Mont Saint Michel

A French tourist hotspot

One image defines the tourist infrastructure of parts of Brittany and Normandy, it is Mont Saint Michel. Postcards, table mats, cups and plates, book covers etc contain the image of Mont Saint Michel. Rising above the flood plain of 3 rivers, which drain this region of France, it is one of the most popular destinations in the country.

The abbey, which crowns the rocky islet, was built between the 11th and 16th centuries. Its importance is reflected by the fact that in 1979 it was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Over the years I have visited it several times, but when the opportunity arose to paddle there, this month, we jumped at the chance. The Jersey Canoe Club, were heading out to Chausey, a stunning archipelago off the Normandy coast, on the Tuesday, but a few off us took advantage of the generosity and hospitality of some members of the Granville Kayak Club, to paddle there on the Monday.

The distinctive outline of Mont Saint Michel becoming more defining as the Spring tide sped us towards our destination.

This was a pretty unique place to be kayaking.

The tides are big in this area, think 14 metres big on a large Spring, so the success of any paddle is dependant upon working with the tides. We launched from just the south of Granville, 2 hours 30 minutes before high water, using the last part of the flood tide to assist our journey. The crossing was 8 nautical miles, completed in under 2 hours, including a top speed of 6.5 knots. En route we saw a number of seals, a wide variety of sea birds and I was hit by a mullet ( the fish not the hair style), which decided to leap out of the water at the exact time I was passing.

Up close and personal with a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

These were all minor distractions though, the focus of our attention remained fixed on the looming feature of Mont Saint Michel, rising above the flat landscape, as depicted in so many tourist brochures. We hardly noticed the crossing before making landfall under the northern ramparts of this religious site. We circumnavigated the island, able to pass under the bridge, which now links Mont Saint Michel to the mainland, which replaced the older causeway in 2015. A couple of us went around twice, extra points for the 1000 Islands Challenge on John Willacy’s website Performance Sea Kayak, which is highly recommended. Plenty of information and a number of challenges designed to get you out on the water.

As the tourists disembarked from the buses and the local gendarmes walked past on their way to work, if felt strange to be sitting outside the front door of such an iconic location, having a quick snack. This really was somewhere pretty special to sit for a chocolate bar!

This was a pretty amazing place to land. It did attract a bit of attention from some of the other visitors but we were largely ingnored.

On the main street. The toilets inside were free, those at the gate had a charge!

High water was at 09.45 and by 10.15 it was clear that the plug had been pulled on the tide and it was dropping fast. It wasn’t possible to complete our third circumnavigation of the island as the section under the bridge had dried. We jumped on the ebbing tide, the 8 nautical miles back to the beach passing in 2 hours. Our thoughts focused on the amazing experience we had just had in the company of some really friendly French kayakers.

Once the kayaks were back on the car we celebrated in that most appropriate French way with “une Galette Complet et un pression”. The conversation already turning towards the next few days on Chausey. The next instalment of our French kayaking holiday.