Mont Saint Michel

Mont Saint Michel from the causeway

June 9 - Mont Saint Michel

After a breakfast of croissance, camembert cheese, ham and coffee, we got on the road. We had our first glimpse of Mont Saint Michel when it was twenty kilometers away - from afar it looked like a mysterious castle with sky-reaching turrets.

As we approached the abbey it became even more enigmatic looking (not withstanding the cheesy looking hotels, restaurants, stores and other sundry buildings at the base of the causeway that leads up to the abbey). Once inside, one does get a sense of history, though. The beginnings of the abbey dates back to the 8th century!

We walked up the twisting and narrow cobble-stoned streets until we got to the entrance of the abbey. The tour took us through the various tiers, where the monks worked and ate, and where they prayed. There were huge fire places and beautiful views of the water and the land down below. Little wonder that this was the only place in northern France not to fall to the  English in the Hundred Years War.

After the abbey we drove to our next stop - the walled medieval city of Dinan.