Since the very first time I saw a picture of Mont Saint-Michel, I have wanted to go there. The sight of that rock with the huge Abbey on top just sitting out in the bay always piqued my interest. Today was the day to fulfill my wish to see it in person. MSM is about an hour and a half drive from where we're staying in Bayeux, and the closer we get I find myself searching the landscape just hoping to get a glance of it.
Finally we turn a corner and there it is in the distance, sitting in the morning light with a little bit of a marine layer sitting around it. I can't believe we're finally here.
When the high tide is in, the Mont becomes an island. Today the tide is out but that's actually a good thing as we are able to go out onto the sand and take pictures from below. There are several groups of people there with guides who are walking across the bay. You need a guide because there are actually areas of quicksand out there. Not quite the "Princess Bride" type of quicksand but something to be avoided nonetheless.
We enter the gate of the city and start up the Grande Rue but it's quite crowded, mainly due to the street being only about 4 feet wide. We dive into a shop and pop out through the back door onto the ramparts and walk up the ramparts to the Abbey. We pick up a couple of audio guides and start our interesting tour of the large medieval Abbey. It always amazes me that such impressive buildings could be constructed without modern tools.
Once we finish our tour, we head back down the Grande Rue (which is still crowded) and find the post office so I can mail a postcard to the folks at work. We decide to walk back across the bridge to the parking area rather than taking the shuttle, affording us some different perspectives of the Mont.
Once back in the car we start heading back toward Bayeux when suddenly- there it is! The perfect photo opportunity. A bunch of cattle in a field with the Mont rising up in the background. As we head back to Bayeux, I am one happy lady.
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