Abbey of Mont Saint Michel France in 360 Degrees

Abbey at Mont Saint Michel from North side

ABBEY at MONT ST. MICHEL France 
in 360 Degrees

Mont St. Michel Island

 I have a special place in my heart for the Abbey at Mont. St. Michel, for it is a testament to me that the Lord LOVES all his people.  Those who are willing to seek the Lord, ask for help from the Lord, and willing to follow the Lords direction are constantly given direction from above.  St. Aubert bishop of Avranches was one such person.  He had a vision 3 times in the night from the angel St. Michel to build a city and shelter for the early Christian saints and this island was the specific spot.  



Statue of Angel Michel in the Abbey of Mont. St. Michel
He built the city in about 700ad first, then the abbey was built in 966.  It is one of the few places that survived the Hundred years war, the French wars of Religion, and attacks by Vikings and Normans. All they had to do was defend until the tide came in and then the tide would wash them away.  The abbey was first a shelter for early Christians, then it became an abbey where monks would transcribe scriptures most of their days, then it had a crazy time period where it was a prison under Napoleon.  When Victor Hugo visited this place, he wrote about how weird it was to have such a gorgeous space of such tranquility, and then have sickly eyes peek out of windows and through bars. He then started a campaign (much like the one he did for Notra Dame) to restore this landmark.



Prison Door from time of Napolean when Mont St Michel was used as a prison.
Who knows...without Victor Hugo writing about the Norta Dame, and the Mont St. Michel, they both might have very different current situations. Architects who visit here are stunned that this amazing place was built way back in 966 or before, for the design and obstacles they had to overcome are tremendous.  Building a huge 3 story church on top of a pointy rock on an island that is hard to trespass, and make it stable is shocking.  It  most likely had some enlightenment from above to accomplish.  
The first time we visited Mont St. Michel, they were in the middle of debates about the road out to Mont St. Michel.  You see the road and parking lot was blocking the water to really surround the city as it had in the past, and the sediment coming down from the river was making the island less and less an island.  Now the parking lot is further inland, and there are buses that take you down to the island.  They have made breakers in the river that when it is high tide, the breakers are released and the water floods out to push out the extra sediment and allow this island to still be an island. In the picture below, you can see how the road now allows the flow of the water to go under the road.


There are many tourist that head out and want to walk around the island....but beware.  It is not advised to do this unless you have a local guide, for there are quick sand spots that are very dangerous, and you can often see ambulances head out to rescue a tourist caught in a sinkhole and in trouble.

Looking down you can see the Village Auberge.  If you would like to see that quaint town, click on this link.





Here is an awesome aerial video of the island surrounded by water thanks to the millions of dollars France spent to make it happen.  This is an awesome drone video by Wanaii Flims that is just amazing!  

https://youtu.be/-rhtVj0gJMU
 


 THE ABBEY

 Funny enough, that only about 1/3 of the visitors to Mont St Michel make it to the Abbey.  It is between 300-900 steps to the abbey, and then there are more steps inside the abbey.  The reward getting to the Abbey is nice though, for he crowds thin out, and it is a miraculous structure especially considering the time period it was built.


Here is a great site with the History of Mont-Saint-Michel

https://www.britannica.com/place/Mont-Saint-Michel

Abbey at Mont Saint Michel from North west corner




Here is a GoogleMapList of some of my favorite quaint towns we visited on our Tour of France if that is helpful. 

 GMap France List



Use a GoogleCardboard or VR Headset, and use the below GoogleMap Trail to enjoy a virtual Stroll around Mon Saint-Michel.  You can also go to GoogleEarth and search Mont Saint Michel, then click on he little dude in the bootom corner.  From here, just click on any plac you want to see in yor headset, and you can be transported there. 




Outside Patio Courtyard  that overlooks the wall at Mont St. Michel



Grass Courtyard on top of abbey at Mont St. Michel





Cathedral in Abbey of Mont St Michel







On of the many open areas in the Abbey at Mont St. Michel.  There is 3 levels, so you can tell which level it is by how wide the pillars are.  Above picture must be on one of the top levels for the pillars are narrow.  The 360 picture below must be deep on a lower floor for the pillars are very wide.  The fact that this was built almost 2000 years ago on such a pointy funny piece of land is crazy.  He must have had some amazing help from above.   It had one time in history where one floor collapsed, but it was not huge, and it was easily rebuilt. 









Amazing Doors at Mont St. Michel Abbey and Archways in the Abbey.



Below is one of the many stairwells to get from level to level, and a pretty good walk through the various doorways and arches.



If you are enjoying this area and would like to see more, click on the Google Earth Mont Saint Michel link, then the little dude in the corner, then any blue dot or line to see more.


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If you liked this Island, then you will also LOVE
PEROUGES France.
It is a lovely medieval town that has been wonderfully preserved, and it feels like you walked back in time. 
Link to Perouges France



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and
NIMES FRANCE
where they Roman structures are so well preserved that they are in better shape then the ones in Rome. 
Link to Nimes France



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and
DOMFRONT, France
Link to Domfront France


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and 
ANNECY, FRANCE
Link to Annecy France


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and
COLMAR, FRANCE
Link to Colmar France





Funny enough, I had almost forgotten that I hadn't finished my post on this wonderful spot.  Then today I sat doing a puzzle we got for Christmas of Mont St Michel, and I realized that I needed to finish this post.  So in honor of the beautiful puzzle that helped me remember to finish this post, this is my first sponsor link today.  Please consider browsing them, for even the few pennies that it send my way helps send more adventures your way.