THREE SAINT'S WAY - DAY SIXTEEN

LA CASERNE TO MONT ST-MICHEL - 2 MILES

Summary:- The final short stage was on a lovely morning and Mont St-Michel is an impressive site behind its protective walls. We arrived early,  went through the old town to the entrance to the religious complex and carried out the grand tour. Walked the walls and then had lunch and in the afternoon took the bus to Pontorson and checked in to a hotel close to the railway station ready for the first stage of the journey home by train. Had an excellent meal in a nearby restaurant.

For some amazing views of Mont St-Michel that you can only get from a drone see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-z_efL-iK24

For a more conventional documentary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zq0axpbPns

Route description:-  Things have changed significantly around Mont St-Michel in recent years. It used to have a tidal causeway road to it and vast car parks partly in the tidal zone and partly just out of it. Now all of that has gone. A channel has been excavated to make it an island, the car parks have been buried in mud. A causeway on piles has been built to allow 24/7 access but private cars and camper vans that used to come in droves now have to park in a park and ride site at La Caserne on the mainland and visitors have to take a shuttle bus to the island or walk along the elevated causeway on wide pavements next to the carriageway. In the picture below you can see the mud that has been deposited to restore the coastal marshland.

 

Before leaving the Hotel Vert we obtained a leaflet of the bus times from Mont St-Michel to Pontorson from the large rack of leaflets and set off early before the coaches arrived. It was no more that 2 miles today, the sun was breaking through to make a beautiful morning for the finish of the walk. In the picture below you can see the road and pavement on piles in the foreground.

It is a walled town as you can see above and there are a double set of entrance gates to go through, below is one of them. Look for the tourist office on entering the gates if you have followed in our footsteps. There you can get an official certificate to record and register the completion of your pilgrimage. Which certificate you get depends on the route that you have taken to get there.

 

Below is a picture taken from high up in the religious complex showing the channel that has been constructed to make it an island across which the elevated causeway crosses to the turning area below the walls.

 

 

Because we were not allowed in the religious centre with our big backpacks we took it in turns to do the tour. There is a set route taking in all the areas open to the public.

 

The church is taken in early on the tour and the picture below is taken from behind the altar.

Just left of centre is the large area in front to the church entrance where you get the first opportunity to enjoy the spectacular views over the bay and back to the mainland. On the side visible in the picture below there is a steep drop down onto the gardens below.

 

The cloisters which have good views from some of the windows around the outside.

 

 

The picture window in the cloisters with the mainland in the background.

 

The refectory is below 

 

Because the religious part is high up they have a large wheel (below) and ropeway up the side of the walls which enables goods to be hauled up.

Below a view out into the bay to the west of the island with the coast we had walked in the background.

 

The tour takes visitors down through the gardens and you can look back up at the massive structure.

 

Below is the view  showing the route that visitors have to climb up to get to the ticket office entrance.

 

The town walls are high, with many steep steps but well worth the effort of exploring. There are views down onto the streets in the town and restaurants directly off the walls lower down.

 

This is a Mont St-Michel omelette a local speciality. It is enormous but the mixture has been whipped up so that it is very light.

 

You can walk right around the island if you set out when the tide is retreating and if you like getting thorough muddy. The picture below shows a couple of coach loads of children making a lot of noise and getting thoroughly muddy.

This is the old town from the walls. We were lucky we had just finished our omelettes in an open courtyard and the heavens opened for a short while which is why everyone in the picture has their cagoules on.

 

Hotel:- Most of the buses leaving Mont St-Michel are the shuttle buses but there is one bus route that goes to Pontorson which has a railways station on the main line from Rennes to Caen or Cherbourg. All the buses turn around near the entrance to the town walls but the bus stops are a little way back down the causeway. On getting to Pontorson we checked into the Hotel au Jardin St Michel at 37 Rue de la Liberation, 50170 Pontorson. Phone +33233601135. We had booked it through Booking.com. On the main road there is the original hotel and restaurant and behind is an extension in motel style. Being remarkably good value yet basic accommodation it is half the price of staying in La Caserne. The advantage to us was it was a short walk in the morning to get the early morning train and there was only one that would enable us to make the connection for the ferry at Caen. There was a restaurant but it was closed. We found about a quarter of a mile away the Restaurant Roi XIV, 14 Rue du Docteur Tizon, 50170 Potorson Telephone 0233690929 www.le-14.com  which was extremely good value for money, served very good food and there was good service. The Restaurant and the hotel got 8.5 out of ten because of their good value for money.

 

The second half of the Three Saint's Way is the 547 kilometres to St Jean d'Angely but that is another trip some when soon I hope. http://pilgrimagepublications.com/pp_2014/three-saints-way/