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Mont Saint Michel

Mont Saint Michel

Mont Saint Michel is an abbey built on an island that used to be isolated at high tide, established by a bishop after seeing a vision from the Archangel Michael (hence its name).

Why Did We Go?

Mont Saint Michel is one of those iconic places that looks fantastic in a photo, making it a must see on many people’s to do lists.  The idea of being able to see it, when we may never return to this part of France meant we had to visit.  We chose a day trip from Paris.  It was a very long day, with a three and a half hour journey each way, and four hours spent at Mont Saint Michel.

We were very lucky to have a good guide for this trip and her descriptions of the Mont and the Abbey were excellent.  A huge bonus was the headphones, as she could talk to all of us, despite the huge crowds and noise.

The Bus Trip

It was long.  It was boring.  The rest stop was at a roadhouse service station.  The sort of generic ones you see everywhere.  The queue for the toilets was huge and took most of the available time.  Trying to buy food and drinks was equally hopeless.  Fortunately, we brought our own, so were well supplied.

When you arrive, the tour has organised lunch in one of the restaurants.  If you are not on an organised tour, there a several places to eat before going out to the Mont.  There is a row of shops on either side of the road by the car park. These sell food and a wide range of souvenirs.  I would suggest eating here as the food on the Mont itself is overpriced (unless you really want to have a meal over there).

Shuttle Bus

There are two ways to get out to the Mont itself.  The causeway is set up for pedestrians, so if you have time you can walk.  However, there is a shuttle bus that runs across.  As we were with a tour and had to stay together, we all took the shuttle.  Well, we took two as the first was crowded and we could not all fit on.

Mont Saint Michel

The tour through the Abbey and ramparts was fascinating.  Without a tour guide, or lots of prior knowledge, we would have wandered around, but missed many points of interest.  The outside is just like you see in the photos, an Abbey perched on top of a small island.  The interior though is quite spartan, with most furnishings missing.  Without a guide, the function and history of each room would be a mystery.

Mont Saint Michel
Mont Saint Michel
The Abbey
The Abbey

The Village

Well, it’s more of a street and any similarity to Medieval times is the way the shop keepers try to swindle money out of you.  It is the typical tourist trap.  The street is full of gift shops selling poor quality overpriced items and restaurants selling overpriced food and beer.

The Village Street
The Village Street

The Ramparts

The Abbey’s walls are a place not to be missed because the views across the bay and to the Atlantic are very good.  Walking around the walls also gives a great impression of how impregnable this would have been.  A great spot to take some spectacular photos.

What Did We Think?

We really liked the Abbey and its setting.  It is no wonder that it is UNESCO listed.  The bus trip however was too long.  What we should have done, was plan a longer stay in Normandy and combined our trip to the D-Day battlefields and our trip to the Loire Valley Chateaux.  We would have seed far more and spent less time on a bus.

Normandy D-Day Battlefields

Memorial Omaha Beach

To get to the Normandy D-Day battlefields, we booked a bus trip through a well-known internet site.  The trip was 14 hours in duration, with about three and a half each way journey from Paris.  When lunch and other times are taken out, we had about four hours in Normandy.  The tour touched on most of the major D-Day sites, but only that.  We would have appreciated more time to explore for ourselves.  As a result, we would have enjoyed ourselves more had we stayed in the area and combined this with other attractions, or tours we did, such as Mont Saint Michel.

Why Did We Go?

The D-Day landings and battlefields are historically very important and seeing them first hand would give us a good understanding of what happened.  It would also allow us to see the American Memorial near Caen, where many of the soldiers are buried. 

Our holiday was on a tight timeframe, so we did not have the time to see all of Normandy and experience what it had to offer.  Instead, we decided to do the bus trip.  It would take us to the specific areas of interest for D-Day and we could see the other aspects of Normandy on a return visit.

Unfortunately, we re-discovered that bus trips can be hit and miss, missing some sites, or limiting time at them.

Caen Memorial

The Caen Memorial has film and photographic exhibits covering World War Two, with an emphasis on D-Day.  This was all very interesting and comprehensive.  We specifically liked the underground bunker that exists on the same site.  You are able to walk through it at your own pace and see the displays of how it was set up to control the German troops in the area.

D-Day Museum Flags Normandy D-Day Battlefields
D-Day Museum Flags

For anyone wanting to know the story of D-Day and the preceding years of World War 2, this is an excellent place to visit.  You should probably go here before visiting the D-Day sites in the area.

Pointe du Hoc

This is the area where high cliffs with fortified gun emplacements overlooked the invasion beaches.  American Rangers scaled these cliffs on D-Day morning and disabled them, enabling the invasion to be a success.  Several of the gun emplacements are still intact, to you get to see a genuine fortification and what the soldiers had to contend with.  More impressive is looking over the cliffs to see what they had to scale before assaulting the guns.

German Bunker Omaha Beach Normandy D-Day Battlefields
German Bunker Omaha Beach
Omaha Beach Today Normandy D-Day Battlefields
Omaha Beach Today

The bunkers can be entered, giving you the viewpoint of the defending Germans.  The surrounding area has generally been left untouched so that the effect of the allied bombardment can be seen and many bomb craters are still visible.

Omaha Beach

We walked down to Omaha Beach where we could look up to some of the cliffs overlooking the invasion beach.  In 1944 these would have been defended by German soldiers.  This perspective really drives home what the Rangers had to climb to reach the German fortifications.  The beach is very peaceful now with no signs of what happened over 70 years ago.  Some Americans in the group took samples of sand home with them.

Omaha Beach Today Normandy D-Day Battlefields
Omaha Beach Today
Canadian Memorial Juno Beach Normandy D-Day Battlefields
Canadian Memorial Juno Beach

American Cemetery and Memorial near Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer

This is the final resting place of nearly 10,000 members of the US military. The cemetery overlooks Omaha Beach, where many of them fell.  The graves of many men who were killed in the surrounding area are also here.  There is a stunning sculpture of a soldier ascending to heaven as you enter the cemetery.  This sets an excellent atmosphere for the rest of the memorial.  It is a very peaceful place, with the numerous rows of headstones set in beautiful gardens.  Many of the graves hold the body of an unknown soldier, with the inscription stating that they are known only unto God.

US War Cemetery Memorial Omaha Beach Normandy D-Day Battlefields
US War Cemetery Memorial Omaha Beach
US War Cemetery Omaha Beach Normandy D-Day Battlefields
US War Cemetery Omaha Beach

Juno Beach

Juno Beach is where a combined British and Canadian army landed.  The Canadian Memorial consists of a howitzer, and stylised sculpture of two soldiers and flags of the participating Canadian Provinces.  We walked on the sand, which was very peaceful unlike June 1944.

Memorial at Juno Beach Normandy D-Day Battlefields
Memorial at Juno Beach
Howitzer at Juno Beach Normandy D-Day Battlefields
Howitzer at Juno Beach

Arromanches Harbour

We had hope to stop here and inspect the remains of the artificial harbour, as it was on of the great planning and engineering feats of the invasion.  Unfortunately, being on a bus trip and constrained by time tables, we were running late and had to miss this part, so only saw it as we drove by.

This is one of the great drawbacks of participating in a bus trip.  An area of specific interest to you can be missed, and cut from the tour due to circumstances.  Had we been travelling by ourselves, this would have been something we would not have missed.

What Did We Think?

What we saw was excellent.  From the Memorials to the fortifications and the beaches, we gained a great understanding of the events of June 1944.  If we had more time, spending more time in the area and not travelling back to Paris in the same day would have been better.  We would have combined this with our trip to Mont Saint Michel and the Loire Valley Chateaux.

Bus trips will always be problematic, as you can’t control who you go with, or the time-table if things go wrong.

Provins

Provins City Wall

Provins is a small medieval village about 90 minutes by train from Paris.

Why Visit?

The main attraction is the unspoilt nature of the many buildings as well as the city walls and Cesar Tower.  For younger visitors, there are also shows with knights and falcons.  We found this was an opportunity go see some of the French countryside, without going too far from Paris, as the train passes many small villages and farms

How to Get To Provins

The train runs from Gare de l’Est. We had a seven-day metro pass which covered this fare as well.  Without the pass, the normal price of the ticket is 11.50 Euros one way.  As the price of the seven-day pass was 30 Euro, we almost made our money back in one return trip.  Travel time was a nice relaxed 90 minutes.  The train was comfortable, clean and quiet.

At Provins railway station, there is a shuttle bus that will take you to the tourist office, or you can walk into town and explore on the way.  It was a nice day, so we chose to walk.  It didn’t take too long, but on a wet day, or if it’s too hot, take the bus.

Train Route to Provins
Train Route to Provins

What to See in Provins

The highlight of the town, is the old medieval buildings.  Walk around the old streets and admire them.  We spent some time doing this, before having a coffee near the old market square, where there a few places to get a drink and a meal.  We found that the total walk time between all of the attractions was about 40 minutes.  However, more time is needed as you back track and go to look at other interesting buildings.

Walking Around Provins
Walking Around Provins

Provins Street
Provins Street

La Tour Cesar

This 12th century castle overlooks the town and surrounding countryside.  It is very well preserved and you can access the whole complex right up to the bell tower.  The climb really is part of the adventure and is highly recommended.  The stairways can be quite narrow and steep in places, giving a great feeling for the people who had to climb up and down them when the castle was inhabited. 

Cesar Tower Provins
Cesar Tower Provins

You enter the bell tower and see the bronze bells, and the pigeons that now inhabit the roof tops.  The views out over Provins and the countryside are worth the climb.

St Quiriace Church From Cesar Tower
St Quiriace Church From Cesar Tower

The rooms within the castle are also quite small, even the Count’s, who ran the whole town. Space was at a premium and no one seems to have had a spacious bedroom or quarters.

Eglise Saint-Quiriace

This is a community church in Provins that has an active congregation.  When you enter remember that this is a place of worship, so be respectful.  It really needs renovating inside, as the ravages of the last 850 years have not been kind. This doesn’t detract from reasons to visit however but makes it more interesting.  The old interior is in such a marked contras to the large cathedrals of Paris, that it makes it more interesting and gives it a welcoming feel.

St Quiriace Church Provins
St Quiriace Church Provins

The Saint-Jean’s Gate and The Ramparts

The city gate and walls (ramparts) are what makes Provins famous.  They are remarkably intact and very impressive.  It is near the gate that the Legend of the Chevaliers and Eagles of the Ramparts shows are performed.  We did not stay to see either, but they are aimed more at children.

Provins City Wall
Provins City Wall

Provins City Wall Tower

Not far from the gate is the local tourist office.  This is a great stop if you want to find out about any new events that are on while you visit as well as being great for souvenirs.

What Did We Think?

A really great day trip out of Paris.  Provins is very well preserved and demonstrates what a medieval town was like.  There is plenty to keep you occupied and enough restaurants and cafes to provide a good variety for everyone.  Highly recommended.