The Marvel
On Monday, four intrepid pilgrims left Leuven early in the morning (5 a.m.) to visit Mont St. Michel in northern France. We had rented a vehicle and set out on what was to be a 6 hour journey to our destination. All of us had heard of the Mont and all were excited to visit.
Two of our number, both Australians and therefore used to driving on the "wrong" side of the road, shared driving duties. Except for a brief momentary lapse in the first moments of the trip they did exceptionally well. Since the vehicle was standard transmission I did not feel comfortable driving myself and so was grateful for their willingness. We started out following GPS directions which stopped just a half hour into the journey. Luckily, we also had printed off Google Map directions. At one point we got off course but that was quickly corrected. Considering that none of us was familiar with the route I felt we did pretty well. We arrived around noon and spent the next couple of hours exploring the abbey which is also called "The Marvel." And it is a marvel. Considering that it was built beginning in the 9th century and took on most of its form by the middle ages it is an amazing feat of engineering. Perched on the top of an island it covers three stories which were expanded, torn down or modified over the course of the centuries. It is amazingly well preserved. Originally housing Benedictine monks it fell into disuse at the time of the French Revolution when many monastaries were destroyed or closed. It was a prison for a period of time afterwards. Now it is essentially a tourist site but also is home to a small community of monks who moved to the abbey in 1965.
The abbey sits at the top of the hill and is reached by a series of steep stairs that wind their way up through the medieval city. The way is lined with restaurants and souvenir shops. It is not a climb for the faint hearted but folks of all ages made their way up and were able to take in the incredible sites.
Mont St. Michel is on a sort of island hill in the middle of a tidal plain. The tide goes in and out everyday and comes in at such a rate that if you are in the tidal basin it is very dangerous. Many people have died by misjudging the timing and rapidity of the incoming tides. In addition, there are areas of quicksand. Because it was fairly muddy and we did come prepared with a second set of shoes we did not go out onto the tidal plain. We all agreed, however, that we would love to be there in the evening to see the tide come in and to see the inspiring and impressive abbey by night.
This statue is of St. Michael. Since that is my middle name I wanted a special souvenir of the visit. After several hours on the mont we made our way home. Again we got confused by the directions and got a bit lost. Fortunately, we again were able to find the way rather quickly and so did not lose an inordinate amount of time. We arrived back at the College at 2 a.m.- a 21 hour day.
We all agreed that this was a great way to end our travels while on sabbatical. We all agreed that doing it in one day was a pretty major feat and would probably not recommend it. But when all was said and done we all agreed we would like to go back and spend more time there. A marvel!
Two of our number, both Australians and therefore used to driving on the "wrong" side of the road, shared driving duties. Except for a brief momentary lapse in the first moments of the trip they did exceptionally well. Since the vehicle was standard transmission I did not feel comfortable driving myself and so was grateful for their willingness. We started out following GPS directions which stopped just a half hour into the journey. Luckily, we also had printed off Google Map directions. At one point we got off course but that was quickly corrected. Considering that none of us was familiar with the route I felt we did pretty well. We arrived around noon and spent the next couple of hours exploring the abbey which is also called "The Marvel." And it is a marvel. Considering that it was built beginning in the 9th century and took on most of its form by the middle ages it is an amazing feat of engineering. Perched on the top of an island it covers three stories which were expanded, torn down or modified over the course of the centuries. It is amazingly well preserved. Originally housing Benedictine monks it fell into disuse at the time of the French Revolution when many monastaries were destroyed or closed. It was a prison for a period of time afterwards. Now it is essentially a tourist site but also is home to a small community of monks who moved to the abbey in 1965.
The abbey sits at the top of the hill and is reached by a series of steep stairs that wind their way up through the medieval city. The way is lined with restaurants and souvenir shops. It is not a climb for the faint hearted but folks of all ages made their way up and were able to take in the incredible sites.
Mont St. Michel is on a sort of island hill in the middle of a tidal plain. The tide goes in and out everyday and comes in at such a rate that if you are in the tidal basin it is very dangerous. Many people have died by misjudging the timing and rapidity of the incoming tides. In addition, there are areas of quicksand. Because it was fairly muddy and we did come prepared with a second set of shoes we did not go out onto the tidal plain. We all agreed, however, that we would love to be there in the evening to see the tide come in and to see the inspiring and impressive abbey by night.
This statue is of St. Michael. Since that is my middle name I wanted a special souvenir of the visit. After several hours on the mont we made our way home. Again we got confused by the directions and got a bit lost. Fortunately, we again were able to find the way rather quickly and so did not lose an inordinate amount of time. We arrived back at the College at 2 a.m.- a 21 hour day.
We all agreed that this was a great way to end our travels while on sabbatical. We all agreed that doing it in one day was a pretty major feat and would probably not recommend it. But when all was said and done we all agreed we would like to go back and spend more time there. A marvel!
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