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Has it ever happened to you that you have seen a picture of a place somewhere far away in the world and you have said to yourself - I have to get there one day!!? Well that happened to me when I first saw a picture of Mont Saint Michel. It fascinated me and had me in awe for years! Finally, we bought tickets for Paris but when we landed, we picked up our hired car and set off to Bayeaux in Normandy.
We arrived in Bayeaux in the late afternoon, found our hotel and head off to the old town. It has a gorgeous preserved medieval center, with a flowing water canal in the middle and surrounded on both sides by old preserved timber-framed and stone houses and mansions flanked with towers. It is a lovely walk along the pathway that follows the canal until you reach a beautiful park.
Our next morning in Bayeux was THE DAY! After breakfast we set off to Mont Saint Michel. It was a foggy morning so we could barely see ahead of us on the narrow windy road so we drove slowly. I was praying that the fog would clear, as I wanted to get that perfect view of this amazing abbey that is perched on a hill and is sometimes surrounded totally by water and isolatd from the France, almost like a separate island. This phenomena of being fully surrounded by water happens only a few times a year (and not while we were there).
After about one and half hours of driving, we finally saw IT in the distance....... and boy was I excited!!!!!!!!!
I just wanted to get out of the car and run towards the abbey. But as you can see, the way through the paddock was soaked with water and so I needed to wait patiently to get there like all the tourists do. We parked in the busy carpark and decided to walk towards the abbey rather than take the shuttle. It is only a 20 minute walk (2 1/2 kms) but delightful as you get to soak up the view on Mont Saint Michel in front of you... THE VIEW I have been waiting for!!!
Once on the Mont, the main walkway leading up to the abbey is full of tourist shops, eateries and restaurants. It is a narrow street and bustling with tourists. We headed off without delay to the top. There are hundreds of stairs and the climb is fairly steep, and less tourists seem to go up to the abbey so it was far less crowded ... Finally after about 50 minutes we reached the top of the mountain, where the actual abbey is located. Entrance into the abbey costs money, we didn't go inside. From the top of the mountain you are awarded magnificent views of Normandie.... but to be honest, the best view of this place is when you arrive and see the abbey perched on the hill like in the picture above.
We walked back down, enjoying the cobbled narrow streets and admiring the charming old buildings. We took the shuttle back to the carpark as we were feeling a little tired. Mont Saint Michel is hard work on the feet :-)
Our next stop was an unplanned detour to the seaside resort town, Granville. Since it wasn't a planned stop, we didn't really know what to expect but we really loved this small town. It has a lovely promenade along the beach, and uphill a pink house that was the childhood home the famous fashion designer, Christian Dior. This house is now a museum but was closed when we were there.
We left Granville after about an hour and a half and made our way back to Bayeux. It was a wonderful day.
Mont Saint Michel did not disappoint and Granville was a charming bonus!!!
Enjoy!
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