Mont St Michel

The cloister is a place of prayer and meditation where a monk may walk or sit by himself to read an mull over the word of God. Providing a link, between heaven and earth. The cloister has been referred to as the “Merveille” (the marvel) serves this purpose to perfection. It is also the center around which the principal buildings of an abbey are organized. It stand on the same level as the church, where the monks pray seven times a day, and it is connected to all of the monastery's major halls.

At Mont St. Michel the cloister was constructed of the third storey of La Merveille, over the vaults of the Salle des Chevaliers (we will see later).

The entire upper portion of the wall is in Caen stone, pale yellow rock that enabled the stone carvers to give a free reign to their skills.

The columns were originally carved in shelly limestone form England. Only a few have survived, most were replaced in the late 19th century by copies sculpture from purplish conglomerate from Lucerne (Manche).

The Cloister's eastern arcade with refectory's west gable pierced by a Gothic window

It rises out of a wide sandy bay with one of highest tide in Europe. The tides can vary as much as 15m and the car park can be under water so time your visit.Just to update you since our first visit a lot of work as been done to stop the flooding of the car park. - See more at: http://www.a-taste-of-france.com/mont-st-michel.html#sthash.mpf85s6K.dpuf

The refectory is where the monks ate their meals in silence. To provide light to this large room, the side walls are pierced with narrow windows invisible from the entrance.

There are no fireplace in the refectory, which remained unheated, even in winter.

As we went down some stairs to the Salle des Hôtes (hall of guests) a bas relief by sculpture Auguste Barre, which dates to around 1860 and depicts the dream of St. Aubert.

The sculpture was originally adorned the tympanum of the abbey church's south portal and was moved to the foot of the stairs in 1991

We are now entering the Guest's hall- Salle des hôtes. It is a huge room with two enormous fireplaces, more than six feet tall, which you can see at the end of the room. Although the monks lived in austerity, their royal and noble guests were welcomed here in style.

There are small chapels between the great rooms, this is the Chapelle de Sainte Madeleine.

We had to go out and cross a small path leading to the Crypte des gros pilliers.

The Crypt was erected beginning in 1446 to support the Abbey church's gothic choir. In the center, ten massive cylindrical piers arranged in a semi circle support the pillars of the choir.

They are places so close together they almost seem to touch one another. The stonecutters who shaped them displayed great skill in overcoming the problems of stone cutting that such an arrangement entails. The Crypt was probably not used for worship, it may have functioned as a holding room for offenders awaiting judgment by the abbot as a small door lead to the Belle Chaise where disciplinary hearings were held.

A sculpture against of the wall of Notre dame du Mont-Tombe

The original lady of Mont-Saint-Michel was a classic example of a Queen of the Underworld. Until the 8th century her island was called Mont-Tombe, i.e. Mount Tomb because it was a Gallic burial site.
Then, in 708, legend recounts, the Archangel Michael appeared to St. Aubert, bishop of Avranches and instructed him to build a church on the rocky islet. Aubert repeatedly ignored the angel's instruction (for fear he was going mad) until Michael burned a hole in the bishop's skull with his finger. Only then did he relent and build a little cave-sanctuary among the dead.

We are leaving the Crypt...