Mont Saint-Michel

WOW!
Mont Saint-Michel is an architectural wonder.  It is a formidable structure in its own right.  Add to this the fact that it sits on a spit of land that allows the ocean to surround it during high tide is extraordinary.  Our first glimpse of St. Michel was from the expressway many miles away.  Our friends, and guides for the day knew of a lovely spot to view the cathedral from afar.  The foreground was sea salt grasses dotted with grazing black-headed, white bodied sheep.  This particular sheep is valued for its tenderized meat, (done so by the diet of sea salt grasses).

Mont Saint-Michel became a Benedictine monastery over a thousand years ago and is still home to a small monastic community.  The Archangel Michel appeared in dreams to the Bishop of Avranches three times during the year 708, each time instructing him to build a place of worship on the island.  Buildings were added to the fortified abbey throughout the Middle Ages, representing a wide range of Medieval architectural styles.  During the Hundred Years War, Mont St-Michel resisted three sieges and was not captured by the English.

As we approach Mont Saint-Michel by causeway we are told that the causeway is a ecological nightmare and soon will be replace by a bridge supporting a rail system for transporting the visitors.  Reason for the ecological nightmare is that the causeway does not allow the tide to carry back out to sea the sediments it brings during high tide.  The resulting left sediments is creating new land masses on either side of the causeway.  St- Michel is one of three most desired places in France to visit (the Eiffel Tower, and Notre Dame).

The construction of St-Michel took place in several stages and over a period of several hundred years.  It is a testament to one's inspiration of faith and fortitude. I would love to be able to spend the night during high tide at full moon.  The many views from the cathedral and village are endless.  The setting is a photographers paradise.

As a more banal perspective, St-Michel is a perfect example of P. T. Barnum's "build it and they will come."  Not far from the front gate to Mont Saint-Michel is the restaurant La Mere Poulard whose specialty is omelets.  You can watch and listen to the chefs beat the eggs in large copper bowls, (CHEW-ga, chew-ga, CHEW-ga, chew-ga).  One omelet la mere will set you back a modest 42 Euro.

Oulala! immaculate eggs?