A little more traveling....

We were given Thursday and Friday to work on our projects as our presentations are on Monday and Tuesday. I cheated a bit with a few others in the group and we took a bus tour to Avranches, Villedieu les poeles, and best of all Mont Saint Michel. The two towns were quite nice. Villedieu is know for its copper making and bell forges. Pretty neat to see the way they actually make bells, it is quite an old process that they still keep alive today. Avranches had a beautiful botanical garden that was a nice stop and it provided us with a beautiful panoramic view of the coastline and Mont Saint Michel.

I am quite happy that I parted with my thirty-two Euros because I had the experience of a lifetime at Mont Saint Michel. It served as a church ever since the Romanesque monastery was built 1000 years ago. It grew up around this high point that at high tide becomes an island. It was interesting to see this island with so much to offer. As you climbed the narrow streets (no more than 8 feet across), there were restaurants and shops lining the streets. You are required to climb a good deal but the actually abbey is well worth the climb. The line was a pretty extensive one as this site is the second most visited place in France for both the French and tourists next to Paris. It was interesting to find out that the abbey was used as a prison during the 1789 Revolution when the religious brothers were thrown out of this location. However, it has been restored to a Benedictine monastery. We were lucky enough to see the noon service of the sisters and brothers on our tour.

It is truly one of the most beautiful places that I have ever seen. An interesting tidbit of information, there is only one road that leads up to the island but it is causing issues with the tides and shoreline. The plan is to demolish the road and put the site back to its natural setting and shuttle people from one meeting point. One wonders why they could not walk??? I have the answer, there is too much quicksand (sable mouvant) around the island and people particularly in the Middle Ages when they were doing their pilgrimage to the site, lost their lives trying to cross in low tide. Interesting factoid!