In 1996 the tourist influx made the resident Benedictine monks abandon the abbey as unfit for pursuits of solitude and meditation. Presently, it's a co-ed community of monastics that stages daily masses in the ancient cathedral to the tourist audience.
The Marvel Abbey, a World Heritage site and France’s second most visited destination after Paris, is not what it used to be. Centuries of human activities have brought about severe silting of the bay where the famous islet is situated. First, the area around was polderised to create pastures that produce the famous agneau de pré salé, deliciously flavourful lamb meat. Then the Couesnon River became canalised, thus reducing the amount of water flowing into the bay. To top it all off, in 1879 the natural isthmus connecting the island to the mainland was transformed into a full-blown causeway. As a result, the onset of the tidal water that was said to be “quicker than a galloping horse” nowadays is just a languid splash of shallow water over a vast expanse of salt marshes. Historically, the Mont used to be over four kilometres away in the sea. These days, it is an island only in the name.
Two years ago French government launched a 150-million-euro project to give the famous landmark its insular character back. The new high-tech dam will allow the river and tide water to naturally swirl around the Mont St. Michel thus flushing out the built up silt into the sea. According to the project’s contractor, the Syndicat Mixte Baie du Mont-Saint-Michel, once the dam is ready it will take about 2 years to clear half the sediment in the bay.
The beauty of the project is that it aims to restore the original ecological balance while keeping the human intervention as low profile as possible. The developers promise that once all the sluices are open, the dam will be barely noticeable. The plans also include the removal of the unsightly parking lot next to the abbey. Good news for the visitor: throughout the construction period the Mont St. Michel will remain open. So if you wondered where your 12-euro admission fee would go to, now you know: to move the abbey back to the sea.
Peculiarly enough, there is a very similar island with a similar looking abbey just off the coast of Cornwall and it's called - surprise - St. Michael's Mount. In my eyes, this proves the mysterious connection anglo-française that I went exploring on this trip.
- Lille - The Nearest Bit Of France
- Mer-les-Bains - Bourgeois Seaside Resort Par Excellence
- Dieppe - Maps, Ivory And Scallops
- Fécamp - Liqueur, Seafood & Norman Vestiges
- The Limestone Arches Of Étretat
- Rouen - The Duck, The Pots & The Cathedral
- Richard the Lionheart's Château Gaillard
- Monet's Japanese Garden in Giverny
- Honfleur - A Picture-Perfect Port
- Mont St.Michel - The Marvel Abbey
- Côte Emeraude - Brittany's Emerald Coast
- St. Malo - The Granite Jewel of Brittany
- Dinard & St. Lunaire - Hangouts Of The Rich
- Jersey - The Bulwark Of Englishness
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