Decided to do a half-day trip to Mont Saint Michel, the famous small town and abbey sat on an island in the sea, it was only about an hour from Rennes by bus.
Walked out of the hotel, another sunny day but a bit cold, aiming for a Paul to get breakfast, but unbelievably there wasn’t one in Rennes. Walked on to the market which we thought would have more stands open. There were, but not all of them, and didn’t buy anything.
Carried on, heading towards a palace (via Starbucks), stopping at a bakery to get some rolls for lunch. Kept walking after coffee and found the palace, photos were taken.
Made our way to the bus station, an hour in hand, and ate our lunch, then went down to the platform to wait. I’m getting really annoyed at smokers and vapers – so many people in Europe do it, especially at stations where they allow it on the platforms. You have no option but to breathe in sickly sweet vape or cigarette smoke, it’s really disgusting.
The bus took 1 hour and 15 minutes, it was a double decker and we were the first on so got the front seats upstairs, there were only a few people getting on.
Watched the French countryside on the way, lots of old stone houses again, and farmland, with the occasional small town with a church spire in view.
As we approached, Mont Saint Michel appeared in the distance. The bus dropped us off and then a short walk to a shuttle bus that was – surprisingly – free, a 5 minute journey across the bridge to the Mont. You could walk it, but it was 35 minutes and, well, free bus.
The bus stopped about 300m from the entrance, and the Mont was spectacular – a small town and an abbey perched on a rock in the middle of an estuary. The tide was out and the estuary was massive, a huge expanse of sand in all directions, we couldn’t see the sea. The Mont was bigger than I expected as well, and just a magnificent sight, especially since we got lucky with the weather.
We entered through a small gate into a narrow alley leading up a steep slope lined by shops. It was very busy, people everywhere and we had to push past occasionally. I’d hate to visit in the summer, it would be impossible. I was surprised by the number of shops; every building had been given over to a gift shop, a restaurant, an ice cream shop or some other venture. There were loads of school groups, both French and English. We heard American accents and also saw a few Chinese. Lots of people were queueing for ice cream and other food, blocking the narrow street.
We pushed on up the slope, then up some steps, we’d decided to go into the abbey after earlier thinking we wouldn’t bother. It’s unlikely we’d be back so we should, and there should be some nice views from the top.
If I had known how many more bloody steps there were I might not have gone.
Anyway, we went up and up, into a chapel, then out to a platform with incredible views across the countryside and the estuary, and we could now see the sea in the distance. I was staggered at the size of the estuary, and there were quite a few people out on the sand, some a fair distance away, maybe so they could take photos with no one in them.
Walked through some more rooms which at first were impressive, but after a while became a bit tedious, all basically empty stone rooms that once served as chapels. One room had a huge wooden wheel which was used to pull up supplies; I guess the monks got fed up with carrying stuff up the bloody steps as well. But most of the rooms were empty, some big, some small, most with columns. We’d occasionally get stuck behind a tour group or a bunch of kids, and with the narrow steps had to go slower than I liked. Bloody tourists.
We eventually exited the abbey (through the gift shop, those monks were quite the businessmen) then walked to the shuttle stop, then waited for the bus back to Rennes.
Song suggested doing the trip, a great idea, because it was spectacular and well worth the visit. Once you step off the shuttle bus and see the Mont, it is amazing. I imagine with the tide in it might look even better. It can be done from Paris and is worth going if you have a day spare.
Back in Rennes at 18:15, went looking for something to eat. Most restaurants were open, but we went into 3 who said they don’t start serving until 19:00. So why are they open then? Stupid.
Walked back to the hotel and once we were inside decided we weren’t really hungry so had stuff left over from the bakery that we’d bought in the morning.
Tomorrow we go to Tours, but have decided to visit a small town we saw on the way in from Nantes the other day, it looked interesting so we’ll spend a couple of hours there then go back to Rennes and get the train to Tours.
Oh, Song also got photobombed.
