Last Friday was a national holiday in France and James and I didn't have to work. This seems logical but it is not uncommon for James to work on holidays. I had been mentioning for about a month that we should try and explore some area of France I have never seen. So Friday was the day we had our adventure.
We got up early and our first stop of the day was Mont St. Michel! It is about a 3 hour drive from our house but in my opinion, rode trips are what you make of them and ours was fun! The weather was rainy and gloomy our entire drive there but to our delight it stopped raining during our time at Mont St. Michel.
Mont St. Michel is a church with a very small village surrounding it and it is on an island that is now connected to the mainland with 1 road (but no cars are allowed on the island). The high tide is well documented near the island as at those times the island is completely surrounded by water.
Here is a picture of the island as we approached it.
As there are no cars allowed on the island there are large parking lots available and then shuttles that take you closer to the island.
Here is a "close up" of our view as we walked onto the island. Mont St. Michel is named after the arch angel Michael. There is a legend that is told about how this angel influenced the church being built. You can read more about those details
here. The church was built over a span of 500 years (1017-1521), the main church was completed in 1144 but other buildings were added in the 13th and 14th century to accommodate the monks and pilgrims who flocked to the abbey. It served as a prison for a period of time after the 100 year war and was handed back to the French government in 1874 when they began preserving it.
Once we were on the island we wandered through the small village making our way up the hill to enter the abbey. The city is charming but quite touristic as more than 3 million people visit each year.
Stairs, stairs, and more stairs...
Here is the main street on the island. It has lots of little shops and even a few hotels are available.
Here is one of the views from the top of the church. It feels like there is nothing for miles and miles!
A trip wouldn't be complete without some door shots (I've got a thing for doors)!
We were able to witness part of a service going on in the chapel area of the church. It was quite magically to be part of something that has been going on for hundreds of years in this space.
Here is the cloister (the garden space in the middle of the building).
We loved all the detailed design of these arch-like poles that surrounded the perimeter of the garden.
Here is one of many hooks in case you need to tie your horse up while you are in the church.
There were many alters and areas with benches throughout the church.
One of the other unique feature was the "human like hamster wheel." The picture below shows you the part that was considered the "sledge" in which the good (likely heavy) were pulled to the church by animals and then raised by the manpower provided on the "hamster wheel."
Here is one of the many fireplaces located through. I can't imagine the amount of wood needed to provide even a small amount of heat to this massive building.
Here is a statue of St. Michael and the following are a few pictures to show you the gilded statue of St. Michael on top of the spire of the abbey.
Cannons which I am sure served a very different purpose than a resting spot back in the day :)
One of the views of the outside of the abbey as we made our way down all of the stairs.
A few more pictures of charming buildings in the village (which is said to have only a population of 44 people as of 2009).
It was fantastic to see this amazing landmark of France. I hope the pictures give you a small glimpse of this beautiful and magical place but I am sure that my pictures also do not do it justice and you should all visit it for yourself! The next stops of our day were Cancale and St. Malo. I will share pictures and details of the seaside towns soon! Happy Friday everyone!!!
