Le Mont St Michel

What can I tell you about Mont St Michel? Well, since it has a pretty decent history, I can start there (but I will only mention a few things). It is thought that Aubert the bishop of Avranches built a sanctuary on Mont-Tombe (now called Mont St Michel) in 708. He dedicated it to Saint Michael. It is a fortress and a place of worship. There is a town just outside its walls. During the 100 years war it was impregnable. In 1874 it was classified as a historic monument and 1979 it became a Unesco site. The current population is 42.What makes it pretty cool to visit, is that it is on a small island connected to the main land by a causeway. You can visually see where the water level comes up to during high tide. During low tide you can see the ocean floor for kilometers in most directions but can barely see the ocean itself its so far away. The walk up to the Abbey leads you along a narrow medieval street lined with shops and restaurants. The restaurants are extremely expensive and the shops sell typical tourist stuff. Julie and I could not imagine visiting this place in the high season because it was extremely busy today. Our guide book says not to even bother visiting on weekends during the summer and tells of traffic backing up 5 km from the abbey. We decided to go with an audio guide while we walked around the Abbey. One of the rooms we were in was thought to have been built in the year 1000 and has been untouched since. We didn’t have a close look, but apparently you can still see the timber marks from the scaffolding on the walls. The abbey was pretty cool and the views, when you got them from the windows, were great. On another note, Julie and I took way to long this morning getting going. I was typing the blog, while Julie was engrossed in a book. We managed to head out around 1, which made it too late to check out today. So we are spending another night at the campsite. Tomorrow is Sunday (April 13th) and everything will be closed. So we took the van to fill up on gas and purchased some food from the grocery store. My jeans are finally giving in. I tore them today at the knee, so Julie is patching them up now. I hope it can hold out until Canada, or at least until the weather becomes warm enough for me to start wearing shorts.