Last weekend we visited the Mont Saint Michel. This is a trip we usually do once or twice a year outside the tourist season. The Mont is after Versailles the second most visited site in France so you can imagine how crowded it can get. The main “problem” is that there is basically only one small street leading up the hill to the cathedral which is about 4m wide. The second possibility is the old town wall.
Now in march it is still quiet and you can actually enjoy the walk. As a proof for this we found a little chapel along the way we never saw before simply because we were always pushed by the crowds along the main street.
One thing that astonished me this time is how near the land moved towards the Mont. For centuries the countryside was polderised but since a dam was built to connect the Mont with the land and to make it easier to access by busses and cars the tides brought in more and more silt year after year and now a big part of the Baie de Mont Saint Michel is covered by gras.
But this will change soon, again. They are working on a new hydraulic dam that will allow to clean out the bay with water power from the river Couesnon. You can visit the site of this project here. And a new bridge will be constructed to make the Mont Saint Michel an island again.
Every time I’m amazed again what mankind is capable of and willing to do to praise God, not only in christianity that’s seems to be a universal principle. The Mont Saint Michel is a World Heritage Site since 1979 and deservedly so.
Just ignore te Disneyland style souvenir shops!
