April 14, 2007 - page 2

The next day, Nate was sitting in the tall grass, laughing after having been pushed over by the wind. Apparently, the wind on the coast there has its own name. It’s known as “the jealous horse.” Well, okay then, at least we know what we’re up against, I thought.

The weather continued to get colder, stormier, and all around more severe as the trip went on. Thankfully, the inexpensive tent we bought here in Strasbourg held up surprisingly well against the wind and rain and hail, keeping us dry at night. The third day we walked from sun-up past sundown, all day leaning sideways into the wind and, at times, marble sized hail. I especially enjoyed the part where the tide began rising faster than we could get from the beach to higher ground without having to run through two feet of salt water. After that, we couldn’t stop for too long at a time or we would get chilled from the wind.

All of this made me that much more receptive to the trance-like mass we attended in a small stone-walled room on our day of arrival at Mont Saint Michel. The abbey is built on an island of rock one kilometer off of the coast. We could see the abbey from miles away as we approached in the darkened

daytime. We watched it through the hail as we made our way slowly closer along the wet sand. It honestly looked menacing, alive, and like the silhouette of some sort of beast. That’s what too many miles in one day will do to you, I guess. 

The day of our arrival, the sun came back out and made the temperature bearable. We were led into the grandiose abbey, down a staircase, and into a candle-lit chapel room below ground level, with chipped-paint murals on the ceiling.

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