Last week we took our annual beach holiday on the Normandy coast with our grandchildren, to get away from the sweltering heat of Lyon. This time, we took a cottage further down the coast, instead of in the vicinity of Honfleur, which we usually do. The sleepy village which got to experience the full blast of our three granddaughters throwing tantrums and generally raising hell was Dragey-Ronthon. Poor perishers.
Dragey-Ronthon is in the Bay of Saint-Michel, just 16km as the crow flies from the celebrated island-abbey of Saint-Michel, the second biggest tourist attraction in France after Eiffel Tower.
Blandine found us this lovely Norman cottage, which we hired for the week...
Here we all are, our first look at the beach, a short drive from the cottage. It is cloudy and a cool wind is blowing, a refreshing change from the baking 32C back home.
Here is our first look at Mont Saint-Michel, across the bay.
Mont Saint-Michel, as you might know, is a 9th Century Abbey on a semi-island that gets completely cut off from the mainland at high tide, but can be accessed by a pathway at low tide. We did drive down to Mont Saint-Michel one day, obviously. But we did not enter the walls of the abbey. We had already toured it extensively a few years ago, when I first came to France, and the thought of entering again those narrow, claustrophobic lanes bursting at the seams with tourists was enough to quail the stoutest heart.
Instead, we did something we hadn't done the first time. We joined a guided tour of the mudflats surrounding the abbey at low tide. You need a guide as the mudflats are full of sinkholes and you can quickly get trapped if the tide comes in too quickly.
Here are the photos I took of Mont Saint-Michel from all directions during our tour. Barefoot, I might add, toes squishing in the gooey, slimy mud!
First, here is a shot of Mont Saint-Michel across a meadow with haystacks while we were driving there.
Here are shots from various angles, during our walk around the abbey.
A little hillock from across Mont Saint-Michel, that has a romantic legend associated with it. It is supposed to be the grave of a princess who committed suicide in the bay when she got news of the death of her beau in a battle sometime during the 100 Years War between the French and the English.
Here is a shot from the garden of a farm not far from our cottage, where you can enjoy the most delicious farm-made ice cream while admiring Mont-Saint-Michel and the bay. By the way, if you are in this region, don't forget to check out this farm. It's some of the best ice cream I have ever had, outside of Italy. It's called "Sol Roc glace de la ferme"
Here is the Google maps link: https://maps.app.goo.gl/tZ4m1XTRzykWCos38
Another couple of shots from the beach near our cottage, at low tide.
