Pilgrimage to Mont Saint Michel, Normandy, France

We arrived at the famous UNESCO listed Mont Saint Michel Wednesday afternoon, it comes into view suddenly as you are driving along the winding road towards the mount. Its quite impressive from a distance. In the evening we walked out towards the Mount on the access road, it was quite windy and chilly but still impressive.

Thursday saw Dorothy and Gary make the pilgrimage to Mont Saint Michel, as pilgrims have done for centuries past.  We availed ourselves of some modern conveniences though, parking our camper van in a camping ground near the Mont and walking the last two kilometres along the causeway!

Then there are the three hundred steps to climb to get to the abbey

Some of the toursits (oops pilgrims) on the way back from the mount

Others do not make the same sacrifices, getting a bus, car or bike to the bottom of the steps as can be seen in this photo.

The Mont is quite spectacular, rising from the salt marshes and estuary since the sanctuary was first constructed on this site about 708 AD. The Mont has variously been a sanctuary, an abbey, impregnable stronghold during the hundred year’s war, a prison and since 1874 it has been a tourist drawcard.

Outside of Paris it is one of the top tourist destinations in France, as an example there were 41 tourist coaches there today and it’s not high season yet!

The mont itself is quite small, there is really only one steep and narrow street full of tourist shops on the way up to the abbey.The abbey dominates the island of course.

We took the guided tour through the Abbey, which unusually is included in the entrance price and was in English. We were quite impressed with the almonry where the guided tour finished.