Normandy-9/28/2015 - 10/1/2015

Trouville Caen-Arromanches American Cemetery Pointe du Hoc Mt. Saint Michel Dinner in Honfleur

Le Mont St  Michel, Normandy

The arrival/Lunch Walking up The abbey The cloister More rooms & exit

Crypte Saint Martin

The Crypt of Saint Martin retains its original appearance having undergone no alterations since its construction around 1030-1040. The Crypt of Saint Martin serves as a foundation for the south arm of the transept of the abbey church.

 

It rises out of a wide sandy bay with one of highest tide in Europe. The tides can vary as much as 15m and the car park can be under water so time your visit.Just to update you since our first visit a lot of work as been done to stop the flooding of the car park. - See more at: http://www.a-taste-of-france.com/mont-st-michel.html#sthash.mpf85s6K.dpuf
It rises out of a wide sandy bay with one of highest tide in Europe. The tides can vary as much as 15m and the car park can be under water so time your visit.Just to update you since our first visit a lot of work as been done to stop the flooding of the car park. - See more at: http://www.a-taste-of-france.com/mont-st-michel.html#sthash.mpf85s6K.dpuf

The Crypt consist of a single straight nave some 29 feet wide, spanned by a barrel vault, reinforced by a powerful transverse arch, and a small vaulted apse that is in face a perfect quarter sphere. Light creeps shyly into this crypt through small Roman arched windows pierced into the thickness of the walls

 

Grande Roue (The Huge wheel)

Following the dissolution of the religious community during the Revolution, and until 1863 the abbey was used as a prison. This wheel was installed around 1820 in order to hoist provisions to the prisoners held in the abbey when it was turned into a prison. It is a replica of the pulleys used for hoisting building materials in the Middle Ages.

 

View of the Abbey from the cloister (Cloister is below the church).

 

 

A bas relief by sculpture Auguste Barre, which dates to  around 1860 and depicts the dream of St. Aubert.

The sculpture was originally adorned the tympanum of the abbey church's south portal and was moved to the foot of the stairs in 1991

Chapelle of Saint Etienne -12th and 13th centuries

Located between the cemetery and the infirmary which collapsed in 1818 the Chapel of Saint Etienne quite naturally served as a mortuary chapel. 

On the left is a 15th century sculpture of la Pieta donated by the Friends of Mont Michel.  AT the base of the altar (center) stonecutter carve an Alpha and Omega, the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, which symbolize God in the words of the book of Revelation: " I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the beginning and the end"

The North-South Chairs - 11th century

The Chapel of Saint Etienne is adjacent to the North-South stairway leading to the south aisle of the abbey church.

 

The steps were rebuilt in 1908 but retained much of the its authenticity, owing to the extended barrel vault which remains horizontal rather than following the slope of the steps.

To the right a door leads to the Pre-Romanesque church.

Promenoir des moines- Monk's ambulatory -11th, 12th and 13th centuries

The hall was named the Promenoir des Moines in the 19th century when it was mistaken thought to have served as a cloister prior to the 13th century.  Actually, no one is certain about the Promenoir's original function.  It may have been a vestibule leading to the Romanesque monastery; it may have served as a reading room, a scriptorium for monks, or as an assembly hall or refectory.  So few original elements have survived that it is impossible to decide.

In the 11th century the ceiling was probably a simple affair of wood, but it was replaced early in the 12th century with a Romanesque groined vaults supported by a row of five central columns.  Then in the late 12th century, early 13th century these early vaults were replaced in turn by the intersecting ribbed vaults one sees today.

Details on columns

 

We are now on our way out....

Exterior facade

 

On top is the three bays in the cloister's western wall. You got to see the interior recently.

View of the top of the Abbey from the Western wall

Built to last....

 

View of the Island as we are walking out...

Nice path leading to the exit.  The exit door is minuscule.

The exit/entrance of the Abbey start with this little drawbridge  hinged at one end so that it may be raised to prevent people's crossing or to allow vessels to pass under it.

 

Next... Dinner in Honfleur

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