Mont St. Michel

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Originally uploaded by whitneyherrington.

Dear Abbey
Neither Ken nor I had ever visited the unbelievable abbey of Mont St. Michel. I am happy to report that we have corrected this oversight now, and it was well worth the effort (and it took a bit of fortitude, since we’re tired and it’s kind of far away in the region where Brittany and Normandy intersect, around 5 hours drive from Lille). I hope that Gayla, webmistress extraordinaire, will be able to show you a picture of this place somewhere in the vicinity of this blog entry, because it’s awesome, not in the way we overuse the word awesome for a fun pair of shoes or a friends’ garage band playing, but in its real sense, inspiring awe and questions, not the least of which is how did these folks ever build this fort in the first place? Mont St. Michel is the ONLY place in France never to have fallen to invasion. And no wonder: anyone trying to overtake Mont St. Michel would have only a brief period of time in which to do his business per day. The abbey is spectacular, rightly called “Le Merveille” [The Marvel]; its church, scriptorium, and refectory in particular were most impressive to Ken and me. We went over around 10:30 this morning when the tide was low, and we left the island again around 5:00 P.M. before high tide rolled in again. We couldn’t resist returning again for night-time views; my pictures, which I just finished downloading, are pretty spectacular if I do say so myself. Of course, it’s just as Katie said, “Mom, if you just had a cheapie disposable camera and you aimed it roughly in the direction of Mont St. Michel, you could not only get into photography school, but the folks there would think you were brilliant. There are no bad shots.” She’s right. We stayed in the town of Mont St. Michel for a mere 69.50 euros, in a nice two-story hotel suite; compare that to staying on the island for around 300.00 euros per night! Ken and I used a little of those savings, however, and took over an hour selecting my souvenir of this trip to Europe, a small-to-medium-sized tapestry wall hanging and a little pillow replicated from one from the William the Conqueror days. I think it will look great in our living room. It reminded us of the other tapestry (even smaller) we bought when we were newlyweds 21 years ago and visited the France section of the World’s Fair in New Orleans, so that was fun too.
Mont St. Michel is one of the most amazing places I’ve ever visited in my life. I am so thankful we took the time to come here; I simply cannot recommend it strongly enough to anyone considering a trip to France.