Mont Saint-Michel to Nantes

Mont Saint-Michel

This morning, we got to visit Mont Saint-Michel after departing from our nightstop in Avranches. During the drive, we were excited to see the silhouette of the Mont Saint-Michel in the distance through the haze, through the right side of the car.

The road took us through a large sweeping curve before arriving coming to the fortress in a more face-on fashion. We parked our car and walked along the causeway to the enter.

This famous fortified Normandy monastery was built on a rock. Originally it had a natural causeway which was only uncovered during low tide but a raised causeway was built in 1879.

But now, hordes of tourist descend upon it (or maybe ascend) at all times. It is grossly over-touristed for my taste, with shops, bars and cafes doing a roaring trade. Regardless, it still very pretty.

What you see today is a mix of buildings dating from the 11^th to the 20^th Centuries. The usage of the fortification was reversed at times. Instead of keeping people out as a fortress, it was used to keep people in as a prison.

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: Parking and walking to Mont Saint-Michele.

: Near the entranceway.

: As viewed on a postcard.

: Near the entranceway.

: Around Mont Saint-Michele.

: Around Mont Saint-Michele.

: Looking out to the tidal flat.

: Looking out to the tidal flat.

: Around Mont Saint-Michele.

: Around Mont Saint-Michele.

: Looking out to the tidal flat.

: Around Mont Saint-Michele.

: Around Mont Saint-Michele.

: Around Mont Saint-Michele.

: Looking out to the tidal flat.

: Around Mont Saint-Michele.

: The highest point.

: Around Mont Saint-Michele.

: Panorama looking out from Mount Saint-Michele.

: Around Mont Saint-Michele.

: Oh, the humanity.

: Oh, the humanity.

: Oh, the humanity.

: Around Mont Saint-Michele.

: At Mont Saint-Michele.

: At Mont Saint-Michele.

: Mont Saint-Michele.

Lunch in Dinan

We drove about an hour west and had lunch at Dinan, a town in Brittany that’s split in two. One half is along a river while another is on the hilltop with a castle. It was a nice lunch stop and the walk amongst the old town without a million other tourists (as in Mont Saint-Michele) was pleasant.

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: Dinan with its castle in the background.

: Around Dinan.

: Around Dinan.

: Around Dinan.

: Around Dinan.

: Around Dinan.

: Around Dinan.

: Around Dinan.

: Around Dinan.

Nantes’ dark history

From Dinan, we drove a couple of hours towards the south for our nightstop in Nantes. This city in the Loire valley has a dark history. It was the slave trade capital in France and the hub of human trafficking from Africa to the new continent. Over 500000 slaves were shipped on 1744 voyages from 1707 to 1831.

While this is nothing to be proud of, good on them for not sweeping it under the carpet.

The main sight here is The Castle of the Dukes of Brittany. It’s a complex of a variety of styles. The city is also home to a few nice churches which we visited briefly, namely the Basilica of St Nicholas and Église Sainte-Croix.