Mont St Michel needs no introduction, sort of like the Eiffel Tower. Chris had never been here and I think it’s one of those places that you really must see if you are “in the neighborhood”. Started in year 708, occupied by monks since 966 and repeatedly repelling the English during the Hundred Years’ War, it’s an icon of French identity. It’s visited by about 2.5 million people a year and is certainly on the international tourist circuit! The narrow streets are jammed with shops and restaurants, but according to the census, only 29 people live on the Mont permanently now, including 15 monks and nuns, a few government officials and one family of two!
Our morning excitement was that someone was injured or fell ill while we were there and so we watched a medical helicopter swoop in to the foot of the Mont to get the affected person. Blue-suited sappers raced by us on the narrow pathways to get the person. The nearest hospital is miles away.
And our second excitement was to get a primo table in a restaurant by luck. The salmon galette was good but nothing special if compared to the previous one, but the view was amazing.
We toured the abbey, which was built over centuries and added on (seemingly) a bit randomly. The Mont was a prison for about a hundred years and one interesting feature is a giant wheel that 6 prisoners would get into and walk to turn the wheel to pull a supply sled up a track in the walls.
The estuary stretches out for what seems like miles. We took a walk on the sand around the Mont before returning back to our hotel. Nice day!
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