Mont-Saint-Michel - The Benedictine Abbey

After you go through the church you enter the Cloisters. This was a peaceful area, where the monks could meditate, read the Bible, and tend to their gardens. There were statues of various saints that were carved into the columns, but they were de-faced by the French revolutionaries. In 2001, after more than a millennium as a Benedictine Abbey, the last three monks checked out, and a new order of monks from Paris took over. 

Cloisters

HUGE wood door  

Next we entered the Refectory. This was the dining hall where the monks ate their food and listened to the word of God in silence - one monk read from the Bible during meals. The columns are thin but very deep, allowing maximum light while offering solid support.

Now this is what I call…a FIREPLACE!!

Notice the columns are thin and deep 

These two fireplace must have kept the Refectory very warm

These were the stairs into the Refectory

This was the Guests' Hall. St. Benedict wrote that guests should be welcomed according to their status. That meant that when kings or other VIPS visited, they were wined and dined without a hint of monastic austerity. This room used to have a lot of color and all the windows used to be stained glass. 

Guest Hall

This is the Hall of Grand Pillars. These pillars are 15 feet around which is part of the new crypt. The original collapsed in 1421. 

Hall of Grand Pillars

Crypt of St. Martin

This big treadwheel was in the Ossuary. This part of the abbey housed the hospital, morgue, and ossuary. During the Revolution the abbey was used as a prison. Its first 300 inmates were the 300 priests who refused to renounce their vows. The big treadwheel was used when the abbey was a prison. Two people marched inside the wheel at a time powering two-ton loads of stone and supplies up Mont St-Michel.

The Treadwheel 

another little Chapel

small crypt

You can see in this picture how the abbey was built into the rock

This is the Scriptorium Hall, where monks decorated illuminated manuscripts. This room also had huge fireplaces!

Scriptorium Hall 

Statue of St. Michael

Starting our walk down

The streets were just so cute and tiny. I love medieval villages.

Graveyard for the locals

All these buildings joined each other by a wall or roof. 

I could take pictures of this town all day long!

La Mére Poulard on the left

 Now we are back to the entrance where we came onto the island. The restaurant/hotel on the left of this picture is the famous "La Mére Poulard" (Mother Poulard). Pilgrims have been visiting this place since 1879. Its known for its huge omelets, which are outrageously expensive (at least $25). 

We took the mini bus back to the mainland to have a little rest before dinner. As we were leaving the tide was coming in pretty fast. You can see now all the water on the left side of the island.