The Tour of France Begins

Hi, everyone. Chris and I are on the road and I have lightened my load by leaving my computer in Paris. So I’m doing this on my phone. This is a revised blog with pictures added after we got back to Paris and I was able to use my laptop.

We spent our last two nights in Paris at the apartment of family friends of Chris’s before leaving to avoid the Olympics. We were in the 7th arrondissement, spitting distance from l’Hotel des Invalides and walking distance to the Eiffel Tower. 

Our first stop was Mont Saint Michel and the abbey built on a rock in the bay. I’m so glad Chris mentioned this while I was planning our trip. MSM is a magical place. It looms over the Normandy mainland and the ebb and flow of the tides make it a place of wonder. 

It used to be that one could walk to MSM from the Normandy mainland during the low tide. Because of climate change, low tide is no longer long enough to make the crossing. There is now a bridge. 

We took a tour of the abbey, which was interesting, when we could hear. The tour guide’s mic wasn’t working very well. The guide told us the earliest history of the abbey starts in the 11th century, but there is evidence that the Romans had a hand in building it. There were wars, kings bringing in monks who behaved badly, replacing them with Benedictines, who presumably behaved better, and ultimately abandoned the abbey during the French Revolution. 

The abbey church was renovated at one time (actually made smaller!), leaving a vast open space with a panoramic view of the surroundings. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a picture because our tour was about to start. But after the tour we did get a good view from some lookouts. See pictures on my Facebook page. 

In my opinion, the lookouts were the holiest places at the abbey. When we approached a lookout there was a hush over the area and people lingered as they watched the tides come in and the dry land (really sandbars) disappear. Nature is truly God’s first revelation. See the video on FB.

We stayed at a family hostel in the small town of Pontorson near MSM. It's clearly a very old town. We are getting a deeper sense of just how old history is in Europe and how steeped the culture is in the history. See FB for some pictures of the ancient buildings there, including the hostel. 

Yesterday we arrived in Le Mans, where the order of the Holy Cross Fathers began. Cathedral High School, Chris’s alma mater, was founded by the Holy Cross Fathers. 

We hope also to visit the mother house of the Sisters of Saint Benedict, but that takes  two bus rides, so we’ll see how feasible that is. We’ll be in Le Mans until Monday, so we have plenty of time. 

There is a serious police and military presence in France right now. At the train station there were troops circulating, not just with guns, but with assault weapons, some raised and ready if needed. 

On that cheerful note, I leave you for this week. I hope you are all staying safe and cool.