St. Malo, France

May 20, 2022

St. Malo, Mont St. Michele & Abbey, France Friday, May 13, 2022

Another bucket list site…and I didn’t even know it.

Lilliputian. Dreamlike. Hogwarts-esque. Steps that go up and up, then narrow and continue up.

We were on one of three tour buses from our ship who drove the hour to get to this site. But the harbor town of St. Malo is itself a resurrection story. Named for a hermit from Wales. Dates to Middle Ages with this fortress architecture. In the 17th & 18^th Centuries, it was home to many wealthy privateers: legal pirates who were commissioned to loot—a large bronze statue of one such costumed profiteer graces the harbor. Then in WW2, this city was heavily bombed; it has recovered while retaining its historic castle-type homes. Now it’s famous for having the highest concentration of seafood restaurants in Europe.

During the bus ride our destination, our French tour guide gave as much advance info as she was allowed. Apparently, guides are required to give details while on site. Huh. I was fascinated at her pronunciations and her linguistics: Mont St. Michele (pronounced Moh Say Mee SHEH) She said, “We French don’t like to finish our words” but to me, it sounds like the sounds simply drift into the vast nasal passages and get lost. Forever.

Our drive was through flat fertile areas of woodland and pastures which were then divided into fields for growing vegetables. For the final fifteen minutes or so of our bus trip, we could see our destination ahead as it loomed 92 m above everything.

Located on a rocky tidal island, on top of molten lava/granite from millions of ages ago, this structure originated as a fortress in the 6^th & 7^th centuries upon a dream decree from the archangel Michael himself. It became a monastery in the 8^th century and thus a pilgrimage site. But as history attests, no structure remains a single entity for long. It became an abbey, fell into disrepair, became a prison (initially a religions crime prison), and then by 1836, influential figures—including Victor Hugo—had launched a campaign to restore what was seen as a national architectural treasure. The prison was finally closed in 1863. During the occupation of France in WWII, German soldiers occupied Mont Saint-Michel, where they used St. Auburn church as a lookout post. (some of this is from Wikipedia)

Pilgrimages still happen, but all are warned to cross the tide flats in groups as the sands shift. Our guide said that every year, helicopters are called to pull out tourists who have sunk into the sand.

There is not a great way to describe this place except it feels like you are walking into a Harry Potter movie set. It feels like Disneyworld, but it's real. Pictures can't really do the place justice, but we'll try. We began the visit by walking the last couple hundred yards to the island after the shuttle bus which has a drivers cab on both ends so it never has to turn around dropped us off. You enter through what looks like a draw bridge and walk up a narrow cobbled street. Up is the word. We had a couple hours to wander, climb hundreds of steps, take photos, wander into tourist shops that had nothing of value, and bask in the great weather. Then we loaded back onto the bus and drove the scenic highway back to the harbor. Lots of architectural delights along the coast, but we were really tired!!!