Running & Reading in Rennes: Le Mont Saint-Michel, revisited

We made it to the top this
time!

Well, as we said we would do, we went back to le Mont Saint-Michel! It is definitely one of my favorite places on earth, even more so when there are only about ten other people on the mountain! We spent the night after returning from Caen in December and had a very tranquil time. It served as an Advent/pre-holiday retreat before we were to be immersed into consecutive settings with lots of people for the first time since September!

The pathway along the shops. Notice
the lack of crowds!

On this visit, we got to see the abbey, since there were no people waiting in line ahead of us for two hours. We spent the first part of the trip there shopping for the last holiday gifts to take back to America, checking into our room in the lovely Mouton Blanc (white sheep in English) Hotel, and getting sandwiches because someone had mistakenly informed us that all the

Mouton Blanc Hotel.

restaurants were closed on the island that night! Part of the sandwiches made a good snack that afternoon, and the other part made a good lunch the next day; it worked out very well.

Just some of the stairs.

After a little rest and sustenance (we had just traveled from Sept-Vents to Caen to Rennes to meetings on campus to Mont Saint-Michel in a matter of days!), we headed up to the actual abbey. We felt like we were having the real pilgrim's arrival experience in the beginning of winter, just the two of us braving the cold wind and climbing the mountain's stairs to reach the doors to the church. Once we got into the church, we did meet a few other people, including a nice young man who wanted us to take his picture; he, in turn, took ours (see above).

Interior of the abbey a bit before sunset.

The inside of the abbey was absolutely breath-taking (and not just because it was cold!). In general, I much prefer abbeys to churches and prefer churches to cathedrals. There's something that the architects do differently with light and simplicity that seems so much more elegant in abbeys. The cathedral in Bayeux (pictured two entries ago) and the Chapel of the Cross in North Carolina are quite the exceptions. The circular chancel just makes you want to walk right up to it and stand in the light shining in.

Example of a wheel used to
lift the rocks to build the
abbey and then to bring
food to prisoners.

So, what is Mont Saint-Michel? you ask. Why is it one of the most visited sites in the world? According to the official tourism website (from which the rest of the information in this paragraph comes), it's known as the "Wonder of the Western World." Aubert, Bishop of Avranches built the first church there and consecrated it in 709. In 966, at the request of the Duke of Normandy, Benedictines formed a community there, building a pre-Romanesque church before the end of the century. Shortly thereafter, monastery buildings were constructed against the north wall of this new abbey and extended to the west and south in the following century. In the thirteenth century, Philippe-Auguste gave a donation to begin the construction of the Gothic section of the abbey, with the cloister and refectory at the top. The Romanesque chancel broke down in 1421 and was then replaced with a Gothic Flamboyant chancel. Since the beginning of the monastic presence, people have been making pilgrimages to this amazing mountain. It was briefly used as a prison following the start of the French Revolution but has since been restored to the care of friars and sisters of "Les Fraternités Monastique de Jérusalem."

Cloister.

View from the cloister.

It's a truly amazing architectural feat, and I can't wait to return. Some of the buildings don't even have their own separate foundation; they just used the granite mountain itself for support. One of the loveliest parts is the cloister, which is a pleasant surprise when you exit the abbey toward the other side of the mountain. It's even more impressive in person because you are surrounded by granite and stone almost everywhere on the mountain, and then you suddenly see a patch of green space, with a view! Because no one finished the building that had been planned off of one side, there is now an opening that looks out onto the sea and land. Don't worry--it was covered with glass, though it does look like some water leaked in there.

We continued through the rest of the abbey until closing time, walking back upstairs where some Japanese tourists yelled at us, "Wrong way! Wrong way!" We didn't get very far back into the abbey because the guards were closing the doors behind us and locking them the whole way through. They are very serious about their hours. We returned to the hotel for a bit before heading back up for Vespers, a sung evening service with readings and psalms. It was in an entirely different part of the abbey than is open to tour groups. It was a very nice, incense-filled way to spend dusk before dinner.

Omelette, frites, salade, cidre.

Aaron's lamb stew.

The restaurants were indeed open, and we both had Mont Saint-Michel specialties. I had their famous omelet, started as a traditional recipe there because it could be quickly cooked for pilgrims arriving at any time day or night. This is different from any omelet that you've probably ever had; they whip the whole eggs up as though they're going to make some kind of omelet meringue and then cook it. It was a very different

experience. Aaron chose the lamb stew, traditional in the area because of all the sheep farms on the edge of the sea there. He thought it was very good.

After we finished the main course and were waiting for dessert, the waitress delivered us complimentary glasses of champagne! They were complimentary because a Canadian couple on the other side of the restaurant had just gotten engaged and wanted to celebrate. They shared the bubbly with everyone in the restaurant (there were seven of us, including them, perfect to finish a bottle!). We finished the meal with a tarte tatin for me and tiramisu for Aaron. A very nice way to finish dinner on what felt rather like a second honeymoon.

Tarte tatin.

Tiramisu.

Twins.

Christmas lights.

Before we were too tired to stay up anymore, we took a walk around the ramparts, met some cats who didn't want to play, enjoyed the Christmas lights (well, the ones that weren't strobe lights), and watched the high tide really make Mont Saint-Michel an island. It was beautiful, and we were the only ones there apart from the security guard, so we felt very safe.
The next morning, I got up before sunrise to go to Lauds, another medieval church service held in the separate part of the abbey. Most of the same people were there from the night before, but some of them chose to stay in bed. I really can't blame them--it was very early and very cold!

Breakfast is for the birds.

After the service, we went to breakfast in the hotel, which we shared with some very hungry birds who lived in the restaurant. We were very glad we got there before the food was uncovered! It was delicious, though. The croissants were fresh, and the jam was lovely. They even had tiny cups full of rice pudding with plumped raisins. We definitely recommend eating here!

We took one more walk up to the ramparts and then headed back to our Mercedes (bus). All in all, we had a lovely time and will go back again and again.