An Adventure to Mont Sainte Michelle

Mont Sainte Michelle

Hello, its been a while getting this posting up. Both Bhodi and I are starting to grumble at Blogger... but anyway, on with the update. Most of the Pride II crew paid a visit to the Wonder of the West, the small village and abbey of Mont Saint Michelle on Sunday, November 13. We had to opportunity to travel a ways from the boat through the kindness of two of the crew's friends in France - Guilliame and Eve, who opened up their cars and their patience to drive us 2 and a half hours north to MSM and then another hour west to the cool little medieval town of St. Malo, before dropping us back off at the boat. So here is the story. Amazing, we all managed to drag ourselves from our racks by 8 am on a day off. We took two vehicles and travelled on both backways and highways through the French countryside on a windy partly cloudy day. We could see the abbey towering over the fields long before we got there. The village is built on a large rock out in a tidal flat. The flat is almost conpletely dry at low tide and fills with a few feet in high tide. Only recently have they built a causeway out to the rock, and the parking lot is located all along it. The caravan got separated and arrived at different times, so the group was spilit into two for most of the day. Surprisingly for such a small space, there are many back alleys (some you have to squeeze through sideways) to get lost in. I felt like a little kid, wanting to explore all the niches and crannies. Bhodi had his eye through the camera, and the result are these beautiful shots below...

A formitable Rampart Tower, right by the entrance.

Erin, Miles, & Brad crossing the Entrance Drawbridge.

The Busy little street climbing upto the Abbey, leads like a half-circle up the hillside.

One of the many amazing views from the hillside.

"We still have a few more stairs to climb"

Another Amazing view.

And another...

I particularly liked this view of the Abbey, from a small courtyard below.

Another great view from the same courtyard. (Standing in front of the Abbey).

A Golden Statue of St. Michael stands atop the Abbey Tower

The small cemetary on the hill below the Abbey is home to some very old gravesites.

The modest Chapel.. Right next to the Cemetary.

Yes.. Another view from the rooftops.

The ramparts must have presented a formitable barrier to any invading armies.

An amazing view of the Abbey from the ramparts.

Experimenting with the B&W features on my camera, I find this view of the Abbey to be quite ominous.

And.. Part of the Abbey, In sepia.

Strange colors cast by the sunlight shone through the stained glass of the ancient Abbey.

Lit mostly by the sunlight in the windows alone, there were many dark, mysterious, and beautifull rooms & passages in the Abbey.

This device is, (as it may look), a giant treadmill.. Used to haul a tram up the side of the mountain that would carry building supplies, provisions, or fat monks up to the Abbey.

In case it's not all together apparent.. I dislike flash photography.. So, here's another example of one of those dark and mysterious passageways.. Shown in as natural exposure as I could capture.

But... Where there are alot of windows, there is lots of "Heavenly Light" in the Abbey of Mont Sainte Michelle.

The Pride crew stayed for only a few hours and then back into the car for St. Malo. We dont have any pictures to show you of this cool walled city and the bar we stopped in for a quick drink, but the best I can describe it is a cross between Newport Beach and Medieval Times. Then, back to Saint Nazaire. A fun day, nice to get away once in a while. I hope you enjoyed.

~Erin and Bhodi

For those of you who have not allready...

Don't forget to leave us a comment to let us know what you think, and then go visit our "Main" Blog: www.tallshipadventures.blogspot.com for more great photos and updates of our adventures.

Thanks.

Erin & Bhodi