Mont-Saint-Michel and Bayeux (Wednesday 9.11.2013)

Wednesday we were all up early and off to the cars for our 2 day trip to Normandy.  Driving in France is turning out to be quite easy.  Highways and small roads are well marked, although the bizarre habit of placing road signs just after the intersection is a tad frustrating at times.  Roundabouts are sometimes easy, sometimes an exercise in insanity.  For the most part it has been painless and enjoyable.

35 minutes from the house we arrived at the new parking facility at MSM.  Lots of parking attendants made finding a slot simple and the new visitors center made getting to the free shuttles quick and convenient.

Mont-Saint-Michel from the new parking facilities.

For all the bitching and whining I read online I expected this new process to be a nightmare.  To my pleasant surprise it was the best part of our visit.  Boarding the free shuttle we wound down the causeway to the base of the Mont.  We could see the new bridge structure going up, something that will again allow the sea to fully circulate around the base of the Mont, restoring the natural eco-system of the estuary.  Take your parking ticket with you!  You will need to validate it at the visitor center before you leave.

Arriving at the base of the Mont, we stared up at the majesty of this amazing place.  The blue sky, sea, sun, clouds and ancient stone spoke together in a quiet chorus of the ages.  It was breathtaking.

We then climbed the first stairs through the curtain wall into the chaos of a truly horrific tourist trap that the Mont now is.

Beware of your wallets here!  Not from pickpockets, from crap merchants.

This dove me crazy.  Hoping that the tourist swamp would clear out and the town become much more charming and quiet as Carcassone, we swam like salmon up the hill to the Abby at the very top.  Nope, not much better along the way.  Throngs of people, crap private museums, gift shop after gift shop and restaurants that belong at The Hague being charged with Culinary Crimes against Humanity.  The traditional MSM omelet was worth consideration of a death penalty sentence, something I am usually strongly against.


Once at the Abby, things got somewhat better.  While it is no longer a working and vibrant place of worship, the ancient stones are still a monument to the abilities of men and women long ago that are now thought to be part of a "Dark Ages"  There is skill, ambition, devotion and ingenuity in the very mortar of this place.   The view from the terraces at the top are incredible.  You can see the tides changing, rushing in and out faster than a man or horse can run.  We really did witness this, it was frightening to see a tide so powerful that it moved rocks the size of 5 gallon buckets around like foam pool toys.

The Bay of MSM from the terraces.

The tour of the Abby was 9euro, took under and hour and for the most part is was worth it.  The cathedral and ancient working areas are sterile and bland, but there are a few bright spots like the Cloister.

Hidden amongst the cold stones of the Abby, the Cloister is a tranquil island of life.  Hedges, flowers, medicinal herbs still grow on the height of the Mont, watered by captured rainfall and still tended by the few remaining nuns working at the Abby. 

Gracile and totally unlike the heavy, robust structure of the rest of the Abby, the Cloisters are a lighter and more tenderly decorated place of reflection.  Foliate carved roundels, thin pillars in twin rows combine to make this the most delicate place on the Mont.

Heading back down through an ever more hectic crowd of tour bus groups, it was at times nearly impossible to get down any of the possible routes of exit.  Hungry and grumpy we opted to grab a quick meal in the tourist area.  I won't go into too much detail, except to say I hated it like poison.

I do believe everyone should see MSM once in their lives.  It is an epic monument to faith, devotion and damn hard work.  Go early, as early as possible.  Go up to tour the Abby, then walk around a bit to take pics and experience the grandeur of the place and then get down as soon as possible.  We are glad we went, its been a dream for years, but would not go back again anytime soon.  By the by, wear tennis, hiking or other very comfortable shoes.  This is one hell of an uphill workout!

Off to the cars to pay our 12euro parking tab, we headed for Bayeux.

Bayeux Cathedral in the heart of the city.

 Bayeux is a pleasant little town with some impressive history.  From the Bayeux Tapestry to the D-Day landings it is nearly impossible to escape the deep well of the past.  We decided to all take different sight seeing options for the afternoon.  Mom, Dad, Gary and Joanie opted to go see the very well presented WWII museum while Nita and I went to see the Bayeux Tapestry. 

Bayeux Tapestry in the display case.  No, we didn't take the pictures, they frown on that.

The glass display case is incredibly close to the tapestry.  We did not expect to see such detail!

The tapestry museum was just around the corner from the Bayeux Cathedral, a 5 minute walk at worst.  The tapestry is contained in a large, glass enclosed case that wraps about in a horseshoe that makes for easy viewing.  We gladly paid the 9euro price to get the chance to be less than 12" away from the actual tapestry.  There is a nice little audio tour that is included with the ticket price that gives a linear tour of the tapestry and the ability to pause it from time to time to study in depth individual sections is brilliant.  It is very, very casual with many benches to sit and admire/examine the display.  I got the feeling you could stay in there for hours without any of the staff blinking.

After 25 years of seeing the tapestry in books, on television and the web, it was incredible to see in it person.  We got close enough to look at individual stitches, to see the different dye lots in the different characters, to see the handwork of people long gone.  It was an experience I will treasure and ponder for years.

Oddly, our 45 minutes viewing the Bayeux Tapestry was more pleasant than our 3 hours on MSM, but that is purely a personal opinion and not that of our whole group.

After the Tapestry museum, we toured the Cathedral.  Holy Carp!  It was huge, ornate, and soaring with music as the organist practiced while we walked about.  It is by far the most alive and thriving of the worship sights we have seen this whole trip.  We took pictures, but the chip seems to have been faulty so I have nothing to post here.  When we go back in a few weeks I will post some pictures of the interior.

About 6 we met up with the crew and headed to a restaurant that the great staff at the hotel recommended.  Service was annoyingly slow, as we apparently walked in just after a large bus of Brit pensioners.  Seated in an upstairs room almost to ourselves, we kind felt ignored for a short while.  Once our waiter got the hordes downstairs sorted out, he was great with us.  The 2 hour meal was varied and satisfying, the wine dirt cheap for the quality we had(less and 17euro a bottle at a restaurant!).  Best terrine of foie gras I have ever tried, and this fat man has eaten it all over France...

Back to the hotel and an early breakfast and start to our tour of the D-Day landing zones.