France - Caen and Le Mont Saint Michel

Another beautiful city, Caen is the capital of Western Normandy.  Apparently many towns and cities claim to be a city of a 100 towers.  It would seem Caen can make this claim legitimately.  Abbeys, Churches and all kinds of buildings with the same gorgeous architecture have them.  We ended up finding a last minute hotel here and spending the following day seeing the Abbeys and thr medieval Ducal Castle in the rain.  People stared at us in our ponchos, but hey, we were dry and kept on going!

Just north of Caen is Juno Beach.  This is the main location where the Canadians came ashore and fought during the second world war.  There is a memorial there as well as a huge museum.  We skipped the museum and inside the bunkers, but walked along the beach and found several memorials for soldiers and the one pictured below looks to be photos of a soldier from back then, as well as a picture of him as an old man. It was touching.

And then of course, the customary stop at a Carrefour Supermarket for some quick lunch supplies - salad, cooked shrimp, couscous and pears and almonds for dessert.

This is the view outside our Bed&Breakfast which we found just by driving around a very small village near Le Mont Saint Michel.  These cows are owned by the people who run the B&B.  Cassio says he misses his Whopper :(

Morning traffic Jam...

Le Mont Saint Michel is a tiny island with an Abbey on the top and reachable only by a narrow road from the mainland.  It was definitely a tourist trap, as Cassio said.  I read somewhere that 3 million people visit annually and we wonder if this is possible - the place is so small!  Everything is steep and old and quaint and it is absolutely worth taking the trek out into the middle of the countryside on the coast to visit. You park on the mainland and either walk 2.5 km or take a free shuttle to get there.  We decided to walk.

 

This is probably low tide. Tides can reach a height of 15 meters between low and high tides which go in and out very quickly.  We didn't witness much extreme movement but the amount of mud surrounding the island shows where the water usually covers. 

When we walked in, the monk in the centre was ringing a bell hanging from a rope.  He had to get way down on his knees to pull and get up again.  It was mesmerizing watching him and listening to the bell.  Then the mass began and almost the entire service was sung by priests/monks and nuns in white robes.  The singing was glorious and soft, like Gregorian chanting, full of harmony and softness.  It was so beautiful, it took me by surprise and I ended up crying.

Le Mont Saint Michel has long been a site for pilgrimages and we gather from images and the actions of people, that it is a custom to walk across from the mainland through the mud.  People are no longer allowed to walk the full distance, but many put their feet in the mud. Everyday we see new things!