Summer Holiday Part 7

The next leg of our holiday was a short drive to the ancient town of Avranches, which was our base to see Mont Saint Michel.  On the way we found a little lavender 'farm' (it was more like a garden) where we stopped to have a coffee served by the Dutch owner.  It was a bit of a struggle to find the entrance- we had to reverse out of a wheat field at one point- but it was worth it for the relaxing pitstop.

Relaxing view at the lavender farm

Our hotel at Avranches was one probably the best accommodation of our holiday, due tot he beautiful garden where we spent most of our time while here. It was very relaxing to sit here and enjoy the company of friends, with tea or cheese or wine.

Garden at our hotel at Avranches

Afternoon tea in the garden

On the afternoon that we arrived, we scoped out the small town centre and headed for the Scriptorial Museum whose centre piece is the collection of manuscripts from the Mont Saint Michel monastery, some of which are around 1000 years old. It was a surprisingly interesting display and contained information about medieval religion and writing technologies, as well as some details about Avranches' Roman origins- there was even a denarius coin which is dated back to 200BC.

Music manuscript at the Scriptorial

The next day was one of the highlights of our holiday, a visit to Mont Saint Michel. This sea-bound medieval monastery captures the attention as soon as one spots it in the distance, and it only gets more interesting as you get closer. Originally 9km off shore and only accessible during low tide, it is now only a 5 minute shuttle bus ride along a permanent road from the carpark on the mainland. They are in the middle of a project to replace this road with a bridge which will allow the water to flow freely around the island again and prevent the siltation problems which have been caused by the current road.

View looking back at the coastline from the top of Mont Saint Michel

After a steep walk through the narrow winding souvenir-filled street, and many flights of stairs, we reached the main monastery through which we took a guided tour. It was very interesting hearing about the religious importance of this building during its time, and how pilgrims traveled from all over Europe to visit this place which was home to humanity's leading intellectuals, academics and philosophers. Even though the halls and the gardens were extravagant in their current state, it was hard to imagine them as described by our guide, full of bright tapestries, colourful glass tiles, stained-glass windows and painted ceilings. The crypts and catacombs, which lay beneath the main halls to support its structure, were dark and foreboding.

Narrow, toursty streets of Mont Saint Michel

Fortunately the sun did come out for a few minutes which allowed us to get some photos with a beautiful blue sky in the background. But it was short-lived, and soon enough it was back to the overcast, drizzly conditions which we had become accustomed to during this holiday.

Mont Saint Michel

That night we had diner at the hotel restaurant, which was a popular fine-dining venue in its own right. It did not disappoint- the creativity, quality, presentation and taste of the 4 course meal was simply outstanding, and the stylish waiters did an admirable job of waiting on our table despite our lack of French. (Our waiter did try a few English phrases during the night, with varying success, including asking us 'would you like to cheese?') I had a prawn and sponge salad with a pea moose as an entree, lamb and stuffed capsicum for the main, several awful smelling but delicious cheeses after the main, and a chocolate moose pyramid for dessert. Margot's Surprise Dessert quartet surely was the winner on the night though. The final cost was a ridiculously low 26 euro per person, and I don;t think any of of would argue if I called it the one of the best meals we've ever had.