Post by Shoesy on Jul 4, 2009 3:24:27 GMT -5
Sunday, June 14, 2009
We had arrived at our chateau in the afternoon, and frankly speaking, we felt so content in those beautiful surroundings that it was easy to forget that our purpose for being there was to visit Mont St. Michel. In any case, reality set in at about 4:00 P.M., and we knew that it would be a good time to finally head for our destination ......... all the tourist buses would surely have left by then.
After a short drive, we approached MSM, and viewing this rocky island appearing in the distance was in itself an experience.
It was indeed a magical sight, though not a surprise since I’d seen many photos of it before our trip. 
The timing had been perfect because even though we didn’t have the place to ourselves, we felt very comfortable with the number of visitors who were there, and we had no problem finding parking.
The first thing I did when we arrived on the island was buy an ice-cream cone ;D (caramel beurre sale ), which satisfied my taste buds while ascending the mount. I really enjoyed the climb, which I had feared would be a bit strenuous, but I found it to be extremely invigorating.
While climbing, we encountered a group in ceremonial garb, participating in some kind of religious ceremony. We proceeded to follow the crowd, who also seemed to take interest in the religious aspect of this experience. At some point, the group stopped for the first part of the ceremony, and then they continued climbing ‘till they reached the top of the abbey, where some more rituals took place.
The views from the top were magnificent, and we spent some very serene moments just marveling at the beach below. Naturally, Shlomo took a number of photos, but you will NOT see any of ME posted here because I look totally disgusting in them.....yuck, yuck, yuck! (a terrible hair day at that height ) 
Incidentally, on the day we were there, there was no high tide to be seen
, but I had checked out the tide schedule on the MSM website, so that didn’t come as a sudden disappointment to us.
On the way down, we simply followed the others until we got to a place where everyone seemed to be continuing their descent by passing through a very narrow passageway between 2 buildings. As soon as I saw that, my heart stopped and I said: “No way!!!"
Definitely not for claustrophobic moi! Shlomo, who saw that everyone else seemed to be doing it easily, tried to convince me that I’d survive, but I insisted that we take a different route, which we found with no problem whatsoever. 
We spent some time in the shops looking for souvenirs, and once we felt confident that we’d basically seen what we had come to see, we headed back to our chateau to freshen up for dinner.
MSM is definitely a sight worth visiting, but make sure you arrive at a time when there are no crowds. It can make all the difference.
Here are some photos:
Isn't that magnificent?
You can see little old me as I started walking.
The first ceremony before we reached the top
Climbing the stairs, listening to the ceremonial chant
Ceremony at the top of the abbey
Shlomo looks fine when his hair blows.
View of rooftops on our way down
Would any of you agree to squeeze through that narrow passageway?
As we were leaving, we saw that many guys on motorcycles had visited MSM that day too.
We had arrived at our chateau in the afternoon, and frankly speaking, we felt so content in those beautiful surroundings that it was easy to forget that our purpose for being there was to visit Mont St. Michel. In any case, reality set in at about 4:00 P.M., and we knew that it would be a good time to finally head for our destination ......... all the tourist buses would surely have left by then. After a short drive, we approached MSM, and viewing this rocky island appearing in the distance was in itself an experience.
It was indeed a magical sight, though not a surprise since I’d seen many photos of it before our trip. 
The timing had been perfect because even though we didn’t have the place to ourselves, we felt very comfortable with the number of visitors who were there, and we had no problem finding parking.The first thing I did when we arrived on the island was buy an ice-cream cone ;D (caramel beurre sale ), which satisfied my taste buds while ascending the mount. I really enjoyed the climb, which I had feared would be a bit strenuous, but I found it to be extremely invigorating.
While climbing, we encountered a group in ceremonial garb, participating in some kind of religious ceremony. We proceeded to follow the crowd, who also seemed to take interest in the religious aspect of this experience. At some point, the group stopped for the first part of the ceremony, and then they continued climbing ‘till they reached the top of the abbey, where some more rituals took place.
The views from the top were magnificent
, and we spent some very serene moments just marveling at the beach below. Naturally, Shlomo took a number of photos, but you will NOT see any of ME posted here because I look totally disgusting in them.....yuck, yuck, yuck! (a terrible hair day at that height ) 
Incidentally, on the day we were there, there was no high tide to be seen
, but I had checked out the tide schedule on the MSM website, so that didn’t come as a sudden disappointment to us. On the way down, we simply followed the others until we got to a place where everyone seemed to be continuing their descent by passing through a very narrow passageway between 2 buildings. As soon as I saw that, my heart stopped and I said: “No way!!!"
Definitely not for claustrophobic moi! Shlomo, who saw that everyone else seemed to be doing it easily, tried to convince me that I’d survive, but I insisted that we take a different route, which we found with no problem whatsoever. 
We spent some time in the shops looking for souvenirs, and once we felt confident that we’d basically seen what we had come to see, we headed back to our chateau to freshen up for dinner.
MSM is definitely a sight worth visiting, but make sure you arrive at a time when there are no crowds. It can make all the difference.
Here are some photos:
Isn't that magnificent?
You can see little old me as I started walking.
The first ceremony before we reached the top
Climbing the stairs, listening to the ceremonial chant
Ceremony at the top of the abbey
Shlomo looks fine when his hair blows.
View of rooftops on our way down
Would any of you agree to squeeze through that narrow passageway?
As we were leaving, we saw that many guys on motorcycles had visited MSM that day too.
I'd thought about spending the night there too, so please tell us why you didn't care for it 
hahahha