The Abbey

The lovely old Abbey at the top of the Mont.

We ended up going through the abbey later in the afternoon and had most of it to ourselves.

One of the things I wish we would have done was the walk across the quicksands to get to the island. The combination of fast tides and, er, the quicksand means you should probably go with a group (there are a list of guided tours on the MSM website for you to pursue). You could see them working their way across the plain of sand.

The chapel at the tippy-top:

The rest of the site was a series of large halls and vaulted cellars where the monks would eat and pray and entertain visiting pilgrams. An impressive pile of architecture, but denuded of any furniture or art work to help you put the pieces together.

Just based on the train and bus schedules, we had decided to spend the night at a hotel just off the island so we wouldn't have to rush and hustle. The hotels on the island were very tiny and quite expensive, so we opted to be on the other side of the causeway, where they were bigger but shabby and cheaply furnished. There's really no difference in the end as everything here closes at 5 except for the hotel restaurants.

There wasn't even a local bar to cozy up at. We decided in the end that 12 hours here was more than enough time to see everything. Aside from the Abbey and the views, there was nothing but gift shops and places selling crepes and overpriced omelets and mediocre kouign-amann. A pastry that is mostly butter and caramel should never ever be mediocre.

Everywhere you looked, shops were selling gorgeous pictures of the iconic Mont, with long shadows and sunshine and snow and pretty much in every condition except of the one you are most likely to see it in, which is overcast or being pelted with sideways rain.

We did find a fantastic place to eat though. I was getting suspicious of all the places with traditional Bretange dancing and music that lined the area, so we walked past the gate of the pedestrian area and there was a cute renovated farmhouse called La Ferme St Michel. I had a lovely bit of pre-sale lamb, which is the local specialty of salt-marsh fed lamb, and they had really good woodfire cooked omelets for much cheaper than the fancy place on the island. You can get sick of crepes while traveling in this region pretty quickly, so it was nice to sit down and have a glass of wine and eat something that was not wrapped in a pancake.

But I guess the best thing about staying the night was being able to see the landmark splendidly lit up.

The next day was dreary with rain and enough fog to obscure the view, but we took a walk around the city walls while waiting for the bus to take us back to Rennes. The main street was packed with umbrella-toting tourist trying desperately stay dry. True to the place, devoted pilgrams/tourist do not let a little rain stop them.

Like I said before, 12 hours is plenty of time. 24 hours and you'll be a bit bored (especially in the rain) and you might actually start to drift inside the plentiful gift shops just to have something to do.

Mont Saint-Michel Adventure

I have been intrigued by the mother of all tourist traps for a while now. True, it's a bit hard to get to, and that was part of the reason why I hadn't been yet. I waited until I had in friend in town who really wanted to see it before planning a trip. It's about four or five hours drive from Paris. We looked into bus trips direct from Paris, but that would mean joining a tour. Unless the tour would promise to take us to back alley kebap stands, I'm alright with independently getting there, even if it means a little creativity.

I found that you could take the TGV to the city of Rennes, and then hop a bus from there that takes you to the Mont. It was fairly easy, and the layover between the train and the bus meant we got to walk around Rennes for a bit and eat pastry.

Two hours on the train, a bit over an hour on the bus through the Brittany countryside, and we arrived. There's no town around le mont, but a handful of tourist hotels on the country road that leads to the causeway.

So, they are doing mad amounts of construction as they are building a new bridge to replace the causeway. The old causeway blocked the tidal flow in the bay and created enough silt build up so that the abbey is no longer technically on an island. Once the new bridge is built, they will take out the causeway and the parking lot at the base of the island, and it will once again be a tidal island.

They also built a snazzy new dam that they are using to flush out the bay and deepen the channel. It's designed to be a nice viewing platform as well. Very slick.

The Mont itself is a sight to behold.

Since the 8th century, there has been a monastery at the top of the hill, and it's been a pilgrimage site for just as long. It's portrayed in the Bayeux Tapestry, including the knights getting trapped in quicksand! About 40 people live on the island, most of them being monks or nuns as it is still a working monastery.

You can take a shuttle right up to the base of the mont, or you can walk or bike the 1km across. We opted for the walk just to spend more time taking it all in. Hopping a shuttle bus for the last mile seemed very anti-pilgram of us.

A touch of rare blue sky....

The weather in Normandy and Brittany was predictably between dreary and miserable. Wearing a rain jacket is a pretty good idea no matter what the forecast says.

The delicious stink of the sea was all around us. I miss that living in Paris.

You enter the city through a gate, and you wind your way through a tiny, steep street filled with cute medieval buildings and shops.

Mere Pollard has a monopoly on most of the real estate here. They sell their ridiculous 30 euro omeletes at their fancy place at the bottom of the hill, and every other shop has their name on it. The cuisine is pretty limited anyway, as you will get sick of crepes if you spend more than a few hours here.

The views from the top were pretty spectacular. The bay, the sea, the farms and fields. They've done a really good job of preserving the area from development and spoiling the views. If this would have been anywhere else, I feel as there would be condos touting their view of the landmark built up everywhere. Instead, the sheep get the majority of real estate is given to the sheep that graze the salt marsh.

The abbey is a Unesco site, so it's well-funded and well maintained. We ended up going later in the day, so it was fairly quiet, with none of the crowds I thought we would be fighting through.

I would dare to call it peaceful even.

I'll have more pictures for you of the Abbey tomorrow. As usual, I have way too many pictures for one post.

Les Vaches

It was astounding how many beasties could fit in this corner of Paris.

Just when I thought I saw everything, another building would appear and more rows upon rows of animals and food vendors would appear. How exhausting!

For the person who has it all:

They need more cow bells.

My favorite kind of cow is this one: soulful kohl-lined eyes and big flirty lashes.

The Normandy cows with spectacles are the ones responsible for Camembert production, so they can be listed as a favorite as well. I actually found a vendor there who had my favorite super special Camembert from the farm we visited last June and I urgently bought the last wheel from her. It's fantastic stuff, and I feel sad for you if you can only get the rubbery processed stuff in the states.

May lactose intolerance never strike me.

While the facilities management here was on top of the manure situation and the odor management was pretty tolerable for an indoor location, I really could only drift into the cochon section very briefly. The pigs themselves are not malodorous, but anyone who has passed a pig farm on a hot day can attest to the fact they do leave a pretty strong present for their handlers to clean up.

There were also some gorgeous chickens and fouls and buns, but anything in a cage is pretty much unconvincing and pointless to try and photograph, so I just can't be bothered.

What was also kind of an interesting observation was the crowd. There was a lack of chic noire-wearing Parisian ladies and men in skinny suits flitting around, and a plethora of sturdy country folk who speak slow enough for me to actually understand what they are saying (it's not me, it's you, Paris...). Despite the crazy amounts of amazing food, it seems like most of the locals aren't around despite heavy advertising in the Metros.