Mont Saint-Michel was previously connected to the mainland via a tidal causeway, hidden at high tide and revealed at low tide. The causeway has since been destroyed and has been replaced by a light bridge.
While Mont St Michel has an interesting history (included at the end of the post so that those who aren't interested, aren't bored), we journey to see it purely because it looks like the castle from the Disney movie, 'Tangled'.
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Castle from the Disney movie - Tangled  |
Back in Paris, we set out to find Champs-Élysées and the Arc de Triomphe. We are successful and on the way see people busy at work setting up for Bastille Day and the lines of people waiting to enter Abercrombie & Fitch and Louis Vuitton. I am tempted to pick up some macarons from Laudree, however, the line outside the store was too long for my level of patience and we move along!
Our last activity for the day, is a boat cruise on the Seine. Along the way, we see several of Paris' key landmarks - The Louvre, the Musee d'Orsay, the Grand Palace and of course, Notre Dame and La Tour Eiffel, both of which we will be visiting tomorrow.
Tim's Observations
- MSM is oh so peaceful after the tourists leave (from about 5pm onwards). The sounds of sea-birds and the salt smell in the air is extremely relaxing...especially when taking a slow stroll as one climbs the many steps to enjoy the views and the setting sun.
- It is an entertaining experience interacting with a crepe-seller/restauranteur who only speaks a handful of English words.
- The Arc de Triomphe seems like an excellent example of why the Napoleon Complex (referenced in our last blog post) is so named.
For those interested - a short history of Mont St Michel:
- 709 - a small church was built and consecrated by Aubert, Bishop of Avranches, at the request of the Archangel Michel (chief of the celestial militia).
- 966 - a community of Benedictines settled on the rock at the request of the Duke of Normandy and the pre-Romanesque church was built before the year one thousand.
- 11th and 12th century - Romanesque abbey church was founded over a set of crypts and the first monastery buildings were built up against its north wall, and eventually extended to the west and south.
- 13th century - a donation by the king of France, Philip Augustus, in the wake of his conquest of Normandy, resulted in the building of the Gothic section: two three-storey buildings, crowned by the cloister and the refectory.
- 14th century - the Hundred Years War made it necessary to protect the abbey behind a set of military constructions, enabling it to hold out against a siege lasting 30 years.
- 15th century - the Romanesque chancel of the abbey church, broken down in 1421 was replaced by the Gothic Flamboyant chancel.
For nearly one thousand years, men, women and children made pilgrimages to MSM hoping for the assurance of eternity, given by the Archangel Michael. During the days of the French Revolution and Empire, the Abbey was turned into a prison, and was restored before the end of the 19th century.
In celebration of the monastic's 1000th anniversary, a religious community moved back to what used to be the abbatial dwellings in 1966. Friars and sisters from "Les Fraternités Monastiques de Jerusalem" have been ensuring a spiritual presence since the year 2001.
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