This was it! The big day I was going to fulfill the dream! And walk across the bay of Mont Saint-Michel to the island – and back!
Here we go:
[Note: This was written that evening in my hotel room. I’m adding in pictures after I got back. I’ll distribute pictures through the text.]
I probably should have taken note of how often the tour company emphasized the distance – 7 kilometers – one way! And I should have considered that I already had blisters on the bottoms of my feet. And I definitely should have put sunscreen on my feet after I took off the shoes and socks I wore to drive to the meeting place!
I’ll be honest – I could not keep up. The mud felt better on my feet than hard sand waves – but in a lot of places, there were rocks under six inches of squooshy mud, which did hurt those blisters. And it was a lot more work to scrunch through knee-high mud than even to wade through rivers that went up to my thighs. Bottom line, the guide walked fast.
Selfishly, I was glad that there were three stragglers – a group with a little dog – who were as far behind me as I was behind the main group – so I didn’t feel quite as bad about not keeping up. At one point, the guide did go back for the lady having trouble in the mud and gave her a hand. But it wasn’t like you could get lost in the bay. I did worry about if I fell over in the mud or in a river, if I’d get help on time. Though it would have been nice to walk with friends who’d give you a hand in tough spots, I was kind of glad that I hadn’t dragged anyone else on an adventure that ended up being a strenuous workout.
There was a nice family – a husband and wife and daughter – who kindly summarized in English what the guide said at the stops. For all the French CDs I listened to, my French fled when I got here – but French people invariably speak much better English than my French, and have been very kind.
We walked very close to the island of Tombelaine in the middle of the bay.
By this time, I realized the tops of my feet were getting sunburned. (It’s a bad thing if I notice that while still in the sun!) So I tried to stand with my feet in the shade of my legs when we stopped for the guide to talk. But I still didn’t think to pull out the sunscreen in my bag and apply it!
It did feel amazing to be there in the middle of the bay.
I am glad I did the whole crossing of the bay. I didn’t know it without doing both, but the High Tides Tour would have been enough.
If anybody reading this ever visits Mont Saint-Michel, do one of the tours that takes you into the bay. They’re totally worth it!
But let me compare the two tours I did in case you only have time for one:
The High Tides tour is not only shorter than the Traditional Crossing (2 hours instead of 6 hours) – it also goes at a more leisurely pace. It’s more of a Wonder-filled Stroll, whereas the Traditional Crossing is more of a Goal-oriented Workout (get to the other side!). We also stopped more frequently on the High Tides tour.
Both tours played in quicksand (so VERY cool – nothing like the quicksand that terrified me on Gilligan’s Island!), but experiencing the tide come sweeping in on the High Tides tour is just incredible.
As of a week ago, I’m 62 years old. So my stamina may not be what it once was, and I may be in denial about that. I also have short legs and had blistered feet, so besides taking 296 pictures, that’s my excuse for not keeping up. I did make it the whole way there and back.
We had a bit more than a half-hour break at Mont Saint-Michel to rest and eat a snack.
Even though looking back, I realize it would have been much more prudent to settle for the High Tides Tour – especially once I realized I had blisters on my feet – I still can’t help but be glad I did it! The High Tides Tour was a thing of wonder and joy. The Traditional Crossing was a really hard thing across really interesting sand and rivers and rocks and mud – and I’m proud to have done it!
This is how far the stragglers were behind me. But I was that far behind the main group:
I’m pretty sure the water was deeper on the way back.
Now, on the High Tides Tour, I wore neoprene footies to protect my feet. But it got me wondering what the mud would actually feel like. I wanted a more visceral experience. Yeah, I probably should have reversed that and gone barefoot on the short walk. My blisters did burst, and I lost a big flap of skin on my right big toe. But what turned out to be even worse was that I put on sunscreen back at the hotel before I left – when I was wearing shoes. The tops of my feet got a vicious sunburn. Makes me really really glad I put on sunscreen everywhere else!
But – it is really hard to walk! I may be doing more modifications of my plans for the rest of the trip.
Added later: That was a bad sunburn. Second-degree, complete with blisters, was very painful on my trip and took three weeks to heal – but still – it was totally worth it!
I wrote the above that night when I was exhausted and had sore feet. A month later, when inserting the pictures, I think of it as an awesome experience that I will remember the rest of my life.
