When we got married last November, we had JustEnoughTime to plan the wedding, pack our things, [drive across the country], and move to Paris. So instead of taking a honeymoon after the wedding, we decided that Paris would just have to do, and that we would make 2014 the year of the European "Mini-moons." Our first such destination was the beautiful Mont Saint Michel, which is a Benedictine Abbey and medieval village built on a small island off the coast of Normandy. It was originally established in the eighth century, and became a popular destination for pilgrims back in the day. At one point it was turned into a prison, but has now been converted back into a monastery and is a UNESCO world heritage site. So it's beautiful... and FULL of tourists. We decided to spend the night on Le Mont so as to have a little bit of time there without the throngs of tourists, almost half of which I would say were Japanese. If it was this busy in February, I cannot imagine how crazy it must be in the summer. Seriously, I have not seen this many Japanese tourists concentrated in one place outside of Honolulu. Our weekend journey began in Paris with an early Saturday morning car rental, followed by a 3.5 hour drive to the coast. We then hopped on one of the "free" shuttles across the bay for tourists who don't fancy a cold walk on a February afternoon. Until recently, Mont Saint Michel was only accessible during low tide via a natural causeway. A few years ago the French government solved that problem by building a dam to remove the silt that had built up over time, and constructing a new access road that allows tourists and shuttles to travel to and from the island without consulting the tidal patterns. What a view! The Abbey is pretty great too. Once we made it inside the city walls, we were not totally prepared for the amount of village we encountered. I honestly thought it would be a maybe a few buildings in the shadow of the Abbey, but there was a main street (the Grand Rue, complete with kitschy souvenirs from China), a flock of hotels, a cemetery, townhouses, museums, and of course, an over-priced-and-under-whelming restaurant scene. Our hotel was super cute, though, and we had a lovely time wandering around the island and exploring the tiny medieval side streets. We even made it to Mass at the Abbey on Sunday morning, which was performed by Monks in their hooded robes, swinging orbs of incense, lighting candles, and singing mass. It was hauntingly beautiful. I think we could have definitely used a third day to the weekend, though, as we ended up spending almost 5 hours getting back home on Sunday.
All in all, it was an awesome start to our 2014 mini-moon extravaganza. I would definitely recommend anyone visit Mont Saint Michel, but make sure to time your trip during low tourist season, and stop by the grocery store on the way in. More pictures here :)
1 Comment
Suzanne
2/19/2014 01:42:37 pm
What an incredible start to your many "mini-moons". How beautiful and romantic!!!
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