Today was the first day we had to grab our bags and travel to another place. We had a car pick us up a 7:30AM to the Gare Monteparnasse. We were scheduled on a TGV train from Paris to Rennes in the first class section. The TGV train, known as a bullet train, travels are nearly 180MPH and is a very good way to get around. When we arrived at Rennes, we had to wait for an Intercities train to take us to the town of Ponterson. The Intercities trains are not quite as fast and they do not come with reservations for you or your bags. Fortunately for us, the train originated in Rennes so finding space was easy.
TGV train at 300 KM/h
Jennie sleeping like a baby
All smiles before we saw the stairs
Once we arrived in Ponterson, we took all of our luggage over to a local bus for the 15 minute drive to the pedestrian walkaway at Mont St.-Michel. Le Mont is one of France's most iconic landmarks - a place where history, architecture, and nature intertwine in stunning harmony. Tradition says that the Archangel Michael appeared to Aubert, Bishop of Avranches in 708AD and commanded him to build a church on the mount. By the 11th century, the Benedictine abbey crowned the mount and Mont St-Michel grew with a maze of monastic buildings, crypts, chapels, and fortifications. Mont St-Michel is known for its dramatic tides, among the highest in Europe. In the span of a few hours, the sea can retreat over 10 miles and then rush back in at an astonishing speed. There are several times in the year the Mont is not accessible at high tide.
Tradition speaks about the Sword of St. Michael which stretches from Ireland to Israel. Along a perfectly aligned path are seven sacred sites devoted to St. Michael. These sites are: Skellg Michael - Ireland; St. Michael's Mount - England; Mont St-Michel - France; Sacra di San Michele - Italy; Sanctuary of Monte Sant'Angelo - Italy; Monastery of Panagia Spillani - Greece; Stella Maris Monastery/Mount Carmel - Israel. The abbey at Mont St-Michel is served by the Monastic Fraternity, a religious association of Catholic monks and nuns who live in urban communities. They were founded in 1975 in Paris and are comprised of 50 brothers and 150 sisters.
Once we hopped off the bus, we had to walk our bags to the Mont and realized that all those heavy bags were going to need to be carried up the steps. There were 75 steps to get up to the hotel room we were staying at. Lugging three loaded bags was a pain, literally. We dropped the bags at the office for storage and set off to explore. We stopped at a pub for lunch, linguine bolognese, and a few beers. After we finished, we headed up the path to the parish church of St. Pierre. The church was staffed by a cassock wearing priest who was one of most intentional priests I have seen. When he distributed Holy Communion, the amount of reverence and care he had was inspiring. The parish has a huge side chapel dedicated to Saint Michael.
A nice Belgian beer
More pasta
After getting the key to our room we were treated to a huge room (for Europe). We had a great view out our windows to the walkway and tides. The abbey was open until 6PM, so we decided to trek up all the steps to visit. They say 350 stairs to reach the top. That seemed like the right number for me; for Jennie it seemed like 3,500. She pushed through and we found ourselves inside. The Mont, originally known as Mont Tombe, was inhabited by the Celtics before being conquered by the Romans. The abbey church began construction in 1023 and became a major pilgrimage center for Catholics. The Mont withstood English sieges and served as a prison during the French Revolution being known as the Bastille of the Seas. It was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1979.
A stormy looking sunset
A different angle
Sunrise on Le Mont
Our favorite pub
St. Joan of Arc, Ora Pro Nobis
Parish church of St. Pierre
Shrine to St. Michael
Driving out the darkness
Such a beautiful altar
Our view after climbing the 350 steps
The design and acoustics were perfect for plain chant
View from the cloister
Guest hall
A side chapel in the church crypt
The wheel was manned by prisoners and was used to raise up goods from the bottom of the Month
Clover growing outside the cloister
Garden outside the abbey
We were told these stairs lead to a place considered the holiest on the entire Mont
Room where the monks worked
St. Michael sits atop the abbey
After our tour was over, we stopped by the pub for some dinner. I mentioned to Jennie that they had Vespers with the Monastic Fraternity of Jerusalem that was open to the public, but it required trekking back up the steps. We first encouraged the Fraternity in Paris in 2018 when we stumbled into a dark church at 6AM and found the community chanting Lauds. She agreed with that plan and we went back to the abbey church. Vespers, chanted in French, took 50 minutes. It truly was like heaven on earth. Afterwards, we were let out of the church and went back to our room for the night.
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