Pilgramage
France
04 CHAPTER
MONT ST
MICHEL
Mont-Saint-Michel is a famous island-fortress, located in Normandy, France. It is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Surrounded by the sea, the island is unique because of its strong tides. The road that leads to this magical island can be completely submerged under the water, and it is not possible to get to the fortress itself.
I traveled to Mont Saint-Michel by bus from Paris. There were quite a few people who decided to visit the UNESCO World Heritage site along with me. The bus was filled with tourists from different countries, and we had a long journey – about eight hours, with a single five-minute stop. These eight hours flew by pretty quickly, despite the dreariness of being stuck in one sitting position, and a burning desire to use a toilet. When the moving image outside the window, on one of the turns, showed a ghostly silhouette of the famous conical abbey, I involuntarily cried out with excitement. It was an absolute mirage, floating on an endless, green field. I did not immediately believe that this place existed; it looked way too fantastic.
The bus dropped us in the closest proximity to Mont Saint-Michel (3.5 km). From there, somehow, I needed to get to the island itself. There are several options available: you can order a special horse-drawn carriage (Maringote). Or jump on the ultramodern bus called Passeurs, which takes you to the medieval monastery itself fairly quickly. And finally, there is a third option – walking there from the parking lot, while enjoying the magnificent view of Mont Saint-Michel. Obviously, I did not look for easy ways. And since my journey through France was a pilgrimage to holy places, I wanted to go everywhere by foot only. So, I decided to walk.
The walk to Mont Saint-Michel is unique, especially at the moment of approaching the mountain itself! Part of the way, I walked through the field, enjoying the local scenery and sending friendly "Bonjour" to occasionally passing by locals. Then a large bridge appeared in front of me, which directly connected the abbey with the rest of the world. Finding myself close to the entrance of the abbey's territory threw me back in time, and I found myself in the Middle Ages.
During the low tide, clay-sand dunes of the bay are all uncovered, right in the middle of which Mount Saint-Michel stands. The phenomena of low tide, allows you to wander around the fortress alone or go on a tour to the opposite shore with a group, supervised by an experienced guide. The main thing is not to try to repeat this trick yourself since the tide rises reasonably quickly, and you can sink into an eternity of the Middle Ages.
I ended visiting the island during the evening, right before the sunset. I was lucky, since the majority of tourists have already parted, and I wandered around the fortress almost by myself, except for a few more similar wanderers, who couldn’t resist but climb the fortress with no rush, and no crowds. When I entered through the main gates of the city, I found myself on a very lovely street, framed by old houses and gift shops. Walking up almost vertically on a very steep, and winding staircases, I reached the main attraction of the city - the Saint Michel abbey, a conically shaped construction, located on top of the mountain.
The views here are stunning: nothing around but quicksand. It gets flooded with water in the blink of an eye during the high tide. Endless fields blend in organically into the landscape behind the sands. But if you look even further, you can see some hidden French villages.
There is always a place for legends! Apparently, this holy mountain became a great place of Christian pilgrimage early in the eighth century, after Aubert, a bishop of the nearby hilltop town of Avranches, claimed that the Archangel Michael himself pressured him into having a church built atop this mountain. The bishop did not immediately understand the sign, so Archangel Michael appeared in his dreams three times and finally hit his forehead for full conviction, after which the Bishop ordered the monks to begin the construction.
I look at this miraculous construction and imagine the life of monks in the 13th century, who followed the harsh rules of monastic existence in the abbey. In complete solitude, they must have dedicated themselves entirely to prayers. In the silence, they were probably contemplating the stunning views of the bay and listened to the sound of the sea and the towing bells.