How many times have I seen an image of Mont St Michel? Books. Films. Possibly even in a comic strip. It's iconic in many ways, not least for its heavenly aspirations but perhaps most for its amazing location. Linny was here once when she was in college and worked briefly in France. She and a girlfriend hitched here from Paris, went on a tour, dropped out of the tour and trespassed everywhere, including the bell towers. It was the days of the island's physical separation from the mainland when the tides rose. If you were there, you stayed until the tide made it possible to walk or ride to the shore.
Linny wanted to repeat that adventure with me. A great idea, but no longer possible. First, there's now a permanent road, which means there's no longer much isolation, even at night. We got there after our bus ride from Rennes that was a nice tour of the countryside. France is many small places and local traditions, so that the architecture and the farming methods are obviously cultivated locally. This part is green, rolling hills, with brisk coastal weather inland. We passed dairies, sheep, corn fields, and pastures.
We thought we were getting there early, but we weren't yet aware of the fulltime access. There were already crowds to negotiate on the hunt for our hotel so we could drop our bags. Fortunately, there's only one short, steep, street with hotels, so we were out exploring quickly--or as quickly as one can before finding coffee.
Human habitation here has been a work-in-progress for at least 1500 years. Apparently, the rocky outcropping was inland until tides, which can vary by as much as 46 feet between high and low, changed the bay of the adjacent river dramatically, though slowly. So, the isolated pile is a layer cake of occupations and the dominance of the church came later. Now it's all museum and kitsch. The quite long tour of the buildings is the museum part; the shops along the main street are determinably about the kitsch.
Our hotel was the most expensive place we've ever stayed, but it seemed the only way to have some calm appreciation. That was barely true, but true, because the next wave of tourists started choking the narrow streets by 9am. We still found some space ahead of their swelling numbers and watched the day brighten the cathedral's antique gloom.
But before a panoply of pictures, here are two of the cathedral's shadow on the tide flat.
