Monday 26th October
OK, I know it isn’t Sur le Mont, it should be Sur le Pont but I’m running out of blog titles! Apologies for the last two as well, in fact all of them to be honest.
Can you tell where we are yet? Mont St Michel, a granite rock outcrop in the middle of the sea surrounded by miles and miles of flat land and salt marsh, one of the reasons why it can be seen from so far away. We’ve seen it a few times on our rush to and from Brittany, now it was time to pay a visit.
Our All the Aires books lists four aires in the area, but it turns out that one has been closed down and the one under construction has been finished and that is where we are. It is €12.50 per 24 hours with electric and free (slow) wifi and 100 spaces. Some are nicely laid out like the one we’re in but the whole aire is very nice, clean and tidy. There is a cycle track from the back of the site, along the river and straight to the Mont. We can just about see the top of the spire from Frankie’s windscreen so we took the bikes off the back and rode in. It was a bit further than I thought it would be but the path was flat and easy.
Getting closer now and we’re on the causeway. There were lots of buses running backwards and forwards and they really didn’t like us cycling on the road. They all had cabs at the front and back – push me, pull me buses.
Inside the walls it was rather busy, lots of tourist shops and cafes trying to relieve us of our hard earned Euros.
And it got pretty tight in some places.
Most of these photos speak for themselves so won’t have any comments.
In the very far distance you may just be able to make out a bridge across the river / canal which is close to where the aire is. The first bridge over the river is actually a flood barrier, similar to the Thames Barrier but far, far smaller.
Six men would climb inside this wheel and lift up supplies from down below. There is a sledge on the right hand side and you can just see the rope moving out of shot to the left.
Hall of the Knights. We took advantage of the audio guides which was handy because there was very little printed information to read. The Knights of St Michael never actually used this hall, it was built for them but they never turned up. Instead it was used for copying manuscripts, there was plenty of light.
The shadow of Mont St Michel taken through a leaded light window.
On the way back the sun had moved round and the lighting was even better for a decent shot. Thoroughly enjoyed myself today and the Mont was well worth a visit. Now sitting in Frankie with the electric heating going full blast and a pint of cider in my hand – heaven.