Stepping Up and On the Run in Brittany
14.10.2024 18 °C
Climbing the 350 stone steps to the abbey church perched atop Mont St. Michel in Normandy is not for the faint-hearted or weak-kneed. However, more than 3 million people a year visit this venerated site and have already struggled up some 300 steep stairs before climbing the Grand Degre staircase…
Reaching the top is equivalent to scaling a thirty-story building and there are no shortcuts or elevators. It’s a one-way street and once you have started there’s no turning back. (although there are defibrillators stationed at intervals). The uninterrupted views across the sandy bay and surrounding salt marshes gave monks of the cult of Saint Michel protection against more traditional evangelists…
Monks, invaders and visitors previously had to cross a causeway at low tide and risked being swept away, but a bridge now links the island to the mainland. We stayed in the nearby town of Pontorson and arrived ahead of the crowd, but the masses were not far behind. However, the site is so vast that we were able to dodge the guided tours and appreciate the ambience of this ancient place. This is the Guest Hall…
Construction of the Abbey began exactly one thousand and one years ago in 1023AD and various buildings were added over the years. Saint Michel was credited with defeating the Devil and weighing the souls of the dead on Judgement Day. However, he wasn’t so good at protecting buildings. In 1421 the central choir collapsed and during the French Revolution in 1789 the abbey was plundered and stripped of everything of value. It is no longer a religious building and now belongs to the French Government. However, the ghosts of the monks still walk these cloisters…
Walking was the last thing on the mind of thousands of runners taking part in today’s 5km, 10km, and half-marathons through the streets of Rennes, the capital of Brittany, today…
We had no idea that we would be in the city for one of the biggest events of the year. The runners' numbers surpassed 26,000.
Festive bands played along the route and massive crowds cheered them on at every popular spot, but we couldn’t outrun them as we tried to view the sights. They got into our path as they raced pass the numerous half-timbered medieval buildings…
…And then again at the cathedral…
Luckily, we were able to scurry across the road and slip into the cathedral during a short break between some tired runners and we marvelled at its ornate, decorated, nave and altar which noticeably contrasted with the austere interiors of the cathedrals in Caen and Bayeux…
And then we headed back out on the street to join the throngs at the start of the 5km run that included many disabled people…
Rennes is a delightful small city – the smallest city in the world to have a Metro – which, despite bombardments from both sides during WWII, has retained many of its ancient structures including its fortress-like entrance gate…
Fortresses will loom large in our next few days when we visit some of Normandy’s best preserved medieval towns.
Posted by Hawkson 06:50 Archived in France Comments (0)