Normandy (part 4)

Mont Saint Michel

Days 4-5:  The time had come to say goodbye to the Normandy Beaches. The memories will live on, as will a profound respect for our parents' generation, especially the soldiers who were a part of the effort. Now our plan was to visit Mont Saint Michel. But first, we headed south to the seaside town of Granville where we rejoined Erica and Larry and spent the night.

Granville is an exciting little town on the eastern shore of Mont-Saint-Michel Bay. We planned to head for Mont Saint Michel early the following morning before the crowds had accumulated. In the meantime, it was time for dinner, and what a dinner we had!  We all agreed that it was the best food we have eaten in France. The restaurant was La Citadelle which you can find here.

The following morning, we drove to Mont Saint Michel. The crowds were gathering (even in November at 10 AM), but it was still manageable.

Mont Saint Michel has mostly been a monastery since the 8^th century. It is phenomenal both from an architectural and a geologic perspective. The building has been evolving for many centuries. It sits on a mostly stone island referred to as a mont (mount) with an average diameter of about 305 meters (1,000 feet), a height of 92 meters (302 feet), and is positioned about 1 km (0.6 mile) from shore. However, all of these numbers vary from moment to moment because the tidal range is amongst the most extreme of anywhere in the world. The variation from high tide to low tide is about 14 meters (46 feet). This creates an interesting natural barrier between the mont and the mainland. Many an unwary or reckless tourist has been lost thinking that there was plenty of time to cross by foot at low tide. If the onrushing tide did not get them, the quicksand did.

low tide

high tide

We did a lot of climbing to the top of the mont and beyond in the Monastery itself. Here are some of my pictures:

part of the maze of rooms                                               A winch of sorts.

                                                                                    Six men would get inside the wheel and walk.

                                                                                   That way, heavy loads could be lifted into the Monastery.

Black Madonna
Check out this interesting link.

After many hours of exploring, we traveled the 2 km back to the cars, drove the cars back to Rouen, walked back to the train station, and took the train back to Paris. A most extraordinary trip was had by all.