So our plan in France was to stay off of the beaten track and explore the countryside yet as the plan wasn’t set in stone we decided to head further south and west to have a look at Mont Saint Michel (possibly the most famous sight in the area). The photos we had seen of the place looked pretty amazingly unique so we set off on our 3 hour drive listening to the ashes cricket on the iPhone through a vpn. (How things have changed from our last trip through France albeit that was quite some time ago)
The campsite we had picked was about 10km away from the abbey and was busy. Full of a variety of nationalities which was quite funny as I was never really sure what language to say hello to everyone in and judging by the responses nor was anyone else!
We probably could have rushed out to see the abbey and then left the next day but we fancied spending our time doing it so relaxed for the afternoon. The next morning unfortunately though the weather had turned and it was raining and blowing a gale…not exactly optimum bike riding conditions.
We waited a while until the worst was over and then set out on the 10km ride and even though the weather wasn’t great the sight of Mont Saint Michel rising above the reclaimed grassland around it was very impressive and caused us to stop quite a few times to take another photo.
The closer we got the more detail we could make out and the we could see the abbey perched atop of the rock and the walls surrounding the bottom making it seem very impressive yet also impregnable. In fact throughout all the wars the place has endured (original chapel built in 708) it is the only place in northern and western France not to have fallen into English hands at any time.
Riding right up to it from our starting point 10km away was pretty impressive and when we finally arrived we left our bikes against the outer walls and headed in.
Inside the walls of the castle were a multitude of buildings which now housed restaurants and gift shops but we could still get a feel as to what the place might have been like in its heyday.
As we walked up the cobbled streets and the steps we eventually arrived at the abbey at the top which was a labyrinth of halls and stairways and while impressive the view from the outside was what blew us away.
We spent a couple of hours wandering about and eating another lunch of baguette and cheese before heading back to the campsite on the bikes along a bike path that was pretty fantastic as it was wide enough to ride two abreast and meant we didn’t have to ride on the roads. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come. T