An Afternoon Visit to Mont-Saint-Michel

On the spur of the moment, while touring villages around Cancale, we decided to drive over to Mont-Saint-Michel. I had not been there since 1986, so I was in for a big surprise.

If I recall correctly (mind you, it has been over 30 years), there was no street leading up to the abbey. We just stood at the shore, and saw it from a distance of about 600m on that cool, rainy, and overcast day.

Now Mont-Saint-Michel is overcrowded, and so was the shuttle bus as well. My first impression was that this has become a tourist trap.

A majestic site from afar! And I recommend you leave it that way, and bring a picnic basket instead.

 

About 2.5 million tourists a year visit Mont-Saint-Michel. I found the shops boring with the same old merchandise in each one.

It takes about 350 steps to climb up to the abbey (entrance fee is € 10). My husband went in, but I preferred to remain outside. The entrance area by the abbey was not crowded, it had a few places to sit in the shade, and I used the time to observe and take some notes.

The village’s Benedictine Abbaye du Mont Saint-Michel.

Things to Know Before You Go
  • The parking lot on the mainland is 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) from the island. A shuttle will take you from the parking lot to a drop-off point. You need to walk another 440 yards (400 meters) to get to the entrance.
  • There are narrow walkways and steps, so wear comfortable shoes and be prepare for some elbowing.
  • You have to walk from the shuttle drop off to the entrance. The paved main street has no stairs, but it climbs quickly. Then you have 350 steps from the main street to the abbey.
  • There is no elevator.

Mont-Saint-Michel is a Gothic-style Benedictine abbey and dedicated to the archangel St Michael.

Brunnenfest in Oberursel, 2018

Oberursel’s Brunnenfest (Fountain Festival) runs from Friday, 25 May until Monday, 28 May (with fireworks at 10pm).

The city is often referred to as the Brunnenstadt (Brunnen: fountain, spring, well), because it is home to more than 60 fountains, springs, and wells.

AllThingsGerman has more details in English, such as information about road closures, where driving restrictions will apply in the town center, where there will be ‘no-parking’ in some parts of the town, and which roads will be closed temporarily for the run on Sunday morning.

24 Hours in Strasbourg, France

We usually go to Strasbourg once a year, and our highlights remain staying at the 4-star Hotel Cour de Courbeau, and then visiting the flea market on Saturday morning. Again this year, we got there on Friday around 3pm, and left the city on Saturday shortly after lunch. It is enough time to pack in quite a few things, such as a visit to the Alsatian Folklore Museum (about a minute walk from the hotel), visit a few restaurants, shop at the flea market, stop for some coffee and a pain au chocolat, and much more. We usually park at the Austerlitz Car Park, which is a minute from the hotel, has clean facilities, and the rate for one day is just under euro 20.

This is always our first stop – the bridge overlooking the River Ill.

Boat touring the River Ill

This is an ad for the city’s upcoming plans – to build a floating jetty, across from the Historical Museum.

Floating jetty for Strasbourg

This is the courtyard of the Hotel Cour du Corbeau. Built in 1580, it has served as an inn (or hotel) for most of its time since then.

 

View from our room onto the balcony. Last year, we were able to sit on the balcony late in the evening. This year, a Siberian wind made it impossible.

Some of the interior was renovated to reflect its original half-timbered building style.

This is what I found at the flea market – a sewing table, with a painting by Louis Bollinger (a.k.a. BOLL or BOLI).

Fuchstanz Restaurant in the Taunus Mountains

Just yesterday, before we were hit with all that snow coming down today and delaying arrivals and departures from Frankfurt  Airport for up to five hours, we decided to go up the Taunus Mountains to find some snow, and the beauty of it.

Yesterday afternoon, we parked our car at the parking lot within the serpentine curve, then hiked up the mountain for a good 30 minutes. Our destination was the Restaurant Fuchstanz to have a bite to eat and a little something to drink.

Germany is full of trees,  about a third of land is covered with about 90 billion of them.

 Trees on the Feldberg

It is a 1.6km (one mile) walk from the Große Kurve (serpentine curve) to the Fuchstanz Restaurant.

Wegweiser

Time to turn around for a photo.

Maria snow

We can spot the other Frische Luft Geher (fresh air walkers) near the steaming Glühwein (mulled wine) already. There are two restaurants at the top and some outdoor vendors for the ones only wanting a Bratwurst and/or Glühwein. They also serve hot apple juice and a few other small items.

Reaching the Fuchstanz

Zum Fuchstanz (lit: to where the foxes dance)

At the Fuchstanz

The restaurant is open from Wed – Sunday from 10am – 6pm (tel: 06174 – 2 12 23). Occasionally, they also open on Mondays and Tuesday, all depending on fine weather only.

We ordered Rouladen with dumplings and red cabbage. Rouladen are made from thin strips of beef, then filled with bacon (sometimes seasoned ground beef).

Rouladen und Klösse

A box asking for a Spende (donation) for Wegemarkierer (trail blazers)

Wegemarkierer

Our visitor got himself a big cup of hot Glühwein.

Glühwein vendor

There are various trails leading to this area:

from Königstein: parking lot at the cemetery
from Falkenstein: Forest Parking Lot (Waldparkplatz)
from Oberursel: Serpentine parking lot or Hohemark
below the Feldberg Mountain : parking lot Windeck oder Teufelsquartier
as well as from Schmitten: parking lot Sandplacken

The Fuchstanz is always worth a visit. Right now, I imagine kids are riding down the trail on their sled. If you don’t have a sled, a big plastic bag might do the job too. It did for our kids when they were young, after the trail had iced over a bit.

Parking Rates in Frankfurt and Worldwide

Based on our local paper, Blitz Tip, parking rates in Frankfurt (a.k.a. Mainhattan) are equal to those in Manhattan, New York City.

This statement was worth a challenge. Granted, parking in Frankfurt is not so cheap at an average rate of 8 euro a day, or 2,50 euro an hour. But charges in Manhattan had to be higher than in Mainhattan.

I found my answer on Colliers International website in the article Parking Rates Broadly Up – Worldwide.

Its annual survey of parking rates found, with the exception of the United States, that the cost of parking for a day or a month has generally increased over the past 12 months.

On a monthly basis and quoted in US Dollars, London city and London West End occupied the top two positions, followed by Zurich in third place. The top 10 list was completed by Hong Kong, Tokyo, Rome, Perth, Geneva, Sydney, and Oslo.

New York – Midtown ranked 17th, New York – Downtown ranked 18th, and

Frankfurt ranked 43rd in this chart.

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