Delta and Mont St Michel
Is Mont St Michel worth the visit?
Mont St Michel lies 1 kilometer off the coast of Normandy, with incredible medieval-style walls built around a circular cluster of architecture. The Abbey stands at the top of the island, 350 stairs up, dating as far back as the 10th century. Called the ‘Wonder of the West’, located between Brittany and Normandy, it is definitely worth a visit.
If the historical factors aren’t reason enough to visit, the beauty of this place should be. Not just the buildings, but the plant and animal wildlife, and views of the French countryside here will leave you speechless.
The tide at Mont St Michel is said to be faster than a galloping horse. Of course, it’s an exaggeration but you could be easily trapped in the bay and get drowned. It has happened, for quicksands can be deadly over there.
Tourist Levels Rising
Sea levels are continuously rising in the surrounding ocean yes, but so are the number of tourists. More and more people have been visiting each year to bask in the vast beauty of everything it has to offer. The record for tourists in one day was on August 18, 2022, when 36,000 tourists went.
On Ascension weekend in 2023, over 33,000 tourists visited Mont St Michel.
In less than four hours, we sold 10,500 tickets for the Abbey, which had never happened before
–Thomas Velter, Director General of Public Institution in charge of managing the monument
It is great to see so many people understand the beauty of this historical site, but it is getting worrisome. They are beginning to fear for the safety of tourists as they come in such large groups. On Ascension day, the site was becoming so jammed they had to take a break pausing any bus trips for two hours. They have multiplied the authority in the Mount in an effort to keep it safe and keep everyone happy.
Mont St Michel in Portions
Much like these photos showing small portions of the divine beauty, there need to be smaller portions of tourists on daily visits to Mont St Michel. Yes, you should go, but when is a good question? The management recommends before 10 am or after 3 pm.
Here is the bottom of Mont St Michel, a peaceful area with roaming sheep.
Two different versions of the same view of St Michael’s mount with Sheep at Dusk. One of the pictures is focused on the skies and one on the sheep and the grass. I ended up keeping both as I couldn’t choose between the two. HDR was purely and simply the only way for me to be able to see something on that picture because of the sheer contrast between light and shade. Mont St Michel Normandy. April 2014.
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Reblogged this on Le Bien-Etre au bout des Doigts.
These are exhilarating shots.
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Your photos are WONDERFUL, Yann — so much better than my own! The first one especially captures the “medievalness” of the place more than other images I’ve seen. I had the good fortune to stay on the Mont overnight and to walk out on the causeway before dawn as the tide was coming in and would say it was closer to a horse’s canter than a gallop (but then … who knows? Chances are at least one person on horseback put that notion to the test over the centuries!). I can also vouch for the quicksand, but do not in the least recommend it. In any case: Gorgeous images. You have me longing to go back.
Sorry for the late response I had decreed a computerless weekend for the sake of my wellbeing and Boy! I needed that. You are very kind with my pictures, but I wasn’t really happy with them. I felt I would have needed to wade in the Bay to take better pictures. A lot of roadworks were carried out at the time (you can see the fence on the photo at the top) and right by th e fence some sort of dirt road with the traces of lorries’ tyres and various marks on the ground which don’t look too good. I went back to your blog and couldn’t find the Mount but I read a few blogposts I’d missed and liked them. The Freiburg post is very good. There is this weird feeling everywhere you go in Germany that things are like they used to be until you see the old pictures. I remember having the same feeling in Nürnberg (of all places, Nürnberg! I didn’t need to see the pictures).
Wonderful photos. The third and fourth are my favorites yet all were very interesting compositions.
Thank you so much Sandy. Impressive trees you have on your Website. And I enjoyed your bio too.
Thank you for visiting and leaving a comment. Hope you experience meditating in nature 🌿
We’ll soon do this in August in the Pyrenees.