A Night on Mont Saint-Michel
Combine every fairy tale you heard as a child, and add a dash of Harry Potter, bake for a century or so, and what you end up with is Mont Saint Michel.
In all respects, it exists outside of time, which becomes apparent as soon as it appears on the horizon of your approach, and then gets reinforced after you’ve experienced the change in tide.
When our travel plans for France were still in the infancy stage, my husband began his campaign to add this as a stop on our itinerary. Not aware of what it was before that time, it didn’t take much beyond a picture, to get me to sign-on to the idea of a visit.
Isolated monastery/village/fortress by day, and monolithic island retreat by night, the role that this architectural marvel has played in French history, is very unique. Historical significance aside, it’s just cool to see and will be the best workout for the ole backside, that you’ve ever had.
That said, despite all of the above, very few people live there anymore, and those that do, are for the tourists that swarm it each day. You’ll be hard-pressed to find much in the way of authenticity here, as pretty much every building has been turned into tourist accommodation, tourist-centric restaurant, or junky trinket store.
At the top, and just outside the entrance of the monastery, is a little artist studio and gallery. The woman that owns it is a painter and print-maker, and her work is actually fantastic and produced right there in her studio. Both my husband and I, as well as my mother-in-law, purchased prints from her.
Why would I suggest just “one night?” There are a lot of reasons why you’ll want to see this place, and an equal amount of reasons why you’ll thank me later, for limiting your stay to a single night. Let’s focus on the reasons why you want to see and stay on, this fascinating rock:
Duh, it’s cool, and looks like Diagon Alley… but seriously though, it’s amazing.
You have to experience the changing of the tide, where it goes from being a remote village to an island, in about 20 minutes. The water rushes in so loudly, that we had to run to the balcony of the restaurant we were having dinner at, to see what was going on.
The monastery is the only thing to tour here, and while it does take a substantial portion of the day, it’s not something that takes more than a day to see. Also of note, is that it is still a working monastery, and holds services which can be attended.
While this entire place keeps 10-6 business hours (because of the evening tide), the good news is that with the VAST majority of tourists gone in the evenings, the drama and charm of the place has a chance to stick its nose out. Keep in mind that everything will be closed, but walking around and taking in the views, are MUCH better at this time of day.
Per reasons 2 & 4, you’ll need to stay at one of the itty bitty hotels on the island, to take advantage of these experiences, which can be fun on its own.
With all that said, there’s no need to stay here for two nights, but if I can make one last suggestion… it would be to migrate your stay into a hotel nearby and schedule one of the horseback tours. They take you around the perimeter of the island, while the tide is out during the afternoon and looked fun, but I didn’t get the chance to do this myself, and I regret it.
