Mont-St-Michel

Since an undergraduate class, the first time Clare saw the fortress on an island that turned into a castle surrounded by sand, she wanted to visit it. Growing up in Southern California, she thought she understood tides. Here, however, the difference between high and low tides can be up to 50 feet, and the intertidal area is extremely flat, even flatter than other beaches we have recently explored.

Luckily, low tide was at 9:00 AM. We left our AirBnB early to have breakfast on the island.

First view of Mont-St-Michel from the road

Looking around at high tide, it’s difficult to imagine this solid rock island becoming part of the continent. As the day progressed and the tide went out, it did.

The trams from the parking lot disembark tourists on the bridge. The trams never need to turn around as they can be driven from either end! When we arrived, near high tide, the lowermost entrances were flooded, so we had to climb up a ramp initially.

This place became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.

After climbing up many staircases, we reached the west terrace of the abbey. It is here only because a fire destroyed the west end of the church in 1776.

Years before, humans built a road to the fortress, which blocked the flow of water. Both Marc and Joëlle remember visiting here as children and driving right out to the base of this fortress. Later, in 2014, engineers changed the road into a bridge to allow water to flow around the island and prevent the build-up of mud and sand..

We enjoyed exploring every part of the island-castle-fortress.

The cloister, with different columns on the inside and outside. The pillars were offset, minimizing the possibility of monks accidentally seeing each other.

Carving depicting Archangel Michael putting his thumb on St. Aubert’s head to convince him to construct the abbey here.

Huge pillars support part of the church above

A group of musicians were performing for school children in a multi-story hall as we left the abbey.

We enjoyed an unusual lunch in a fancy restaurant on Main Street, La Mère Poulard, famous for its omelettes.

Window of restaurant with La Mère herself in photograph

Soon after lunch, the tide was low enough for us to venture outside the castle walls for a view of a small adjacent chapel.

Getting down to the sand on the side near the small chapel was adventurous but worthwhile. We scrambled over some rocks, walked on the muddy sands, to find our way to the little chapel.

Views from the ramparts that partially encircle the fortress

We walked back on the bridge past the first tram stop to see a dam constructed to release a lot of water at once in an effort to minimize sand deposition around the site. Brian turned back many times for photos.

One does not tire from the views of Mont-St-Michel!

In the evening, Marc and Joëlle went to the river to see the tidal bore (mascaret in French), a wave-like surge that occurs at high tide when the tide opposes the natural flow of the river into the sea, affecting areas for miles. The tidal differential varies, as does the height of the wave when it occurs, technically twice a day. Our friends were able to take a video and pictures of the surge, the wave about a foot or two high.