Mont Saint Michel & Saint Malo
The Sea Cloud II pulled into the dock at the famous Breton maritime city of St. Malo at 7pm, having just negotiated the sea lock. This beautiful walled city was the home of Jacques Cartier, the first French discoverer of Canada. He is buried in the beautiful Gothic cathedral in the city center.
We boarded busses to the UNESCO World heritage site Le Mont Saint Michel. After a pleasant coach ride we got our first glimpse of the St. Michael’s Mountain rising up out of the sea and tidal mud flats as an apparition. The mountain, which is entirely granite, sits in the middle of the tidal basin and is 250 feet straight up. In the year 708 the bishop of this area received a dream (at least the legends says), and he was instructed in that dream to build a church to St. Michael on this very spot. He resisted the divine command but on the third night he had the same dream, but this time the angel was rather more forceful and poked the bishop so hard that he left an imprint of his finger in his skull. The bishop’s skull is kept as a relic of that night. Building began in stages, first in the 8th century; a second major program begun under Duke Richard of Normandy in 966 and the last great burst of energy in 1203 which provided us with the Marveille which sits atop the very top of the mountain.
The entire structure was built to take advantage of the natural fortification and none of the mountain was leveled. It was as if they draped a granite monastery ever so gracefully a top a living granite mountain. The main church is entirely Romanesque and was largely a product of the mid to late 11th century. It has a wonderful sense of solidity but does have graceful columns rising up to the clerestory level. Because it is built entirely on top and around the mountain, Mont Saint Michel is a rabbit warren of rooms and a constant dance up and down stairs. Our plan was to walk up to the top and then slowly meander our way downward. The same plan I might add of everyone else! The weather was gray and we had sporadic rain but this did not deter us. Along with the church, we visited the cloister, the refectory, and the dining rooms for the visitors, the scriptorium, and the hostel with its enormous 20-foot fireplaces. We returned to Sea Cloud II and after lunch visited the fortified elegant city of Saint Malo. This beautiful city was utterly destroyed in WW II and it is very difficult to imagine that it had ever been damaged. The city was restored in its entirety. We walked the ramparts of the city and looked out over the Gulf of Saint Malo. We returned to Sea Cloud II tired but exhilarated with our day’s excursion.
The Sea Cloud II pulled into the dock at the famous Breton maritime city of St. Malo at 7pm, having just negotiated the sea lock. This beautiful walled city was the home of Jacques Cartier, the first French discoverer of Canada. He is buried in the beautiful Gothic cathedral in the city center.
We boarded busses to the UNESCO World heritage site Le Mont Saint Michel. After a pleasant coach ride we got our first glimpse of the St. Michael’s Mountain rising up out of the sea and tidal mud flats as an apparition. The mountain, which is entirely granite, sits in the middle of the tidal basin and is 250 feet straight up. In the year 708 the bishop of this area received a dream (at least the legends says), and he was instructed in that dream to build a church to St. Michael on this very spot. He resisted the divine command but on the third night he had the same dream, but this time the angel was rather more forceful and poked the bishop so hard that he left an imprint of his finger in his skull. The bishop’s skull is kept as a relic of that night. Building began in stages, first in the 8th century; a second major program begun under Duke Richard of Normandy in 966 and the last great burst of energy in 1203 which provided us with the Marveille which sits atop the very top of the mountain.
The entire structure was built to take advantage of the natural fortification and none of the mountain was leveled. It was as if they draped a granite monastery ever so gracefully a top a living granite mountain. The main church is entirely Romanesque and was largely a product of the mid to late 11th century. It has a wonderful sense of solidity but does have graceful columns rising up to the clerestory level. Because it is built entirely on top and around the mountain, Mont Saint Michel is a rabbit warren of rooms and a constant dance up and down stairs. Our plan was to walk up to the top and then slowly meander our way downward. The same plan I might add of everyone else! The weather was gray and we had sporadic rain but this did not deter us. Along with the church, we visited the cloister, the refectory, and the dining rooms for the visitors, the scriptorium, and the hostel with its enormous 20-foot fireplaces. We returned to Sea Cloud II and after lunch visited the fortified elegant city of Saint Malo. This beautiful city was utterly destroyed in WW II and it is very difficult to imagine that it had ever been damaged. The city was restored in its entirety. We walked the ramparts of the city and looked out over the Gulf of Saint Malo. We returned to Sea Cloud II tired but exhilarated with our day’s excursion.
