The French endpoint of the Channel train is the town of Calais -- initially a quiet coastal port, then a WWII tourist destination and more recently "the jungle" -- a refugee camp for people from the Middle East fleeing war in their home countries (most hoping to make it to Great Britain which recently voted to leave the European Union rather than accept more refugees). With over a hundred thousand people "living" there, (many of them for years) it's become a nightmare for France -- slum conditions, gangs, terrorist infiltration -- and hundreds every month trying to sneak into England via the tunnel (most stowing away on/in trucks/trains with some actually trying to walk through the underground tubes under the English Channel).
The French government just started closing the "camp" and is relocating the refugees to smaller "camps" throughout France. When I passed thru, the only indications of anything going on were the tall cinder block walls topped by barbed/razor wire surrounding the train station -- looked a little ominous.
I headed south out of Calais to an area south of Normandy called Brittany where Abbaye du Mont-Saint-Michael is located. (If the names Normandy and Brittany don't sound particularly "French", it's because these areas -- actually the western half of France and half of Spain -- were part of the United Kingdom for many hundreds years back in the 1100's-1200's. A fact "conveniently" overlooked in US history classes and which partially helps explain Europe's being an almost constant "war zone" for centurys -- and why there's so much tension today in that region.
The Abbaye du Mont St-Michael dates from around 708 AD when a sanctuary was built on top of a mountain on an island off the coast of France (the island is technically a peninsula but every so often, at high tide it becomes totally surrounded by water). Within a relatively short period of time, "miracles" supposedly began happening here and it had became a major pilgrimge site by the early eleventh century. It is absolutely stunning! You can see it from miles away and as you get closer, it gets even more magnificent until it's literally looming over your head in all its glory. Located just offshore, with its back to the ocean and framed against the blue sky, its just unbelievably impressive even if you're not religious.
It was used as a military fortification during the 100 Years War between France and England and was never taken by the English in all that time. Following the French Revolution, it was confiscated by the State and used as a prison, only being partially restored in the late 1800's as an historic monument. People I had met here in France had told me it was a "must see" and they were right. I had planned on being there for an hour -- ended-up staying for four.
You can walk to it over a mile and a quarter long causeway but seeing as it was threatening to rain, I opted for the shuttle bus. It lets you off two hundred yards away and as you walk closer there's a large sign informing you that at such and such time, that portion of the path will be under water so plan your visit appropriately. When the tide comes in, the water can rise over forty feet in under six hours! That's fast.
You enter through a thick stone wall surrounding a Medieval city and find yourself wandering thru a maze of narrow, steep, cobble-stoned streets (lined with "tourist traps" in period houses -- this claims to be the most visited tourist attraction in France) that only go in one direction -- up! I was there mid-week in off-season and the streets were unbelievably crowded. Once you make it thru the city, you arrive at the base of the Abbaye where you start to really climb -- this time worn stone steps. By the time I was half-way up I was sweating my butt off and was waiting for my "second-wind" to kick-in -- with all of the really older and out-of-shape people I'm seeing, I can't believe there aren't more heart attacks/strokes at some of these places -- here they at least had a defibulator half-way up and another at the top.
Fortunately, there are rooms to view (and catch your breath) after you make it half-way up -- gorgeous architecturally (marble and granite columns, vaulted arches, ceilings, statues, etc...) and the views from the terraces and out the windows are worth the "pain". You move from room to room walking on the original rough-cut limestone floors, original glazed tiles (some restored), sitting on original stone benches -- you can easily let your imagination run wild and take you back eight hundred or a thousand years ago.
This abbaye is different from others that I've seen, in that normally, the abbayes spread out their buildings and work spaces horizontally over acres of land -- here they went vertical -- perching huge three story buildings on the outcrops of a mountain. It's a UNESCO World Heritage site and lives up to that billing.
My second-wind finally did kick-in, but with all of the "going-up", you need to come "back-down" -- my legs got quite a workout -- I felt it that evening and the next day! It was definately one of the "highlights" of my time in France.
