Mont Saint Michel- Normandy, France

 

Ever since I bought a French cookbook, "France and its Cuisine," with a photo of the Gothic abbey of Mont Saint Michel accompanying a recipe for Chicken Liver Pate, I dreamed of visiting Mont Saint Michel.

Decades later, in 2012, Stelios and I planned an extensive trip to France. We were to fly to Paris and then drive North to Normandy, then South to the Loire Valley, the Perigord Noire, and finally to Cannes and Monte Carlo.

Mont Saint Michel is a French island commune, and the seat of an 8th century Gothic Abbey dedicated to Saint Michael. It is a fortified with ramparts, and one of it's main features is the tides that go in and out at great height. When the tide is out it is possible to walk to the island across the flats that surround it. When the tides are in, then one is either trapped on the island or is in danger of drowning.

Here is the road that visitors can walk to the island. No cars are allowed, so visitors must park on the road and walk to the island. It reminds me of Monemvasia in the Greek Peloponnese, except it's smaller and there are no tides.

La Mere Poulard is rumored to make the best omelettes, and I must confess that I remembered this visit because of David Lebovitz's recent post about the isle.

 Stelios and I, on the ramparts

 View of the flats at low tide

 Can you spot the horseback riders?

 Inside the Abbey

 Detail( I almost used this photograph in my book cover for my novel Archangel)

The Cloister

 The tide is coming!!!!

 Saint Michel, the Archangel

I have to share here that as a child I spent of a few years growing up in the shadow of the Church of Archangel Michael, in the now Turkish occupied city of Kerynia, in Cyprus. I played in the courtyard, worshiped in the churand after the Turkish invasion, it was one of the places where I found myself in my dreams. I was very moved when we came upon this depiction of Archangel Michael.

As we were leaving I looked back at the magnificent mount, wondering if I was ever going to be back again.

It was the trip of a lifetime and the trip to Mont Saint Michel was every bit as magical as I had imagined all those years staring at the photograph.

Enjoy!

Maria