and US flags waving high above it, a reminder of this areas involvement in the western front.
From Avranches we drive towards Mont Saint Michel, which is only another 10-15kms away. It's a pretty part of the country with large fields of green and yellow, and tight roads that snake between small villages of clustered stone houses. After 5-10 minutes we drive over a small rise and then on the other side we are greeted by our first glimpse of the island that is Mont Saint Michel. What an amazing silhouette it creates against the sky. So unique.
We park the car and then catch one of the double ended buses to the bottom of the mont. It's low tide now and as we cross the recently completed modern looking bridge the island is surround by mudflats. There's lots of small groups of people walking out in the mud, as well as some doing it by horseback. Apparently it's quite a popular way to visit the island. Not for us today though, the weather is still miserable, although on the plus side it's stopped raining for the moment. We head through the large stone archway at the base of the this large rock island and up into the narrow inclined streets.
The bottom is abuzz with people and restaurants and souvenir shops line the narrow paths. It's pretty touristy at the bottom but once we pass all the creperies, medieval sword shops and other tourist traps we arrive at the middle ramparts to the island. It's cool up here. The island is a hodgepodge of medieval stone walls, stairs and terraces mixed with 15th-18th century houses and buildings that have an amazing roofscape when viewed from above. We walk along the eastern ramparts to the end terrace, a large circular stone tower that's elevated above the sea below by 30-40metres.
The surrounding landscape back on the mainland looks quite beautiful now as the blanket of rain clouds creates an atmospheric quality to the whole place.
We rise up more and more stairs and the views get better the higher we go. We reach the entrance to the abbey and ascend more stairs again. We get our tickets to go in, and you wouldn't believe what we do next...yep more stairs. I reckon the medieval and Renaissance Christians would've had mad calf and quad muscles. All this stair training. Perhaps it was the first instance of 'Cross' fit, when the monks carried crosses up the many stairs to the abbey atop the mount.
At the top, well at least the top floor of the abbey we are now offered 360 degree views from the island. What an amazing vantage point. The brochure we were given with our tickets tells us that the early inhabitants of the abbey thought of this place as heaven on earth. I can see why.
I can also see rain approaching, and fast too. Looking up to the spire of the abbey adorned with a golden statue of Saint Michael with angel wings, and we see the clouds above moving quickly.
It's interesting visiting a place like this, you feel like you're going to get a sore neck as you keep looking up at the stone walls, towers and spires that rise and soar above you.
We head into the abbey, which is surprisingly rather simple and modest inside. There's a lot less decoration and adornment, particularly in the stained glass windows, which are just simple geometric patterns rather than figurative. A service has just completed and we hear the final playing of the organ. Quite profound.
After wandering through the main church we head into the large garden next to it which is ringed by a beautiful arched colonnade. What a pretty space.
The signage then leads us through the different parts of the abbey; through the meals room for the monks; down into the crypt; through the reception/greeting hall; as well as the small chapels and other parts. The most interesting part for me is the way the spaces are built and carved around the rock of the mountain. It's amazing how the abbey itself becomes apart of the rock formation. It's hard to know where the natural stone ends and the building begins.
After wandering the abbey for about an our we make our way day exploring more of the garden terraces and small unique spaces that are created by the ramparts and stairs. The rain is that annoying type of rain now, the one where it's not heavy enough to get the umbrella out but heavy enough to be a nuisance. It does start to get heavy however and so we make our way to one of the restaurants along the market street to get undercover. Lunch is ok. Main thing is we kept dry.
It's now 3ish and we wander down to the base of the Mont. We skip taking the bus back and instead walk the pedestrian footbridge back. It's stopped raining now and showing signs of clearing up. I'm glad we walked back. The views from afar of Mont Saint Michel are stunning. Really is a magical island. The walk back takes us to nearly 4pm. The skies are clearing and Sim and I are unsure what to do now. I'm really keen to see the island around high tide, which is at 8pm tonight. Sim is too, although she knows we need to get our washing dry back at the flat too. We decide to stay and have a rest for a couple of hours, writing some journals and taking it easy, before heading back to the island on the free shuttles just after 6pm.
Wow. It's even more amazing and magical than earlier. The evening sun has poked through the grey clouds and the hodgepodge clusters of buildings and stone towers, buttresses and ramparts are in magnificent light and shadow. So glad we decided to stay!
The tide too had started to come in. It's moving fast too. We wander in back through the stone archway gates and under the old draw bridge. The streets are less busy now, another reason why it's great we stayed and returned. We grab some ice creams and then wander up the Mont. It's such a different experience to our earlier lunchtime visit. The water is now lapping up to the base of the stone walls at the sea line, and the sand bars that seemingly stretched for miles in the bay earlier in the day have completely disappeared as the tidal waters have moved in. What a contrast.
We wander a few of the same places we explored earlier but interestingly we take different paths that lead off them which lead to different and new elevated rampart terraces we didn't see earlier. Such a cool hill town. It really is like walking around a giant castle. You lose yourself in this medieval world of maze like paths, stairs and terraces.
We stop at one of the terraces and watch the sea for about 10 minutes as it envelopes more and more of the mudwaters that surround the Mont. The seagulls are funny to watch too, as they cluster on the last remaining patches of dry sand. It's 7pm now and nearing high tide. The sun is really shining now and there's large patches of blue sky. Sim and I are like kids playing in a giant castle. We explore more little pockets around the island, things we missed earlier, one in particular was a steep circular stone stair up to a secluded terraced garden.
Eventually we make our way down, taking many photos of this magical island that is now nearly completely surrounded by water and bathed in evening sun.
We catch the bus back to the carpark and drive out through the surrounding fields, stopping along the way to admire the views back to the Mont. It's now in complete silhouette as the sun is closing in on the horizon and behind the island. What a special afternoon.
We head back on the highway past Avranches and then take the scenic coastal route back to Granville. It's also the route the riders of the Tour took yesterday so there's lots of fun and weird Tour de France paraphernalia along the way as well. We stop at the small town of Genets to get one last glimpse of Mont Saint Michel over the bay before heading back towards the dark and gloomy sky that is descending upon Manche. It's that weird evening sky where half is in the sun and where you are is in sunlight, but the other half is a deep, dark grey and that's where you are heading. It's quite exciting actually.
We get back to old town just after 9pm. The small pub up the road is showing the France v Iceland game in the street on a huge projector. The French are already 2-0 up and the crowd is happy.
After a big day, sims not so keen on more football and beers, and we need an early start tomorrow too so we head back to the flat for a rest.
What a magical day, a tale of two islands you could say. I feel lucky to have seen it in both tidal conditions and indeed, different lights. It's amazing how it changes your experience and perception of a place.
Bonsoir
mat + sim
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