Gee this is a great day. Too many tourists in the end. The big tip here is that is you want to beat the crowds making just a day trip, then arrive early. I arrived about 9:30am and it was probably just about the right time. It took me about 2 hours before I completed the actually monestary tour itself. By the time I was out in the little street of tourist shops again it was packed to the rafters. From about 12:30pm until when I left at 2pm it was standing room only around all the restaurant entrances. All I wanted to do was leave. But I had to wait for the La Poste to reopen just so I could send a postcard.Seriously if there is one country you want to get working rights to its France. Post offices in tourist centres closing from 12:30pm to 1:30pm is merely the tip of the iceberg. This is what I've learnt. The French get the normal 4 weeks a year of leave. Sure sounds no different. But there's more. They only work to a official 35 hour week. But they don't officially work shorter days. So if they would be working the normal 9 to 5:30pm 8 hour day (with half hour lunch) this means they accrue an extra 4 hours a week of leave. So by the time this adds up they actually accrue an extra day of leave every 2 weeks. That's an extra 26 days a year, or once added about an extra 5 weeks a year. It partly explains why France just shuts down in August.
The whole environmental issue relating to the island is interesting. They had previously built a permanent land crossing in the 1950s or so. Anyway they have realised the error of their ways, the fact that this was changing the natural environment expanding out the Mont. So to repair the damage they've made the causway into a bridge so the tides can wash out the sediment. Therefore the island that is the Mont will return to being surrounded by water at high tide. For the moment there are reminants of the old car park that floods at high tide. To keep the convenience of the Mont for the tourist they offer free buses from the main land which depart every 3 mins during the day. The fact they offer buses every 3 minutes helps you understand just how busy this place gets.
The Monestary is absolutely marvelous. The amount of work that went into it's construction. Stone by stone. One of the highlights to me was the hanging garden. A little oasis of greenery where you would not have expected, and indeed an escape for those who lived here.
My accommodation for my visit was a small Airbnb Bed and Breakfast residence in the village of Beauvior. It's litterally the last place before the tourist centres. I litterally had to just walk less than 2 km to the bus stop to be picked up. Being my first ever Airbnb host I was interested to find out how they had been enjoying the experience and how they hosted. They were having a ball. The stories they had of how they got there and the process of building the house was good. It had only been 3 months they had been offering Bnb rooms, and the house itself was totally derilict only a year before. The locals were all for the development, and the neighbours had all benefited through better sewerage etc. I got to hear about the whole process. It's these personal stories I loved.Anyway the village area down near the river had all the caravan parks. The place I stayed was just a few hundred metres further from the river. Very important I found on the 1st night. The mossies were vampires. As soon as the sun went down about 8:30pm they launched their attacks upon the dining restuarant guests. Luckily I was at dessert by then. I enjoyed the slap dance put on as everyone in vain attempted to warn the mossie's brethren of their fate if they attacked. But the mossies didn't care. It was a feeding frenzy at end of the summer. They knew it would not be long before the tourist would return to eating indoors.
If you want to learn more about the Mont then view here:
http://www.ot-montsaintmichel.com/index.htm?lang=en
No comments:
Post a Comment