Mont Saint Michel
Glamorous and dreamy…
Of course, Paris is the dream of any tourist, and those who have been there want to return there again.
Not in vain. Tourist attractions - more than enough! Well, the air of Paris itself is also an attraction.
Of course, everyone knows that the most visited attraction not only in Paris, but throughout France, is the Louvre. At the same time, few people know that the second place in terms of attendance among French attractions belongs to the abbey of Mont Saint-Michel. And this attraction is located not in Paris, but on the coast of Normandy.
Some moments of history and features of this castle.
First of all, it is necessary to note the purpose for which this castle was built. The vast majority of castles in France, and there are a lot of them, were built either as defensive structures or for the pleasure of their owners. So, Mont Saint-Michel was originally built as a monastery.
The monastery was built for quite a long time - from the 11th to the 16th century. During this time, the monastery and the island on which it is located acquired the form that can be observed now. It is probably worth mentioning that the abbey of Mont Saint-Michel is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. I will not bore you further with widely available historical facts, I will immediately move on to what is striking ...
A road leads to the abbey, the last 2-3 kilometers of which are practically surrounded by parking lots. It's not in vain. We counted more than a hundred of them in the camper park alone. When we were driving along the road to the monastery, then, of course, we wanted to drive as close as possible. We drove almost to the entrance, so what? There was nowhere to park. It's not just about parking along the road - there were no parking spaces near the road that can accommodate hundreds of cars. We had to go back a kilometer and a half back and already there we found a place.
In short, in the monastery, probably, as expected, we came on our feet.
There is another peculiarity of the campsites near the monastery itself. The fact is that Mont Saint-Michel is located in the zone of the highest tides in France. So the parking lots near the monastery itself have signs that indicate the time of the tide. The fact is that during high tide, the parking lot is completely flooded. Therefore, when parking, you need to clearly remember the time by which you need to remove the car. Otherwise, as they say, "the administration is not responsible. " And given that the high / low tide cycle takes 24 hours 50 minutes, the tide schedule must be drawn up for each day separately. The tide does not have a daily cycle, but is subject to the movement of the moon. And the Moon doesn't want to make a complete revolution around the Earth in 24 hours. Here is such an inconsistency.
However, despite the fact that "the administration is not responsible", nevertheless, it tries to protect the unlucky tourists by constantly announcing throughout the abbey an hour before high tide so that everyone can "save" their cars.
But it's around. The most interesting thing is of course the monastery itself and how it is inside.
The first time we arrived during the day, so that we could see this miracle in full glory in sunlight. Impressive - it's even somehow small in relation to the emotions that this colossus evokes!
Along the only street that exists in this abbey-city, with the proud name of Grande Rue, which means Big Street, we went to see the castle. In fact, it turned out to be a whole town centered around the monastery. Souvenirs, cafes - everything that is in demand by the soul of a tourist, who is immeasurable here. Even somehow the desire to climb to the monastery itself disappeared.
Well, if so, then you don’t need to do what didn’t go by itself. After conferring, we decided to return to the hotel and visit the monastery at night. I must say right away that this was probably the best decision we could make.
So evening. Having gathered for a night walk, we moved towards Mont Saint-Michel. I have already said that it was the right decision to visit the monastery in the evening. But it never occurred to us that it was so right!
The monastery, thanks to the beautiful illumination, was visible for several kilometers. Thanks to the same illumination, the eyes were not distracted by extraneous details and the brain perceived only the grandeur of the temple and the unusualness of the very place where it was located.
Gone was the bustle of the day and the crowds of onlookers who were here only because they were brought here. One could enjoy the spirit of the time, which these majestic walls absorbed.
But before starting the review of the monastery itself, we admired the most beautiful landscape that opens from the height of the monastery. The night was coming.
Slowly walking through the many rooms of the monastery, we heard a light melody and went to the sound. Entering a small room, they saw a group of people who didn't even seem to be breathing. They listened to music. Under several spotlights, in the semi-darkness, two girls on a harp and a flute performed works by Donizetti. A minute later, we too fell into a trance. This murmuring-flowing music penetrated right inside. I dissolved into these sounds and there was some feeling of an astral connection with something unearthly, but very warm and pleasant. You could stay there forever!
But, I wanted to explore the cathedral further and had to bring myself out of this trance. This was facilitated by ordinary curiosity, which asked - what's next?
And then we went around everything where we could go, and in the end, tired, but inspired, we quietly went home. The lights of a wonderful castle illuminated the road for us.
Get up early in the morning and hit the road. But the castle did not let us go just like that. Our hotel was the latest in the village and from its windows a magnificent view of the road to the monastery and the abbey itself was visible. So, as soon as we woke up, even before sunrise, and went to the window to take another look at Mont Saint-Michel, we saw clouds, slightly gilded by the sun that had not yet risen, a fog-covered meadow and the ocean and hovering above this fog, as if having no connection with the earth, the majestic Mont Saint-Michel.
Thank you soaring castle for such an unusual gift!
