Mont St-Michel
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Mont St. Michel sits on the Normandy coast about a 3 hours drive from Amboise. It sits in the midsts of a great tidal flow thus it is either surrounded by water or the water goes out, and you have access. The fortress has an abbey on top and has never fallen in battle.
You must park about 1 mile out and they have a nice parking lot, visitor center and shuttle to the island. The single street that leads to the top is steep and narrow. On the day we visited, it happened to be in the high 80's. So I grabbed a gelato and followed as the Handsome Husband sprinted to the top. Talk about exercise. Stairs, steep and fast paced. We stopped once for a rest in the shade.
When you first enter, there are shops, restaurants, and a hotel. If you are staying at the hotel you have to walk your luggage at least 1/2 mile from where the shuttle drops you off to the island. The little medieval street is narrow, I would say 5 feet wide. There is a line of people going up and coming down. You can feel claustrophobic if you suffer from that kind of thing.
Restaurants and gift shops galore.
Once at the top, you can buy your ticket to enter the abbey. This beautiful abbey was built in the 8th century. The views are great from the quad area of the abbey.
The tide is out and when you were at the bottom crossing to the island, you could really smell that fishy, tidal smell. It wasn't bad or overwhelming, just present.
The Church.
I always love the cloisters in the old medieval churches. They are so intricately carved and visually appealing.
The Cloisters
There were a lot of rooms and halls to this place, but they were kinda dark and my pics did not turn out, wear comfortable shoes for sure.
Mont. St.-Michel was on our bucket list as a MUST SEE and it was worth the 6 hour drive round trip to see it.
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