A Picture Tour of Mont-Saint Michel: Worth the Adventure, History, Cafes & Wandering

A Picture Tour of Mont Saint-Michel from History to Cafes You'll Never Forget It

The Spired Spector Rises to Your Left from Miles Away

Shuttle Bus View

Water surrounds Mont Saint-Michel like a glass platter, changing from misty slate to deep glassy blue; yet the medieval wedding cake spires forever loom like grey mirage. Even seasoned travelers feel the excitement as they catch a glimpse of Mont Saint-Michel.  The mirage became our GPS, a directional beacon a beyond the farms and rivers . This island fortress-abbey-village has successfully paired history and magnificent architecture with bright cafes and shoppes.  Museum-satiated tourists find places for contemplation and conversation filled with imaginings and "did you see"  experiences.

Its history dates from the 6th and 7th centuries eventually evolving from a stronghold of Gallo-Roman culture to a magnificent island abbey boasting towers, ramparts and arches rising from the stone until it now reminds many of the magic of Harry Potter...but far better.

Make sure you arrive right when the gates open. Visitors arrive in a steady line until the streets make passage difficult.









As you approach the entrance it's evident that the structure literally rises out of the stone.










We've crossed the bridge to the single entry point.

The entry gate tells volumes about the need for security in this isolated strategic place.

Merchants in the village surrounding the abbey make ready for the hoardes of visitors.  The village circles the abbey with shops, cafes and charming stone homes that were formerly where the workers needed to maintain life there lived.

Look around

Once inside this gigantic structure, vaulted ceilings and hidden corners carry eyes and imagination in all directions










An ancient ship model hangs from the rafters, reminding the monks to pray for sailors.

The structure rises from the stone

               
Few realize that early mathematicians knew this immense structure needed many underground crypts and chapels dug in order to support the increasing tremendous weight of additional structures added over time.

Not all is dark and overwhelming.  There are areas to stroll and enjoy the light.

Beautiful carved stone reliefs tell the stories of saints and heroes.

Huge gears and a complicated system to ring the heavy bells.  Imagine the magnificent sound hear from afar. 

One of the final rooms before exiting the abbey contains models of Saint-Michel as it progressed over time.  This early model shows that today's building has evolved to about four times it's original size.








Leaving the never-ending interiors for a stroll around the exterior areas continued the feeling of time travel with beautifully maintained stone pathways and dwellings..

This could be a set from Harry Potter or some other fantasy kingdom.

We expected the memorable history; however, the delightful shops and numerous cafes proved a relaxing surprise finale after some intense exploring.  Hurray!  Shopping, eye candy and wonderful French cuisine.

La Vielle Auberge looked like a good place.  We loved the magnificent Salade Noicoise, Anchovie Maison, Moules Creme and plentiful wines, followed by Cafe Creme.  The hardy menu for three came to about 83 Euros.  No charge for the great atmosphere.

Omelette Renommee Mere Poulard is one of the most famous restaurants in the area.  It can take weeks to get a reservation.  Their famous omelettes go for as much as $50.00 and up. Unfortunately, we would have to plan better the next time in order to get in.

Not to be discouraged -- there are plenty of charming places to enjoy food and friends and shopping.

Once surrounded by water during high tide, the changes of ocean and time finally filled the area around so that the abbey no longer was an island but rather a point on a sandbar.  A recently completed restoration taking years and countless tons of dredging has returned it to the striking vision on water it once was.  Here's a view of what would have been ocean before the dredging was completed.

Signs at the time we visited that explained the huge undertaking.

The restoration close to finish

The sand you see is again covered with oceanT

It's only about 2:00 pm and the streets are packed with streams of visitors.

Looking back as we say our goodbyes we can imagine the difficulty of reaching the abbey centuries ago before there was a bridged road bringing people across.

The End of a Wonderful Day

Kiss Your Loved Ones Goodbye -- Then Jump

Wouldn't you like a story you can tell forever? Leaping into space with only a slim cord attached to you is one of them.  Queenstown, New Zealand boasts of being the adventure capital of the world.  New Zealanders, better know as “Kiwis,” have nurtured that reputation by taking risks many sane people would run from. A must-do for any adventure traveler or visitor who delights controlled terror.  With plenty of Kiwi places to toss one’s brains around, the two that stand out are Queenstown’s scenic Kawarau Bridge and Auckland’s own famous Sky Tower. These vastly differing risks (cliffs or concrete) will still make you shell out almost $200 to leap 760 feet off a narrow bridge into near nothingness between a stone gorge with a river….or drop about $225 diving about 630 feet from a concrete and steel observation deck at speeds as much as 85 m.p.h.  

Expensive – yes.  Better not to ask about insurance costs.  Relax. The Sky Tower is guide-cable controlled so as far as we know brains, not bodies, get smashed around.  You’ll heal. The scenic Kawarau Bridge jump has a nice little bobbing inflatable waiting to load stunned jumpers for a return to shore.   Once you get your voice back, it’s the stuff of party talk and therapy for years to come.

 Kawarau Bridge Step One:  Gear up on the bridge suspended between two cliffs with both life jacket and bungee cable, close your eyes and jump.

Step two:  Open your eyes, idiot – you paid nearly two hundred bucks to show off!

Step three:  Keep down your stomach contents while your bungee line bounces you close to the river.

Step four:  Just keep hanging there, upside down, while your survival depends on the trusty rafters pulling you in.

Sky Tower Step One:  Observe the tallest man made structure in the Southern Hemisphere from afar. Focus on your bucket list or at least that lust for thrills.

Step two:   Shell out a ton of money, ride the elevator to a dazzling height, zip up your diving suit and get hooked up. 

Step three:  After you’ve taken the leap, start questioning your sanity as you swing between the steel and concrete.  Open your eyes idiot – this leap costs as much as that nice hotel room!

Step four:  Make sure your friends see you last act of idiocy before you go out and drown your terror in great local beer at on of the three lounges in the high Tower.

There are a few things you might want to know about before you shell out the cash.  First, between 1986 and 2002 there were only 18 reported fatalities from bungee jumping.  What's happened since then is anyone's guess.  The risks of having an accident while bungee jumping are about 1:500,000.  And finally, to put your mind at rest, taking a bungee jump is about as dangerous as driving 100 million miles in the U.S.  

A screaming good story

Put Bungee on Your Bucket List-0915

Queenstown, 

New Zealand boasts of being the adventure 

capital of the world.  New Zealanders, better know as “Kiwis,” nurture that reputation by delighting is taking risks that most Americans would run from.  Bungee jumping is a must-do for adventure travelers in that part of the world.  There are plenty of places to toss one’s brains around and the two that stand out are Queenstown’s Kawarau Bridge and Auckland’s own famous Sky Tower. It’s tough to decide between putting out almost $200 to leap 760 feet off a narrow bridge into near nothingness between a stone gorge with a river….or drop about $225 diving about 630 feet from a concrete and steel observation deck at speeds about 85 m.p.h.  Relax, the Sky Tower is guide-cable controlled so as far as we know brains, not bodies, get smashed around.  The Kawarau Bridge jump has a nice little bobbing inflatable waiting to load stunned jumpers and return to shore.   Once you’re done, you can brag about it for the rest of your life – as long   

 

Kawarau Bridge 
Step One:  Gear up on the bridge suspended between two cliffs, close your eyes and jump.

Step two:  Open your eyes – you paid nearly two hundred bucks to show off!

Step three:  Keep down your stomach contents while your bungee line bounces you close to the river.

Step four:  Just keep hanging there, upside down, while your survival depends on the trusty rafters pulling you in.

Sky Tower 
Step One:  Observe the tallest man made structure in the Southern Hemisphere from afar and remember your bucket list.

Step two:   Get hooked up (after paying a lot of money and taking the elevator up that dazzling height).

Step three:  After you’ve taken the leap, start questioning your sanity as you swing between the steel and concrete.

Step four:  Make sure your friends see you last act of idiocy before you go out and drown your fears in great local beer.

Olive Oil Museum in Nyon, France (Provence)

Nyon Olives taste 

The curator and guide at the museum gave us
information and welcomed any publicity

Nyon's olive oil tastes buttery.   Here is a delightful small museum with displays about the olive growing and process of producing the oil.
Location:  Musée de l’Olivier - Espac Vignolis
Place Olivier-de-Serres - 26110 Nyons
Tel: 33 (0)4 75 27 41 08 - 06 07 80 04 65E-mail: coudouria@aol.com 

Go here

They produced less, so it doesn't get exported much.  

According to Whole Foods Market Nyon: A small, jet black, shiny olive variety from southern France, this one will romance you. Nyon olives have a mild, salty bitterness and are usually dry-cured and packed in olive oil.
JK says, "Nyon olives are buttery."

LINK
Here's a link on Marvellous-Provence.com

A great moment in Facebook on an Airplane

I'm sorry, I am not going to
fly next to a black person

Great moments in Facebook.

On the road we see lots of intolerance...  Here's a lovely turn around

Hooray... that's what we say after the rude lady is left in tourist class.

... "to travel next to such a despicable person..."

IF you haven't seen the ending, it's liek this:

The person who is given a seat in first class is not the rude lady.