32 – The subtlety of leadlight…

Inside the abbey

We first saw this style of window art above the abbey church doorway. It appears colourless, especially as I mentioned, when compared the rich hues and pictorial style of the work in Chartres Cathedral, Notre Dame and St Chapelle – the latter two in Paris. In effect most Gothic churches have windows that will be memorable for their detail and depth of colour. The work in the church and chapels of Mont St Michel has a different kind of beauty. 

If you haven’t yet worked it out, clicking on images on this site will display a larger version than the version shown on each blog entry. I suggest you examine this one especially, in larger format to gain a better appreciation of the subtlety of the light colouring and pattern detail. 

The monastic simplicity and elaborate patterning of the lead work here is what makes me recall these magnificent windows as easily as I can visualise those in the aforementioned places. They also help with that unity of the Gothic and Romanesque architectural styles we have looked at and discussed in the two earlier posts.

20 – Going up, going down …

On the stairs

I believe there are some nine hundred stairs on the way up to the abbey. I never counted - but recalling climbs up the Arc de Triomphe and Pantheon in Paris (where I did) this seems entirely plausible. In addition there are the ascending streets and ramps, there is the Grand Outer Staircase and the Grand Inner Staircase, and then there are just the ordinary stairs those in the towers and on the ramparts. In other words – you will need a bit of stamina getting to the top.

The abbey and church of Mont St Michel remain Roman Catholic, so it was no surprise to encounter nuns and priests along the way to the abbey. For over a century these would have been of the Benedictine order, but today (and since 2001) the resident clergy on the Mont are of the Monastic Fraternities of Jerusalem. Driven out of the abbey at the time of the Revolution and with much property of the church seized by the atheistic government of the day, the island was used as a prison from around 1793 for some seventy years. Amongst the first inmates were around 300 priests refusing to renounce their vows to God. Ironically the early hermit monks would have chosen this retreat for its isolation and solitude – something they wouldn’t get much of today with the Mont’s annual turnout of some three and a half million visitors.

03 – Leaving Paris

The start of the Journey ....

Mont Saint-Michel lies on the coast of France right on the border of Brittany and Normandy (more about that later), some 350 kilometres from Paris, making a one day visit from the city a real possibility. I had considered hiring a car and driving there myself but. remembering earlier experiences of driving in France (where, for me,  they drive on the wrong side of the road), I opted rather to join one of the daily guided bus excursions leaving the city in the very early morning, and returning later the same day to arrive back in Paris in the evening.

I also wanted to enjoy the scenery as we wended our way through the provincial countryside and villages, taking in some of the sights already familiar from watching televised coverage of the annual Tour de France cycle race. The trade off is of course that you cannot stop at will and explore these fascinating smaller towns and villages; but one bonus of the tour I selected was a stop en-route for breakfast at Carrouges, a family owned chateau in the Brittany countryside. (Although it will be sequentially incorrect I’ll cover Carrouges at the end of my journey’s record. Today’s image is therefore just a preview – the breakfast room awaiting our arrival at Carrouges).

And so it was that I left my hotel on the Boulevard Victor (chosen for its convenience to Porte de Versailles and the Paris Motor Show - see previous post) crossing the Boulevard to the nearby Métro station at around five o’clock in the morning. The metro train coaches were (unusually) almost empty even on arrival in the city centre. The bus was to leave from the Rue de Rivoli. It was already there, engine idling – the odour of it’s diesel fumes already contributing to the city’s smells. Gradually the coach filled with tourists, our guide boarded and we set out.

With my not being a morning person at all, it would take something very special to get my own engine started at this time of the day.

Indeed it turned out to be so.

02 – the Mondiale

The motor show ....

It may seem strange to start my story of Mont Saint-Michel with an insert on the exhibition centre at the Porte de Versailles, but on this trip I had come primarily to visit the Mondiale de l’Automobile (Paris Motor Show). If you followed my first Parisian visit through Paris…In My Pocket! you will have realised I wouldn’t need much of an excuse to return to the city.  

Beyond my childhood dream of seeing Mont Saint-Michel, one of the other items on my personal ‘bucket list’ has been to do the three main European Motor Shows (Paris, Geneva and Frankfurt), and this was the year for Paris to have her turn (Paris and Frankfurt politely alternate hosting two of Europe’s major motor exhibitions). With my Audi due for replacement and the four ringed German marque having just revealed it’s then still controversial new face PLUS - with the model of the RSQ Concept (seen in the movie iRobot) being Audi’s guest of honour - AND a rumour that the next Le Mans supercar prototype (now known in production as the covetable R8) may be on display - this seemed the obvious year to check that particular motor show box.

But that would fill a day, or probably two, leaving my planned week long visit with quite a few days open to fulfil some other long held wishes. Of course I’d have to revisit many of my favourite Paris city sites, but the further choices I had made were to visit:

Chartres (for the legendary stained glass windows of the cathedral),

Some of the Loire Valley châteaux and champagne estates

… and of course …

Mont Saint-Michel.

That image from the stamp just would not go away.

Not that I wished it would!