As I mentioned in when to visit the Loire, traveling in the spring in France is easy and carefree.
This can come true at Mont St Michel where there’s only one way in and one way out and a thin windy road to the top. It was busy on our blustery, rainy late afternoon visit, I can’t imagine the lines and drama that must exist at the height of summer’s rush.
After spending 2 days in Honfleur, we took our time driving through Normandie to Mont St Michel, and our gracious guests at La Jacotiere. It’s a beautiful farmhouse just a few short kilometres from le Mont. Had it been summer, or had we been without an infant, riding a bicycle down the block and along the causeway would have been an easy way to see the sights. For the more adventurous who feel like a hike, walking the full way will make for a long day, but it’s doable.
The accommodations at La Jacotiere were more than excellent. We had a large bed with a television, a crib for Z, and a large bathroom. We were also on the ground floor, so we had full access to the lounge and dining area. It was a place Z could crawl around, and I could sit and upload photos from the day and blog on my computer. Madame also made arrangements for us to use a microwave to heat our son’s food and breakfast in the morning was the usual friendly fare of pastries, juice and coffee.
Should you wish to self cater, there is a market at the end of the block, along with a collection of cafes, hotels and restaurants. Again, they’re within walking distance should you choose to get out and enjoy the evening air.
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Mont St Michel itself is a medieval masterpiece, and if you didnt know that, you’d just have to visit one of the dozen shops offering to sell you armor, swords and chess pieces of the day. Heck, they’ll even sell you a Knights of the Round Table rotating centrepiece, or action figures from Pirates of the Caribbean or Lord of the Rings.
According to Rick Steves, we shouldnt be too disappointed by the tackiness of the Grande Rue. He warns in his book, France 2008, the Mont is “home to a single, grotesquely touristy street.”
In other words, it’s just like Vancouver’s Gastown. A beautiful, classic, heritage site taken over by the fine purveyors of tee shirts, tea towels and anything with an “I was there” marking.
Okay, that’s fine and dandy but E3,70 for a can of Coke? That’s about C$6. That’s about ridiculous.
Jen and I survived the run, and made it to the abby at the top. 10 minutes late. Sure, it’s open til 6, but the last group is let in at 5. We saw a back door from the gift shop with people trailing in from the tour, so we thought we’d do it in reverse. We made it about halfway through, when a woman made some comment to Jen.
She doesnt speak french, I heard her make english comments to someone else along the lines of “go ahead, I’m coming back.” I thought it was a tour, Jen thought it was something else. So we continued along for another few minutes until we reached a locked door. Uh-oh.
The church is closing, that woman was sweeping out the dregs, and we just passed her. We hustled a couple of dark, stone chambers ahead and found .. another locked door.
We were trapped. In a stone abby, that just 2 centuries ago was used as a prison. Sure, Michael, it may not be Sona or Fox River, but let’s see you get out of this one. With a baby. And no food. And no phone.
Thankfully we didnt need to scream, the woman was just a few steps ahead and heard us fiddling with the locked door. She opened it, scolded us, and we hustled our way back to the beret shops, where we belonged.
BTW, I’ve tossed this post up, out of the middle of nowhere, because I’ve noticed I’m getting about 3 people a day coming to my site after searching for Mont St Michel. As it stands now, I only have this measly post serving up info, so I thought I would give a little more love to those who hit me up from the Google.
The Blog According to Buzz. Spread the word, ya heard?
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