Part VIII : Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, France
Part IX : Le Mont Saint Michel
After I’d finished taking pictures at the Normandy American cemetery, we input Le Mont Saint Michel into the GPS in the car and it said it would take about 3 hours to drive there. 3 hours?! I nearly had a heart attack as it would be pitch black in 3 hours. Luckily the GPS was totally wrong and we got there in about 1.5 hours, which gave us just enough time to see the beauty before sunset.
Ahh… the mysterious, the beautiful, the majestic Le Mont Saint Michel. When I first moved to France I kept hearing about this place. Everyone asked me if had been there. Apparently it’s a ‘must see’ but after being here 5 years I still hadn’t seen it yet. I was beyond excited when I was told it would be the last stop on this epic trip around the Normandy region of France. It is the third most visited site in France, after the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre, with 3 million visitors annually, and yet, I hadn’t even heard of it prior to coming to France.
So what is it and where does the name come from?
Mont means mountain in French and having an elevation of 80 metres, yes, it’s sort of a mountain! It’s also an island, a city, a castle, a church (monastery), a UNESCO world heritage site, a marvel of nature (with its high/low tides)… How can one place be so many things? Well, that is the wonder and magic of Le Mont Saint Michel!
A rough translation of the name is Saint Michael’s mountain, and the name comes from the monastery that was built there in the eighth century. Prior to that, the island was named Mont Tombe. It has gone through a lot of changes throughout the centuries due to the various wars and today it has a population of only approximately 50 inhabitants (which is decreasing year by year)…
Le Mont Saint Michel is a marvel of nature that is best experienced when there is a high tide. Every amazing photo I’d ever seen of this place was taken during high tide when it is ‘transformed’ into an island. By some really weird stroke of luck, the day and time that we were going to be there was going to be an optimum time for viewing the high tide! I can’t even begin to express how fortunate I felt and how overjoyed I was because there is only one high tide during the day and one during the evening. Had it happened earlier we would have missed it, and had it happened later we wouldn’t have been able to see it (because it would be pitch black by then).
Because the Mont is surrounded by flat fields and marshes, it can be seen from quite a distance. We were about 6km away and I could already see it. It didn’t seem real, it felt like a mirage in the desert. Was that really it? I was so excited I wanted to stop the car and take some pictures even though we were so far away. From what I heard, read and saw it is extremely touristy and extremely crowded on the island. For that reason I was glad to also admire the Mont from afar.
(image from virtualtourist. I think it’s a bit outdated but it was the best I could find. In reality the parking lot is right next to the navettes (the red square on the map))
You used to be able drive right up to the Le Mont Saint Michel, but for safety and practical reasons you can’t anymore. They’ve built a new bridge which was completed in 2014 and everybody is obligated to park their car in the carpark and take the shuttle bus or walk over the bridge to the island, some 2.5 km (1.5 miles) away. The carpark is paid, but the shuttle buses (navettes) are free. At the time of writing this post the parking prices are:
- Less than 30 mins (which is kind of useless since you won’t be able to see or do anything during such a short time) : Free
- 30 mins – 2 hours : 6,30€
- 2 hours – 24 hours : 11,70€
- 24 – 48 hours : 23,40€
I was expecting long waits for the shuttle buses but actually they were really efficient, came regularly (every 10 minutes or so) and were very spacious inside. They look very similar to the buses that drive you around airport tarmacs to get you from terminal to terminal. My experience was for late September and very late in the day though. I read it can be very crowded if you go in summer or during school holidays so during these times it’s probably best to go as early or as late as you can.
While we were sitting inside the navette waiting for it to leave, I overheard some middle-aged people talking next to me. I asked if they were Australian, and yes they were! I absolutely love meeting Aussies when I travel. Having spent so much time travelling alone, I get super emotional. When I meet and talk to them, I almost feel like they are close friends of mine rather than complete strangers. I particularly love talking to retired people and love hearing their stories. For many, they have never even been outside of Australia and now that their kids are all grown up they’ve finally decided to make the (long) trek over to Europe. I love seeing their eyes light up as they recount the travels they’ve just done over the past few days and talk about their plans for the next few days or weeks.
I was quite surprised to meet Aussies on that navette as I didn’t think that Le Mont Saint Michel was that well-known to Aussies but these people told me that they had wanted to do a tour of the whole Normandy region and were particularly excited to see the Mont. My friend told me that this is an extremely touristy spot so I wasn’t surprised when I heard multiple languages being spoken on the navette.
I really couldn’t contain my excitement. I was like a kid going to Disneyland for the first time. This place is IMHO just like Disneyland because it’s magical and there’s a great big castle sitting in the middle of it… but even better, it’s super old and it’s real!
Once we were off the navette I didn’t know what to look at first. The Mont itself, the beautiful sunset, or the rising high tide. Actually, the high tide was so gradual that I didn’t notice it at first. But after a while it became apparent it was getting higher and higher. Soon the walkway leading to the Mont would be cut off.
As the tide rose, these weird foamy things started appearing on the surface of the water. I would have loved to find out what they were, probably some other marvel of nature. I found them weirdly beautiful and disgusting at the same time. Up close they looked like cauliflower! NB: I was standing quite close to the edge to take this photo but I have to warn you that it can be dangerous. As mother nature is wildly unpredictable I would advise you to exercise caution if you try this and to make sure your kids or pets don’t get too close.
I was so busy trying to figure out what the heck these foam thingies (panaches d’écume) were that I didn’t realise that the entrance to the Mont was now blocked. Oh no! Now I’ll never be able to see it properly *sob*. Luckily my friend told me there is an alternative way to enter. If you look at the photo below where the lady in white and the man in black are standing, there is a small pathway to get in (without getting wet). But even though we were able to get inside, we only had a few minutes to look around if we did not want to be trapped for the night. Since I didn’t want that to happen, I kind of raced around with my camera like I did at Monet’s Garden.
If you look at any photo of the village inside Le Mont Saint Michel, you will see that it is super crowded with tourists… How weird it was then, that I saw the city practically empty. Everyone had left due to the high tide. I really really wanted to stay and look around but of course I couldn’t 🙁 To fully experience the Mont, I imagine that staying inside the castle’s walls would be a wonderful experience.
Still, I climbed as high as I could go within the time limit and when I looked down I realised that all the foamy things had disappeared or evaporated and the bridge would soon be submerged.
And so, on this day, Sunday, 27th September, 2015, I experienced 3 wonders of nature all at the same time at Le Mont Saint Michel : the high tide, the sunset and the full moon. How many people can say that they have experienced that? I don’t even know enough words to express the multitude of emotions going through my head and heart at that time. I can’t wait to come back again to explore the place fully!
Since I only spent a few minutes on the island, I did not see or do much but I can recommend the following links for you to find out more information.
See
Le Mont Saint Michel Abbey (Abbaye du Mont-Saint-Michel) – I would have loved to see this had I more time. Note there is an entry fee and it is not accessible to those with limited mobility.
Stay
A few options for staying on the island or nearby are listed here. You could also stay in Saint Malo or Rennes.
Eat
A few restaurants and cafes on the island are listed here.
High tide times – if you want to plan your visit to coincide with the high tide.
