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Mont St. Michel ABBEY ISLAND Located in Normandy, the dramatic Mont St. Michel juts dramatically out of the water. It's actually an abbey built on a mountain peak, about a half mile off the coast of Normandy.
Mont St. Michel is only an island when the tide is high. The tide drops 14 meters - among the highest tide drops in France - revealing sand mudflats you can walk out on for views of Mont St. Michel. But it's no sandbox. My tour guide tells me that the tide can rush in suddenly, trapping unwary tourists on sand banks. In fact, he says, "We have rescued 26 tourists over the past year, and fortunately, we got every one out OK." And that's not all. Quicksand threatens to suck you down. It's so treacherous, that tour guides are required to walk you out on the mud flats. I walk around behind the back of the abbey to see dozens of tourists rolling up their pants to walk out, because you can sink knee-deep in the sand. I happen to be carrying my roll-on luggage because there are no storage lockers, and consider trying to roll my luggage out on to the flats. I ask a French couple with muddy feet returning from the flats if they think I can still do it. They nod their head and say "No way." So instead, I just take a photo. I go check out tours to the top of the abbey. There are a lot of steps up to the abbey, so I definitely want to chuck my bag somewhere. So when I get to Mont St. Michel, I head straight to the tourist info office and ask for locker storage. Nope, cancelled due to security. So I drag my bag up through the small streets, up the hundred or so stairs to the abbey tour desk to see if they have locker storage. Nope, cancelled due to security. So it looks like I'm giving my luggage a nice walking tour around the steps of the abbey. Our tour guide starts the tour through the
Abbey. He says that the abbey was named after St. Michel from the book of
Revelations. The St. Michel statue atop the abbey features him with a set
of scales representing judgment day, and a drawn sword to fend off
damnation. I try to listen as I huff 'n puff with my luggage.
Several other tourists nod their heads in disbelief
when they see me carrying my luggage up all the steps. I finish up with the tour, and then catch the bus back to Pontorson where I eat lunch in a bar watching the World Cup. Then, I catch the hour train back to Rennes, and then the 2-hour TGV back to Paris. |
Here's a photo I got of the Web of Mt St.
Michel on a nice day.
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