Mont Saint-Michel
Normandy Region, France
My wife tells me that as much as she loves reading about cars all the time (si), she would like to see more posts about travel. I'm way behind on these "100 Places" blogs so I'll do one of our more recently visited places: Mont Saint-Michel. As usual, I'm not going to give you a history lesson about the place as Wikipedia can handle that better than I can.
MSM is the third most visited site in all of France after the Eiffel Tower and Versailles (both are on my "100 Places" list). Unlike Versailles and Paris though, MSM is a small island, and I had read stories about the crowded nightmare it can be - this is about the widest street you'll find on the entire rock.
It's not that I hate tourist places - in fact I love them. It's just that I hate people in general, especially in large numbers. My plan to beat the crowds was two-fold. First, we went in September when the numbers would not be at their summer peak. Second, and most importantly, we spent the night on the Mont.
I'm just going to give you a practical recounting of our night at MSM and you can take from it what you will. The first thing to know is that you can no longer park on the causeway and walk from your car. They've built a higher causeway and a parking lot about 1.6 miles away and they have these specially built buses that take you to and from. They're special because they drive both directions so they don't have to turn around. It's quick and efficient.
Another point - MSM is not handicap friendly. It's all stairs! If you can't climb stairs, and lots of them, don't go. All you'll be able to do is walk in the gate and up the main street a few hundred feet. The best thing to see on the island is the Abbey and it's all the way at the top. You just keep climbing and climbing until you run out of stairs. This brings up another point about spending the night. Pack light - seriously. We just threw what we needed for one night in a small backpack and left everything else in the car. This is the last place you'll want to be lugging a steamer trunk around.
Once you do get to the top of the abbey the views are remarkable. You get an amazing feel for the tidal area and you can see people that look like ants walking through the mud on tours around the island - at low tide anyway.
There are some interesting things to see inside the abbey - like most churches in Europe, they're all unique and beautiful in their own way. There are some other smaller churches down lower that are equally interesting to visit, especially at night.
We were up top in the late afternoon and it wasn't crowded at all. I really enjoyed just watching the tides and the people and looking down at the rest of the island from all sides.
I keep mentioning tides. One of the most fascinating things about MSM is that it has the highest tides in all of Europe that can rise as much as 50 feet. Since they built the new causeway and dams in 2009, access is rarely cut off. When we were walking in Branelle said she saw a sign warning of extremely high tides that night. I discounted her warning, and in fact mocked it with my "tsunami" dance here. I was wrong.
There are a number of restaurants on the island, all of them overpriced so just accept it. We picked one and they were seating everyone facing out of the windows to watch the tide come in. I had no interest in watching water, so I opted for a quiet table away from everyone. I still wasn't taking this tide thing seriously. Our waiters were really rushing and it should have been a clue.
After dinner we walked around and it was amazing! We had the island basically to ourselves. We walked all the way back up to the abbey and sat down on a bench watching bats and didn't see or hear another human being for 20 minutes. These are the moments I love when traveling.
Mont Saint-Michel is even prettier at night. The entire island has a warm glow of lights. We walked around for hours just exploring every nook and crannie, but we were in for a surprise when we made our way back down to the lower levels. The tide had come in and completely covered the causeway - many people were trapped until a boat could come basically ferry them to dry land. The entry gate we had walked in earlier was about six feet under water. It was amazing, and if I'm being honest watching the tide come in was also amazing (I know I said I had no interest in watching water, but it was really cool). It kind of just takes over all of the dry silt, and rather quickly. People do die from time to time when caught out on the quicksand-like mud with a fast rising tide.
The next morning, Branelle said that the tide was supposed to be really high in the AM as well. This time I listened. We threw everything together and hustled to get off the island. When we got to the main gate it was already underwater and I thought we were either stuck or about to get wet. Fortunately, there was a higher exit route that was still just dry. We made it to the causeway by about 10 minutes!
Here's an AP shot of the island as the tide came up to cover the causeway. We got lucky. In truth, we had an amazing visit to MSM. We got to spend the night and have the place to ourselves, and we got to witness the highest tide of the year on our evening there.
So should you go? Absolutely! It's a truly unique and beautiful place to visit. I was excited about this spot and it did not disappoint.
Should you stay overnight? I read a number of recommendations before booking this and most people said not to waste your money. I completely disagree. I would say if you can afford it, do it. I can't express to you how cool it was to explore a sight dating back to the 11th century without anyone else around. My wife and I loved it and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
We stayed at the Auberge Saint Pierre, but there are a number of hotels on the island, all small and unique. Some have only one or two rooms, and most have rooms that may not be located anywhere near where the actual hotel sits. Regardless of the hotel or location, it's going to be pricey. Our room was on the top floor of the actual hotel and was great. It was small, but very nice and very modern with windows that overlooked the bay and a perfect bathroom and wi-fi that worked great. We did have to climb the longest and smallest circular staircase ever to get to it but it was worth it.
This stairway was five stories high and barely big enough for me. See, I'm not kidding about the 'no luggage' thing. Definitely put Mont Saint-Michel on your own "100 Places To See Before You Die" list and make the trip to northern France. I recommend staying overnight and really taking it in, but even if you just do the tourist day trip it's still a must see.
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