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Weekender: Mont St Michel

F and I were up at an ungodly hour – or what felt like it, since I got home near 1am after a week of work trip away – yesterday morning to kick start our long weekend trip in Brittany. The train from Gare Montparnasse took us to Dol-de-Bretagne in just under 3 hours, and a time-coordinated bus was waiting outside the train station (slightly to the right) to take us to Mont St Michel in 30 minutes.

Mont St Michel

Mont St Michel

On arrival, we headed to the visitors’ information centre, where free lockers are available for safe-guarding our main luggage for the trip and relieved us from having to drag it everywhere with us. A 1-euro coin will do the trick in locking up the door, which you can retrieve when you return the key later on. Time to make our way to the famous abbey-and-fortress-on-a-large-rock, and we opted for a walk instead of queuing up for the free shuttle; anyone feeling fancy could take a horse-powered carriage!

It has been years since either of us visited Mont St Michel, in the era where you can drive right up to its main gate. Of course, this is now no longer possible. A project to make it an island again means the causeway linking to the mainland and the visitor’s car park had been removed. In its place, last year, a bridge by Dietmar Feichtinger was opened for access by the official shuttle, the horse-drawn “Maringote”, and foot passengers. Work is still ongoing at the bay, so we lamented the replacement of sheep by Caterpillars.

Mont St Michel

Mont St Michel

Mont St Michel

Mont St Michel

Mont St Michel

Mont St Michel

The tide was still relatively low when we arrived so we took a little walk of the bay surrounding the Mont. Bare-footed student groups were spotted checking out the soft mudflat, and the sea seemed so far away in the horizon. Now, we were a little foolhardy to have gone out without first checking the tide table, but we didn’t stray beyond the immediate perimeter of the Mont either. After we got in to the Mont, we noted a warning of controlled water releases too, eeep.

We walked the ramparts around the periphery, choosing to avoid going up to the abbey via the main street which was jam-packed, despite our opting to visit during mid-week. We shuddered to think what the crowd could be like over the weekend, and at the peak of the summer! Our visit to the abbey was led by an audioguide, giving us time to stroll the one-way route at leisure, for we stopped for quite some time to admire the bay and its rising tide outside the church. We walked through the church which gave way to delicate and beautiful cloisters, but followed by rooms that were barren and somewhat sombre.

Mont St Michel

Mont St Michel

Mont St Michel

Mont St Michel

Mont St Michel

Mont St Michel

Mont St Michel

Mont St Michel

Mont St Michel

Mont St Michel

Mont St Michel

Mont St Michel

Our visit brought us back outside to a garden, and we decided to have a (very) late lunch by the ramparts, so we could continue to admire the beautiful bay surrounding the Mont. A few seals were spotted nearby, much to the delights of a school group where children were surely eager to tell their parents that evening of what wonderful things they saw.

A couple of years back, I blogged about the folly of a day trip from Paris to Mont St Michel, which was neither short nor easy as it was touted. Well, time’s a-changing and as tourism to Mont St Michel becomes better developed, it is becoming easier to get there from Paris, with trains to Rennes, Dol-de-Bretagne and Pontorson all now coordinated with buses that will complete the journey. The travel time isn’t getting much shorter though, still about 4-hour journey each way.

As for us, well, we continued our way to St Malo and Brest for a few more days of walks, relaxation, and discovering new places. Photos to come soon, when I get a moment to sit down and tell you the stories.



Category: Europe, France, Travel

Tagged: , , , ,

4 scribbles & notes

  1. helene says:

    C’est clair que ça a l’air ultra organisé pour les touristes!
    Mais tes belles photos donnent envie d’y retourner…J’attends celles du Portugal maintenant :)

    • Lil says:

      Hehe… et donc j’ai prioritisé les photos et des “blogpost” du Portugal avant la Bretagne! (J’ai encore des choses a partager de St Malo, Brest et Morlaix)

  2. med says:

    Wowwww….looks majestic especially with the barren land surrounding it! ;)

    • Lil says:

      There’s a good reason why Mont St Michel is the top sight for tourists in France outside of Paris! ;)

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