Mont St. Michel

This has to be one of the most extraordinary places I have ever visited in the world.

Mont St. Michel is located in the north of France right at the border of Normandie and Bretagne. It is an island which was has had a monastery built on it since the 8th century. For centuries it stood in resitance to all the wars waged against Normandy and northern France. It has never once been the victim of attacks by anyone until the Second World War. The primary reason is that until hu,anity had the technology to drop bombs, it could not be successfully attacked because of the tides. Every twelve hours, the tides, some of the highest in the world, rise up to 12 meters and inundates the marshes which separate it from the coast of France. IN modern times a causeway has been built and that is no longer an issue. But in the days before mchanized war, no army could succeed in taking it in the short time required by the tides. And so it is safe.

I have tons of pictures. I will simply post them with brief  captions. I think the pictures will speak for themselves.

Mont St. Michel. The monastery and the abbey church are built at the crest of this rock island starting in the 8th century. Later the village surrounding the base was built in the 11th and 12 centuries.

The gate which millions of visitors must pass through to get into the village and climb up to the abbey and church.

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Looking down on the main street from the ramparts.

Major side streets look like this.

After passing all the restaurants, tourist trap shops, and hotels, the street becomes a stairway with about 200 steps up to the entrance of the abbey.

The abbey entrance perched on the edge of the cliffs.



Once inside, more steps up to the terraces in front of the abbey church.



The terraces in front of the abbey church with the tidal basins below.

Terraces in front of the abbey church.

Parking lots are not my favorite things to photograph. But I think this is important to give you a sense of the height which the ground floors of the abbey church are located. Tour buses below.

The church and tower.

Nave of the abbey church with the tower.

Facade of the Abbey Church. The facade is 16th century so it has the later classical lines rather than the medieval austerity.

This photo shows the two styles which co-exist in a wonderful way. The nave, foreground, is the 11th century roman style. The sanctuary at the rear is the early gothic of the 12th century.

The sanctuary. The utter simplicity of the rows of arches with no ornamentation emphasizes the height and draws the eye upawards to the light provided by large expanses of windows. It is very reminiscent of La Sainte Chapelle in Paris.

Detail of the nave with the round romanesque arches and the simple wooden barrel vault at the ceiling.
This is very rare and was used here to simplify the building process of carrying wood rather than stone across the tidal flats.

Views down to the tidal flats rom the terraces.

ONe of the most beautiful cloisters I have seen in all of my travels. The gardens ofo this cloister were replanted when the benedictine sisters, who now staff the abbey returned.

To understand the history of these amzing monuments requires knowledge of the events of the French revolution. The religious imagery on the right, an image of St. John the Baptist was destroyed, while the the floral design was left. This is the case all over France. There was a systematic effort to blot out the signs of faith all over the country.

The roof of the cloister is supported by very slender columns. They are doubled, alternating one after the other to give great support but with the illusion of lightness.

The beautiful cloister. Notice the double rows of slender columns holding up a very heavy roof.



The refectory of the ancient abbey.



Now that's a fireplace. And there are two of them. These are in the Pilgrim's Hall which were used to feed the thousands of pilgrims who came to St. Michel. St. Michel was both a stopping place for pilgrims on the way to Spain to Santiago Compostelle, and a destination unto itself.

Here is something you don't see every day. This huge wheel (see the man standing behind it) was used to operate an elevator to bring supplies and building materials up to the abbey. Men would walk inside this wheel and it would turn to raise the sleds up an incline on the side of the mountain. Think of human hamster wheel.

This is the ramp which guided the specially built sled which was hoisted up by the wheel located in the openning which you can see in the wall at the top of the picture.

Views of the ramparts built right down to the edge of the sea.

The abbey gardens below the terraces in front of the abbey church.

Rooftops of the village looking down from the stairs approaching the abbey entrance.

Village scenes.

Village street.

Looking up the steps approaching the abbey from the village.

A look back at the island as I am leaving to head down to Bordeaux.

This was a remarkable day. Mont St. Michel will be one of the highlights of this whole experience. I was at Motn St. Michel on Wednesday, June 15th.
Incase you may have noticed that I have slowed down in the postings on the blog, you are right. I am counting day at this point. There are so many things I wanted to see. It is becoming clear that I won't get to all of it. It just may require a return to Europe at some point in the near future. Quel surprise!

Tonight I am in Toulouse. I will visit the tomb of St. Thomas Aquinas tomorrow. Then I head back to La Sainte Baume for a few days of final retreat. Before coming home on the 29th, I will spend three nights in Paris.

I am not promising any more blogs after this - well maybe after the tomb of Thomas Aquinas tomorrow.

The three days at La Sainte Baume will be one's of quiet.

Three nights of Paris will not!

In any case. I will home next week.

Blessings to all

A bientot.