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Thinking of our next destination: Italy and Portugal come to mind, or maybe the time has finally come for a US road trip…

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Mont Saint Michel: The Village

(vero;2018-August-31)

The Mont Saint Michel is not only the abbey. Although many inhabitants have left with most houses now converted into businesses or hotels, the last census of 2015 counted fifty permanent residents, including five monks and seven nuns. The old houses, the steep and narrow lanes, the overpowering presence of the abbey, the parish church and its cemetery are all witnesses of the past of the village.

Detail of the so-called “House of the Artichoke” (spot the artichoke crowning the roof). In the background, the abbey church with the golden statue of the Archangel Michael on top of the spire.

The roman chapel Saint Aubert, honouring Aubert d'Avranches who went on building an oratory on the Mont after the apparition of the Archangel Michael.

Statue of Saint Aubert standing on the gable of the chapel.

The abbey and its spire seen from outside the ramparts.

Shadow of the Mont on the sand of the bay.

Fortified architecture to protect an abbey at the end of the world.

The abbey seen from the north-east. From left to right: Belle-Chaise (administrative buildings of the abbey), the two round towers of the Châtelet with flags on their top below the gothic Chevet (apse), the pointy Corbin tower and the Merveille (name given to the gothic buildings in the northern part of the abbey).

You've probably read that we are not impressed by the Mère Poulard operation.

Go back to Le Mont Saint Michel or go on to Mont Saint Michel: Le Mont by Night or go up to Places