Today we have moved out of Brittany and are visiting Normandy. The reason for the Normandy visit is Mont St Michel.
We had organised accommodation at a gîte called La Bastide Du Moulin on the main road, seven kilometres from Mont St-Michel.
The accommodation was excellent and the hostess gave us some excellent advice regarding our visit to Mont St-Michel. The first piece of advice was to go for dinner at La Ferme St-Michel, two kilometres from Mount St-Michel. We took her advice and set off that evening for dinner at the restaurant.
The restaurant was in old farm buildings and their speciality was L’agneau pré salé. The lamb is grazed on the salt marshes and has an international reputation.
Our meal was excellent and after the meal we decided we should walk off some of the calories. It was about nine in the evening and still plenty of daylight so we set off to see Mont St Michel. It was a lovely time of day to get some photos and also to get a look without the crowds.
There was information on the work they are doing to alleviate the silting of the tidal flats. The following photo was taken the next day from the abbaye.
We walked along the causeway and after a few photos caught the bus back to the car park at the restaurant then headed back to the gîte.
The second piece of advice given by our hostess was to get to Mont St Michel early and to go directly to the top of the Abbaye and then work our way down, that way we would avoid the tour bus crowds- they work from the bottom up and don’t arrive until a bit later. We would also avoid the many tourist shops and dodgy museums.
The masonry used to build the abbey was brought to the Mont by boat the pulled up the hillside by rope. This treadmill,
just like a hamster wheel, was powered by prisoners in the 19th Century.
The turning wheel hoisted the supply sledge up the side of the mountain.
We spent the morning on Mont St-Michel and then headed back on the shuttle bus to have lunch at one of the many restaurants at the head of the causeway.
Moules et frites.
Mont St-Michel is certainly well worth the visit but avoid all the usual tourist traps when there.
The abbey is steeped in history and you can read about it here or more detailed information here.
Gippsland Granny 
That looks so interesting,and amazing. So many awesome places in the world.The food not not too shabby either!
We had been meaning to go there on our previous trips but didn’t get around to it. I still have to get to Monet’s garden. That is something I have wanted to do each time we go but somehow haven’t got there yet.
I love the French food. A good blog on French food is My French Heaven .
http://www.myfrenchheaven.com/
Firstly, I love the hamster wheel. Secondly, what are you doing in France? I thought you were in Gippsland, Australia. How long will you be in Europe? Lastly, thank you for all those comments and likes on my blog.
We’re not in France at the moment but were there last year for six weeks. We were in France and the UK for a total of three months and during that time I didn’t do any blogging. We tend to travel to the less touristy parts and often there is little or no WIFI access. I made the decision to leave the blogging until we got back. Now each Tuesday I blog about our travels.
Great idea! I try hard to blog while traveling, simply to remind me of my adventures, but, I really do find it hard much of the time because of the lack of wifi. I like the idea of a weekly memory of good times. I am enjoying your blog.
Thank you. I have also found that by doing the blogging of my travels this way it is a good way to relive the experience.
Thanks for the link.
What a spectacular place, did it live up to your expectations?
Yes it certainly did. Sometimes places that have a huge reputation don’t live up to that reputation but in this case the Abbaye was all we expected. The setting is stunning.