Mont-Saint-Michel is located on an island in the region of
lower Normandy. And its intriguing architectural ensemble classified this
location as UNESCO World Heritage site. Long ago most called the place “the
wonder of the Western World”. It’s situated by a bay that it has the greatest
tidal ranges in Europe. Actually the difference between low and high tide can
reach up to 15 meters. And when the high tide is above 14 meters then the Saint
Michel would be completely surrounded by the water for a long time. Otherwise,
it’s connected to the mainland by a small passageway. And this year in 2014
they plan on building a bridge. At low tide this place would be all sand around
it for kilometers away, however, just a few hours later entire area would be
submerged and water everywhere. This tide what really makes this area very
unique.
Getting here is very easy actually. Of course it all depends
on what type of transportation you’re using. But you can come here by driving,
by bus or even train from any and every direction. I was riding my bicycle down
here all the way from north. I was very
thankful that I bicycled here. On the way down here passing through some of the
most amazing small villages and beautiful French country side. It’s about 358
kilometers from Paris and there are always high-speed trains available to the
city of Rennes then from there you can take another train to Avranches or
Pontorson. I found Pontorson is much closer to Saint Michel which was about 10
kilometers.
I finally made it all the way down here during my European bicycle tour. September-2013
Mont-Saint Michel, France. Again from a distance Photo: F.Aksoy, September-2013
I really didn’t do that much around Mont-Saint-Michel, but
just enjoyed the view, took lots of photos and shot a few videos made some new
friends and had an afternoon lunch. It was quite interesting watching and
staring at this place for a long time. After all it attracts more than 3
million visitors a year. I bicycled all the way down here for day and half up
from historical Omaha Beach, Normandy landing area just to see this amazing
spot. It was worth my time and bicycling here.
This is the video I captured while visiting Mont-Saint-Michel, France and added on my youtube account. Video: F.Aksoy-Youtube-Google-September-2013
MOnt-Saint-Michel, France close up. Photo:F.Aksoy-Sep-2013
And now I was on my way down to Southern France and Northern
Spain, Basque area a city called Donostia, San Sebastian then back into France
once again to do the French Riviera and Italian Riviera. Of course this was
going to cover the beautiful Mediterranean coastline. I was staring at a great
distance perhaps covering almost 2000 kilometers. But just thinking of seeing
these places ahead, actually exited me more.
