Day 5, part I - Mont Saint Michel

Driving towards the day's first stop admiring pretty round-abouts and even prettier windmills.




This is one of the places I've wanted to visit ever since the first time I saw a picture of it.
It looks unreal.
Like something out of a dream.. a mirage of sorts rising from the horizon.

Mont Saint Michel is in Normandy and has a history of 1200 years. It is understandably on the Unesco World Heritage list.

The tides can vary as much as 14 meters between the low and high water marks. This sign is no joke... park in the wrong spot, lose sense of the time and you can find yourself carless...

The abbey was built as close to heaven as possible.

And the archangel Michael can conduct his heavenly choir..

There are about 40 residents on the island that lives on tourism.

I'd quite like that house with the bright green shutters.

The bay around it (this is obviously during low tide) looks tempting for a walk, but it is not recommended without a guide due to fast rising tide water, fog that can creep up on you in minutes and quicksand.

We ventured to where this turret is and stayed on high ground.

The village below the abbey is like something out of a fairytale.

A fairytale with loads of tourists and stairs, stairs, stairs...

The entire time you are walking up hill.

Which was quite a task in the +30C heat..

But reaching one of those high points gives you an amazing view to the Atlantic Ocean.

Or to the place it normally claims.
Tide is fascinating to me, we don't have the phenomenon in Finland.

The land around is ideal for sheep grazing, and as the tide brings salt to it, it yields a local delicacy of salty meat.

Just imagine getting supplies up there though, here you have the old and the new systems side by side.

We had finally reached a point where we could start walking down stairs :)

As I said the day was hot and the island crowded, we opted to drive to the nearby village for lunch.. we were able to sit in the shade and enjoy a nice breeze.

With one last look back we set the GPS on 'scenic route' for our drive to St. Malô.

I have to say I'd love to visit again but in low season and with lower temps..