Mont Saint Michel: A French Abbey

Submitted by Erin Leitner on the 2014 summer session program in Belgium and France sponsored by the Department of English…

“I wanted to explore more, eat more, talk more and see more.”

This week I continued my journey to fulfill this quote from my last blog. Luckily, we were headed to the one place I was most excited for: France. Our plan was to make our way to Normandy and Paris.

After another delicious Belgian waffle and coffee, the group and I made our way to France in the early morning. As we traveled, we bonded over movie trivia, ‘Heads Up!’ and food. I have never met a group that enjoys food as much as I do. We talk about it. All. The. Time. I love it! While a seven hour drive can seem daunting, a good group of friends and conversation makes it a journey. After arriving in Ceaux, my travels into France began.

Our first stop was Mont Saint Michel, an island commune surrounding a towering monastery. Out of all the places that I wanted to see on this program, Saint Michel was my number three (Notre Dame being my first and Moulin Rouge a close second). However, my expectations were met and overachieved by the island…

Okay. So, I’m not very good at the play-by-play type of blog. I like to focus on the feel of places. I focus on the reactions it has to me and I to it. I create characters and storylines for myself as I travel around the world. If you will, I would like to share how I see the world.  Now. Let’s go back to Mont Saint Michel, with a different twist.

Small alleys, pathways and entrances twist and turn their way through the area. Each shop and restaurant is cookie-cutter, but with its own subtle nuisances throughout the design. The steep paths lead to the dark abbey swallowing the small mountain. As I climbed, I imagined I was Robert Langdon from The Da Vinci Code investigating a new mystery hidden at the top of the abbey. The strong, sharp and enormous architecture drew me in and I made sure my camera was tight by my side. This was my time to explore.

View from the bottom of Mont St. Michel
View from the bottom of Mont St. Michel

I could feel the history in the walls and imagined living in that world. The flowering gardens, the musty corridors and the stained glass gave me chills as I wandered along exploring. But, then I saw it. The moment that I had climbed all those stairs for.

THIS:

View from Mont Saint Michel Erin Leitner 14J Belgium France ENGL smThe view from Mont Saint Michel was breath-taking. We stared at it for a long time without talking. It was amazing to see how empty and yet full of life a place could be. (I’ll be honest, I may or may not have pulled a Simba with the YouDee plush). That’s one of the moments that it hit me. I am in Europe. I am in that Old World that I have longed to be a part of for so long. It was perfect. It was such a strong moment and I really felt alive in it. I knew that was where I was supposed to be, but, I also knew there was more to see, more to experience, so we made our way to the place I was most longing to go: Paris.