The Ham Nomads

7 Jan 2015. <FR> Mont-St-Michel, Normandy; Bain de Bretagne, Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany; Jans, Loire-Atlantique —

Today dawned clear and cold, a deep frost all over the grass near our van, and the paved surface crackling a little with ice as you walked. But it was going to be a sunny day, a good day to visit Mont-St-Michel!

We thought we might revisit McDonald's for a morning coffee, but when we got there at 9:30 we found that they didn't open until 10am! We're in France! Okay — straight to Mont-St-Michel!

You may remember that we visited St Michael's Mount when we were in Devon. That abbey (no longer such, of course, since Henry VIII) was founded by monks from Mont-St-Michel in Normandy, so we really had to make a visit. And we are glad we did — it is an incredible place.

No longer do you have to wait for the tides to make your way out onto the rock, as over the past 20 years there have been huge developments to facilitate access. Huge carparks have been created where the marshlands have been built up to create dry ground, and there is now a causeway/viaduct leading out to the rock. Free shuttle buses run from the carparks to the entrance to the village and the path up to the abbey that surmounts the rock.The buses are interesting because, to save having to make U-turns at each end of the journey, they can be driven from either end, much like Melbourne trams!

The whole place goes back to 708AD, when Aubert, Bishop of Avranches, had a sanctuary built on Mont-Tombe. It became a major pilgrimage destination, and in the 10th century the Benedictines settled in the abbey and a village grew up below its walls. By the 14th century the entire rock was clad with buildings from top to bottom. Today the path up to the abbey is lined with restaurants, clothing and souvenir shops, and local craft outlets, as well as a couple of hotels hiding behind the shops. It reminded us of the path into the walled city of Carcassonne we visited on our last trip.

Mont-St-Michel survived the Hundred Years War unbreached, whereas all the fortifications and towns nearby fell to the English, so it has become a symbol of French national identity!

An interesting water source

The Apse of the Abbey
 

15th Century
polychromed bas relief

View back over the Causeway
 

The Cloister, a virtual hanging garden
 

The Refectory, a huge medieval room
 

Great pillared Crypt
(supporting the Cancel)

The Great Wheel.
Six 17th century prisoners
worked this treadmill hoist.

The Knights' Hall
 

Mont-St-Michel
 

Won't go into the whole thing — you can read all about it on the web — but we had a fine time wandering the abbey, and then we came down into the village for lunch, which we shared in the company of half-a-dozen sparrows who seemed to inhabit the restaurant, and a couple of Aussie tourists from Newcastle — a pleasant lunch on all counts.

We then went out and back to the carpark, where we got a bit of a surprise. We were wondering why everything was laid on so cheaply, with free shuttles and all that. Well, we found out when we paid for our car-parking — €57 for about 4 hours! Oh well, it was a good day!

We set off southwards, towards Spain. We're not really touring France at this stage, so we drove for a couple of hours, aiming for an aire just north of Nantes. We found a McDonald's just short of this destination, so spent time there with coffees and blogging — and recharging the computer — before we moved on!

Another hiccup. Richard had warned us that we should expect a problem with the exhaust system. Well, it happened just as we were leaving the McDonald's restaurant in Bain-de-Bretagne, between Rennes and Nantes. It sounded as if we had a hole in the exhaust, before the first muffler — the noise was impressive. We decided it wasn't actually doing any harm, so we drove on to the aire we were aiming for, behind the Mairie (Town Hall) of a little village called Jans. As we drove in, we noticed a garage on the outskirts of the village, and decided to call in on the morrow. So we settled in for a lovely quiet night in Jans. We had a little entertainment when the villagers arrived for a dancing class in the hall beside the Mairie — they were obviously enjoying themselves.

Distance driven — today, 98 miles ( 158 km ); to date, 10,379 miles ( 16,704 km )