One of the very first UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Mont Saint Michel Abbey was the only destination on our “must-do-in-France” list. Its a visually splendid sight, located within the city and island of Mont-Saint-Michel in Lower Normandy (hence the name!).

Like most things in France, Mont Saint Michel has a very long history beginning in the 8th century BC. At that time, Christianity expanded and religious devotees came to the area to lead a contemplative life. Saint Aubert of Avranches erected an oratory on Mont Tombe, renamed Mont Saint Michel au péril de la Mer (“Mount Saint Michael at the peril of the sea) The legend is that Aubert received a message in his sleep three times from Saint Michael to build this sanctuary and left his finger mark on Aubert’s skull.

Later the following year, a tsunami supposedly destroyed the surrounding forest and turned the Mont into an island. The abbey is an essential part of the structural composition of the feudal society in the town. Represented on top is God; the abbey and monastery; below, the Great halls; followed by stores and housing; and at the bottom (outside the walls) fishermen and farmer housing.

This was our furthest jaunt to-date and we made sure to give ourselves an entire day to reap the benefits. Its a 2.5 hour drive (1-way) and so we left as early as we could, which happened to be about 7 in the morning. Now Jake is very comfortable driving and we’ve been out this way once before, though not quite as far, so it was fairly easy.

There wasn’t anything too exciting to see until we were only 5 minutes away, when we turned north and could see, way out in the distance, the flat expanse of the horizon marked with a dome-shaped silhouette and a spire tower pointing to the sky.

Since this is such a HUGE tourist attraction, we anticipated large crowds and were pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t too bad yet. Its still early enough that we found parking easy enough, though we were disappointed that the only option is paid parking, which is quite expensive (€14). Now we had the option to walk about 35 minutes across the salt marshes to the Mont, or take one of the ultra-modern shuttle busses, which are complimentary.

The line for the busses seemed absurd, I guess this is where all the people are, so Jake and I though walking would be better. Plus we get to SEE the island and all its splendor this way. One pretty extraordinary spectacles is that Mont Saint Michel boasts one of the highest tides in all of Europe. We arrived during mid-low tide, so we wouldn’t have an issue getting across the long bridge. But sometimes the tide comes up so high that it is impossible to cross…its greatest recession happens in Spring, receding up to 18 KILOMETERS! We walked along the salt marshes adjoining vast expanses of grass and tons of cute sheep.

It was hard not to be overwhelmed by the SHEER AWESOMENESS of this place. It reminded us of Game of Thrones, a miniature King’s Landing perhaps? The walk was nice and since the tide is out, we decided to walk down and around toward the beach, allowing us full reign of the ramparts below.

We finally made our way in, Jake stopped off at one of the few public restrooms (which was actually free) before our sight-seeing began. He said that it was like peeing in a trough and kind of gross…But it was one of the few free public restrooms…

The island is much larger than I imagined, with the lower terraced levels winding their way up up up toward the massive Abbey. It reminded me a little bit of Diagonalley, with close knit tourist shops and restaurants, many of which were only just opening. The streets were narrow and steep cobblestone. We didn’t linger as the line of people was beginning to form, mostly due to the bottle neck that was unavoidable. I couldn’t imagine this place when its actually crowded.

Once we made it to the “top landing” we weren’t entirely certain where to go. There were a lot of staircases leading in a half-dozen different directions and we simply followed the largest group of people. You really had to strain your neck because everything was so massively tall and close together as we followed the signs for billets (tickets). For only 10€ each, we could spend the entire day exploring the actual Abbey.

From the entrance, we still had several sets of stairs to walk up toward the top. At certain points there were obvious large spaces with people gathered in large groups. We found a sign that said the first tour in English starts at 11AM. We had about 45 minutes to kill, so we thought we’d do our own little tour first and then come back for the big one. The view is remarkable.

We discovered a bit about the evolution of the Abbey over the centuries. Initially it was a place for monks, growing a new monastery and a place of pilgrimage. It was given the nickname “City of Books” as it also housed and stored many manuscripts. Its reputation brought visitors of royal acclaim who found its location a perfect fortress for military purposes in successive conflicts between France and England. With its large walls flanked by defensive towers it managed to resist attacks for more than 30 years.

In the 1600’s it became a version of Alcatraz, a prison to hold inmates who were sentenced without trial, and nicknamed Bastille des mers (Bastille of the sea). For 200 years it remained as such until high-profile individuals launched a campaign to restore the national architectural treasure, leading to the eventual closure of the prison.

Speaking of architecture, the monument has such a diversity of style, between the 10th century continuing into 19nth century restorations. The historic, political and economic situation throughout the Middle Ages influenced the works and methods used for construction. Following fires, collapses and restorations, the Abbey was transformed. The Abbey church, built on the summit of the Mont at 80 meters in altitude, sits on an 80 meter long platform, consists of four crypts built into the spur of the rock.

I couldn’t resist walking through the largest gallery of the Merveille building. It is the jewel in the crown of the Abbey’s architecture. This masterpiece of Norman Gothic art bears witness to the architectural expertise of the 13th century builders.

Before we realized it, we were swept deeper into the Abbey, down several stairwells. Again I’m reminded of Harry Potter as we enter areas that could be the Great Hall or Ministry of Magic.

Once we committed to going down and had to follow the flow of people. It would get held up in a few areas that would bottle neck, generally in a steep stairwell where you could only go single-file. In our haste we tried to move through each area quickly so that we could make the tour. Unfortunately there was no way to go back or even escape the flow and even the exit was in a different location than the start. Probably to mitigate traffic when its really crowded (which by the way was beginning to happen).

So much for catching the 11AM tour. We had to go back to the start, and thought that we might as well try to walk through the whole place again, maybe we can find the English tour along the way. Though we never did come upon it, we did discover several different areas that we skipped our first time through, which was pretty fun. That said, it was now so crowded that it was lucky we already walked through some areas because we would have been stuck for ages. It would be only too easy to get trampled if there was some kind of an emergency.

We escaped the tumult and found a nice shady spot to take a break. Jake packed us sausage, homemade croissants and cheese, nuts and water. The perfect Parisian lunch. It was nice to be outside again. The sun had taken a spot in the sky, chasing all the clouds away. We weren’t in a hurry to go anyplace in particular, so we took our time, following different paths and staircases all around the center-section of the island. Some areas were so packed that they weren’t even moving while others were completely deserted.

After 5 hours we were ready to escape. I’m so glad we came early because there were so many people in the streets it was hard to move. When we escaped it felt great, but by now the blazing sun was a bit too hot for us. We hopped on a nearby shuttle and took a ride to the village next to the parking area. There was a beautiful green space and park full of painted cows that was a nice reprieve from the craziness before heading back.

I can see why this place is such a huge attraction for people all over the world. If making the trip again, I would consider visiting at an off-time of the year (not summer) and staying at one of the hotels on the island. To see this place lit up at night would probably be spectacular.