Celebrating 1,000 Years on Mont St. Michel

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By Norma Hopcraft

Mont St. Michel celebrates 1,000 years this year. Which is strange because parts of it are far older than that. 

I have a brochure in my hand that says the history of the island is thought to date to 708 when a bishop had a sanctuary built on the mount in honor of the Archangel Michael. 

It became a major pilgrimage site. In the 900s, the Benedictines settled on the Mont.

So don't ask me why France is celebrating 1,000 years this year. But they are, and the official celebrations began the day we left in July and continued into August. We escaped before a giant wave of tourists.

But why quibble about a few hundred years? The Mont is spectacular, rising from an absolutely flat tidal plain. It has areas of quicksand, which doesn't stop people from walking around on the tidal plain. It usually gets just a few feet of water at high tide.

We spent one night (got a fantastic price from Bookings.com) so we could have the island to ourselves early in the morning. 

We were there in early July, very soon after the solstice, and it was light out until 11:30 p.m. The seagulls of the island made a racket until nearly midnight and started up again with sunrise. They must be exhausted in summertime.

During the Hundred Years War, the fortifications of Mont-Saint-Michel resisted all British assaults and therefore the Mount has become a national symbol of identify.

Only a handful of people live full-time on the Mont, which gets overrun with tourists--like me. One of the residents said the whole world is there and it's very isolating.

A view from the ramparts.

Ancient stone walls and thriving plants.

A picturesque door, steps, and set of lions to guard it all.

A shot taken from near the steps to the Abbey.

This fellow landed next to me on the North Tower.

Incredibly old, hundreds and hundreds of years, and so beautiful.

The view out my hotel window. This is a residence -- I watched the owners go out for dinner.

The Abbey high above the houses and businesses.

A perfect window.

I got up early in the morning, before the buses with tourists arrived, and explored. Up one path or staircase, and down another. It was sublime.

The Mont's namesake, the Archangel Michael.

Knights in shining armor are another popular theme here.

A view of the bay at sunrise, above the North Tower.

The wash of colors in sky and sea was stunning all day long.

The agapanthus were stunning in Normandy and Brittany.

Another unexpected visitor.

The Abbey at the top of Mt. St. Michel. The straight line you see descending on the left is the track where supplies were once lifted into the abbey.

Just something picturesque.

The cloister in the Abbey, which is still inhabited today with Benedictine nuns and monks. 

One of the Abbey's doors.

During the French Revolution, 5 prisoners walked inside this wheel to bring supplies up the track into the Abbey, which was used as a prison.

From Mt. St. Michel we proceeded to Dinan. What a hoot that was! Wait 'til you see! Comment below, if you please, to boost me in the search engine. Thank you!