25 – The Mystery…

Numbers

Where is Robert Langdon when you really need him?

Crossing the expanse of the courtyard outside the abbey, the observant visitor will notice numbers and symbols cut into many of the granite paving stones.  At first I spotted a single number or letter. Was it an 8? Or was it the letter B? And what did it mean? The one thing I was certain about with everything on Mont St Michel was that nothing was insignificant. Everything had its purpose, and so too, I was sure would be these cuts into the cobbled pavers.  With the publication of his runaway bestsellers “The Da Vinci Code” and “Angels and Demons” the links between coded messages, historic French locations and ancient religious sites, especially those with centuries old secrets were never far from my mind. What secrets does Mont St Michel hold – and could these numbers have some deep dark hidden meaning?

I had to catch Segolene our guide, for her wealth of knowledge of the history of the Mont seemed limitless.

“The stones,” she explained, “were cut in quarries some distance from here – their final site - and each batch was marked with a location number for re laying.” Seeing an obvious slight look of scepticism on face, she added, “and the cutters were paid according to the number of stones they shaped. So the numbers were location markers and the letters were the mason’s code determining his wages due.”  I bought the explanation at the time, but still find myself wondering if that is all the meaning the glyphic symbols contain.

And – if Dan Brown ever works these into novel, remember you read the inspiration here first.