| Aug 10, 2007 - Mont St. Michel
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 | | show all 10 | | Mont St. Michel | | a closer view of the island | | the island at dusk | | |
| Our stay at Mont St. Michel seemed like a blur. We arrived late yesterday afternoon, weaving our way through the tourist throngs up to our hotel. The island has one main street lined with restaurants and shops selling lots of tourist junk, crap shit n' stuff. During the day, the whole island is mobbed with tourists. This one street is wall to wall people all meandering their way up toward the abbey at the top of the island. After sunset, the place clears out and is much, much nicer. Imagine trying to herd 28 people with suitcases up a jammed-packed street and trying to keep them all together and on track. "No, you don't have time to stop in that souvenir shop and buy that Mont St. Michel snowglobe, keep moving" It was like swimming upstream. It was hellish. I wanted to turn around and leave as soon as we got there and was glad we only stayed one night. I liked the island much more after dark and early this morning when it was relatively quiet. There certainly is something about this place that attracts people. First religous pilgrims, now tourists. It is pretty stunning when you see it in the distance, like a big pyramid sitting offshore. I have to say, it is very impressive.
After dinner, I walked with some of the tour members down the causeway to get a good view of the island all lit up at dusk. I took a few night shots, but they didn't turn out well without a tripod. They are a bit blurry but you can get an idea of what it looked like. Afterwards I just sat down on the beach gazing up at it at it until almost midnight, it was stunning. This morning I got up at dawn to see the sun rise and wander the streets before the tourists showed up. It was a gorgeous day and the island looked beautiful bathed in the morning light. After breakfast we met a local guide who gave us a tour of the island and abbey and we finished just in time to pack up and leave just as the crowds began to arrive. The line of cars coming toward the island was at a standstill and I was glad we were leaving. |
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