On the Train to Pontorson, Mont Saint-Michel

A gray, feels-like-its-gonna-rain kind of morning greeted us, with the wind blowing as hard as ever. That sounds like a good day to hop on a train to our next destination, Mont Saint-Michele. Actually, we had planned several months ago to ride the train today because the distance between Bayeux and Mont Saint-Michele was too far to ride it in one day. The nasty weather make that decision feel like the right one, if coincidental.

We didn't ride too far, and it was still a bit cold, but there it is in the background, Mont Saint-Michele

Getting the bike onto the train is always a little unnerving since it can be hard to huck it up the steps without knocking over other passengers, and getting it situated onboard. Lorie is usually in charge of getting panniers onboard; I worry about the bike. But our train this morning was a cakewalk. The train platform was the same elevation as the door opening, so all we had to do was wheel the bike on. And since we were on the early train, departing Bayeux at 0615, there was nobody else already on the train and nobody else getting on with us. It hasn’t always been this easy so I will smile about how easy this time was.

 

Not much room for additional bikes onboard...

Ready to load onto the train

 The weather app said that it was sunny and warm at Mont Saint-Michele. It didn’t look that way in Bayeux. But as we got close to our destination the clouds magically disappeared, the sun shone brightly and the temperature rose dramatically. Good deal. We unloaded at the nearest train station, at Pontorson, and quickly found a place to get a coffee and croissant. The ride to Mont Saint-Michele was short, maybe 10 km, so we headed that way.

Mont Saint-Michele is a World Heritage site and you all have seen photos of it – likely that many of you have been there. It is striking when you first see it. We had read that it is prohibited to ride your bike onto the island but that has changed since they built a new bridge linking the mainland with the island (and the new bridge allows tidewater to flow under it – this has alleviated the accumulation of sand and has improved the ecology of the area). So we rode out to the island, locked the bike up in a bike parking area, and wandered around.

Very imposing.

 

That's the sun behind the Abbey

 

 

 

Amazing gothic architecture and stonework

The original (restored) Saint Michele

The Abbey looms large over the tiny village; the Monks probably liked the perspective

Around the village

It is super interesting. Super crowded, as well, but that was expected. What is now the Abbey has been many things over the years – an Abbey, a church, a prison, a fortress (the Saxons tried for about 500 years to overtake Mont Saint-Michele but failed (that happened to the Saxons quite often when they went up against the Normans, though there are a few notorious other results)) – and it is now a very popular tourist attraction. There are dozens of tiny streets and alleyways, a few of which are so narrow that Lorie and I barely fit, scraping shoulders as we went down the stairs. I imagined skinny guys escaping from big guys chasing them by running down these tiny alleys.

 

A tight squeeze toward the bottom

Lorie fits easily

Lorie's arm continues to improve

 

 

 

Offset colonnade

 Most of the buildings are about 1,500 years old. The workmanship is beautiful. I wonder how many of the buildings we are putting up theses days will be around in 1,500 years? 

The view from near the top

Overlooking the tidal basin

The monk's dining room

 

There are hundreds of knick-knack stores and food stores, but we weren’t interested in those. Instead, we walked to the top of the structures and bought tickets to walk through the old Abbey. It was well worth the modest price. It is a truly remarkable structure and the views are amazing.

 

We are back on the bike tomorrow, beginning our southward turn toward the Loire Valley. We are in Rennes tomorrow and will be camping. We'll see how that goes.