Mont St. Michel – The “Island” Abbey

You could see it from miles away! We were driving toward the coast and there it was, rising out of the sea like something from a Star Wars movie – a city in space. Only this city was the Abbey of Mont St. Michel and it was on the Normandy Coast located on a rock in the middle of the bay.

The place was amazing! Under the church is a small village, with hotels and restaurants, all going uphill toward the abbey and the church. This is an architectural marvel – built on a pyramid shaped rock and surrounded by tidal flats. We climbed the steps – 900 in all – upward until it seemed we were nearly in the clouds – and only then were we at the first level of the church. Well worth all the effort!

We decided to get there early and take advantage of a tour given in English by one of the many tour guides on the island.  They offer many different languages so everyone can learn about the Abbey.  There were only a handful of English speaking tourists on our tour, but we were there quite early.  The early tour was great because by the time the tour buses started to arrive it was packed with tourists. We had the benefit of not only having a tour guide practically to ourselves, but to also enjoy the peace and quiet that just seems fitting for a place such as this.

The Abbey is located in the Normandy Region of France and is an easy stop from Paris.  Today you can easily approach the Abbey using the road that was built in 1878 to accommodate the influx of both tourists and pilgrims visiting from all over. Before the road was built, the only way to get to the island was walking through the surrounding waters, more like mud, where perils always existed.  Between fast moving tidal waters, quicksand, or fog banks, it was a wonder that more people did not perish on the way to the final goal of their pilgrimage.