Known as one of the must-see spots in France, Mt Saint-Michel is not only magnificent but also an important religious monastery. The construction marks one of the rare appearances of archangel Micheal on the earth, according to myth and folktale. It’s also my favorite tourist place in France, its shape encourages me to visit France to watch with my own eyes, at least for once.
I still remember it vividly, the date I saw an advert on France’s most famous and beautiful sites 3 years ago. There came the first image of Mont Saint-Michel – the third most visited landscape in the country. Much as I enjoyed the short introduction to the island, I promised myself to pay this magical destination a visit after the COVID-19 pandemic ends. On a sunny day in October 2023, I was there, after a long route from Paris, just to find out that it was much more I once saw on social media.
Taking the Ouigo train TGV from Gare Montparnasse (Montparnasse Station) for approximately 2 hours, I arrived at Rennes in the early morning. Known as the main city of Bretagne, Rennes is quite small and more peaceful than Paris, the capital of the country. Just some meters from Rennes Station lies the KEOLIS bus – one of some private buses that operate the route along Mont Saint Michel and Rennes.
In fact, I almost gave up visiting this site in October due to the unavailability of a connection from Paris, until I found out about this bus line. There is, one train departing from Gare Montparnasse daily to Villedieu-les-Poêles. Then you need to transfer to a bus from there, just to reach the Mont Saint Michel parking bay. This is really troublesome, which is only convenient if you have more than 1 day visiting the site, since it takes more than 4 hours in total with this journey, for just one way!!! Not to mention the way back to Paris, I was upset at how difficult it was to reach the place.
Then, fortunately, I found some bloggers recommend tourists use the route Paris – Rennes – Mont Saint Michel instead as they operate the route more frequently with up to 4 journeys a day from and to Mont Saint Michel. They have a seasonal schedule, so you may want to check their website at this link to know more about it. A return ticket costs around 30 Euros only (10/2023), even at a much more affordable rate compared to trains of TGV. Meanwhile, the trip took me only 3 hours in total from Paris to Mont Saint Michel.
Besides, there are more daily trains from Paris to Rennes than to Villedieu-les-Poêles. The train ticket cost me 35 Euros only, as they are operated by TGV Ouigo – a cheaper sub-brand of TGV. But you are unable to select the seat yourself and the ticket is only ready in 3 days before the departure. You are also not allowed to bring more than 1 piece of check-in luggage within this price. But in my experience, none checked mine last time.
On the way to Mont Saint Michel, the KEOLIS bus runs along some countryside roads that I really enjoy watching. I had never known anything about France’s cottages until I saw some on that date. After 1 hour, finally, I was at the parking of the bus. It dropped me there and then returned to Rennes immediately.
Remember to always be at the same station at least 30 minutes before your departure to check in with the bus driver, or else you will be stuck at Mont Saint Michel as there are not many means of public transportation to reach this place. Another way you may consider is to buy a package of a joint group from Paris, around 50-150 Euro for an 8-9-hour-day trip.
From the parking to the start of the bridge, you will find this. It is among one of the best viewing locations to the island
After opting to walk for more than 40 minutes (though you may want to sit on a bus, but believe me, walking through the connecting bridge of Mont Saint-Michel is a must to view the site from a distance), I finally reach the other side of the bridge.
Be careful with the tides, there will be some days when the tides are high, and walking from the bridge to the island foot is quite challenging due to the tides. But I’m lucky enough to arrive on a low-tide day.
The island welcomes me with stores and restaurants on the main street, which really brings a vibe of traveling back to medieval times. Firstly, from the other side of the bridge, the island seems to be so huge and overwhelming!
Tourists are flocking around the shops to look for their favorite souvenirs at Mont Saint-Michel. From my observation, most of them sell the same items such as mugs, clothes printed with Mont Saint-Michel or France images and texts, key chains, figures, snowglobes, and some traditional and regional products of Normandy namely cookies, butter, candies, and boxes of sugar.
Having a chance to visit Mont Saint Michel, one should not miss the island’s signature dish – La Mere Poulard Omelette – an omelet cooked by Mother Poulard, which has become the most famous dish of the site. Pricey as the restaurant is, I chose another one on the ramparts. There is a restaurant named La Nouvelle Terrasse. And this is by far the smartest decision of my own.
Though the price of each dish is really expensive, saying that this place is a famous tourist site with just some restaurants around, I’m still satisfied with the dishes they offer. Onion soup costs 11 Euros, Roasted chicken with french fries costs 30 Euros Spaghetti Bolognese costs 23 Euros and a bowl of Normandy mussels costs 30 Euros. I traveled with 2 more friends, which is an advantage as I did share with them the food. Of course I did order La Mere Poulard Omelette. It was more than tasty as it’s fluffy, fulfilling, and huge enough to fit 3 persons for 25 Euro for just a fried egg!!!
I awarded myself with some jogging along the ramparts of Mt Saint-Michel. It was then that I thought this monastery was by far, assembled Hogwarts castle in Harry Potter. As a fan of this Fictionary, there is nothing better than enjoying the view of the Atlantic Ocean, particularly the Manche sea, with a theme song of Harry Potter, dreaming of myself turning to be a student of Hogwarts, though, in reality, the island is a religious site haha. I must admit that I forgot to visit the Abbey, one of the main structures of the island. It costs around 10 Euros to enter the abbey, but when I was there, it seemed like so many tourists wanted to enter the site, which made me uncomfortable to join them on the top of the island. Still, I enjoyed the moment at its best, not really caring about the abbey.
But the most interesting part is not over yet. Heading to one of the most beautiful viewpoints towards Mont Saint-Michel that I have found in some travel blogs, I convinced myself what I was doing, was not crazy, as I almost walked for 30 minutes or more, to reach the starting of the viewpoint. It was one of the rare moments that I enjoyed so much when I was on the road walking toward the spot on Google Maps named Meandro.
Along the countryside road, there is hardly any car passing by but some great viewpoints of Mont Saint-Michel from different angles. One of the best must be a field of wildflowers like the one below, that I almost said WOW! As it’s so gorgeous.
The field lies next to a regional products shop named – Produits Regionaux LEFRANC Farmshop which is shown on Google Maps. From this location, just walk straight for more than 15 minutes and you will reach the first barrier toward Meandro. Entering the field is allowed but you must remember to close the wooden door right after that and respect the shepherds as well as the flocks of sheep, please!
Meandro, where you will find the most beautiful viewpoint of Mont Saint-Michel
Closing the door behind me, the whole farm belongs to me and some couples taking wedding photos themselves. Walking for 5 more minutes to get to Meandro, I was really excited with the view. When I was there, the place was dry. This might be because the day does not have high tides. But the view is still superb with the background of Mont Saint-Michel behind. I prefer this location to the bridge connecting Mt Saint-Michel since you will have the view yourself without any obstacles of people walking around.
The best is yet to come, just walking straight for 10 minutes, you will be awarded with a better view of sheep gazing on the farm. Remember to stay away from them or else you will scare them and it should be a problem with the shepherds. That is, by far, my favorite view of the island of all time. It was really worth 40 minutes walking from the car park to this location on the map To enjoy the most of it, I took some photos with a background (who does not want to have those photos right?) and then just sat there, on the ground.
Closing my eyes, my ears were full of winds blowing from the Atlantic Ocean, my nose could smell the freshness of the grass, and my mind thought about how I tried my best to reach here. Turning the song Fairytale, performed by Alexander Rybak on, I was more than touched to witness everything, to see Mt Saint-Michel with my naked eyes. It’s true, I did it, I was there with my own money. It’s exactly what I would to yell to the air, to all those struggles, and tiring days of work that I have been through. Right then and right here, there will be no more exhausting months, just me and the marvelous landscape in front of me. But, after all, I still had to say goodbye to Mt Saint-Michel and came back to Paris for Luxembourg the next day.
Hardly could I describe how I felt at the moment the KEOLIS bus took me back to Rennes. After all, Thank you, Mt Saint-Michel, for treating me so nicely with a sunny day and all those beautiful memories. Once you have a chance to visit France, please just pay this island a visit. It just took you 3 hours from Paris but what you get back, maybe more than you have ever thought. Au Revoir, Mt Saint-Michel
Saimon's Paths 