Thursday 11 April 2013

Mont Saint-Michel, France


Have you ever wondered how it is to spend a night at The Rock? No, not San Francisco's Alcatraz but a much older rock on the other side of the pond.  

Le Mont Saint Michel, named after the archangel Saint Michael is a rocky islet off the coast of Normandy in Northwestern France. It started out as a stronghold in the 6th century that later became an abbey in the 8th century. It was one of history's most popular centers of pilgrimage in earlier times. Well, it still is actually but nowadays the Mont gets hordes of tourists instead. 

Count the big K and I among those awe-struck tourists to make the pilgrimage to the Mont. Most visitors would do the Mont as a day trip from Paris (quite tiring, if you ask me) but we wanted to take our time to visit and feel the place. So, we decided to spend not only one but two memorable nights right inside the wall! 

During the French Revolution, Mont Saint-Michel was turned into a prison. Thanks to a campaign launched by influential figures that included Victor Hugo in the early 1800s, the Mont was declared a historic monument in 1874. In 1979 Mont Saint-Michel was added to UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites.