Meetings – Laughter – Astonishment !
To travel towards the Mont-Saint-Michel is to enter an experience where walking becomes encounter. Crossing the bay itself invites you to slow down and let yourself be touched by the beauty of the place. To walk towards the Mont-Saint-Michel is to advance towards a place where earth and sky brush against each other. As the Mount takes shape, the inner momentum grows.
On Thursday, August 20, leaving early from the parish of Saint-Aubert d’Avranches On Thursday, August 20, with this mix of joy and silence that accompanies important departures, I took the road with other pilgrims. Together, we traveled nearly 22 km through unknown paths and trails, seemingly simple but full of surprises and beautiful encounters that remind us how much friendliness remains alive. Some unexpected and repetitive signs even offered us real bursts of laughter, notably this tasty “Attention sortie des moutons”, which added a touch of lightness to our walk.signs even offered us real bursts of laughter, notably this tasty “Attention sortie des moutons”, which added a touch of lightness to our walk.
The road was moving quietly, almost ordinary, until the moment when the bay opened in front of us: immense, luminous, a little unreal…. We hoped to enjoy the real crossing, but the high tide forced us to make a detour, modifying our passage without altering the beauty. The wind blew gently, the sand slid under my steps, and I felt that something in me was settling down, as if each step lightened the heart and the legs. At every turn, the Mount appeared a little clearer, as if it was advancing towards us as we were walking towards it!
As I approached, I was struck by its verticality. It seems to be rising from the earth into the sky. My damaged ankle did not allow me to climb all the many steps, but I was able to reach the chapel and some places that offered me a splendid view of the place. This partial rise, far from diminishing the beauty of the experience, made it even more precious: it left in me the thirst to return one day, fully, to continue on this interrupted path.
Arriving at these accessible points, I let my gaze get lost on the bay. I went back down with the feeling of having received a gift, a breath, a light. The Mont-Saint-Michel will long remain etched in my memory as a place that stands out, that amazes, and that makes you want to come back
Sr. Simone Dontsa. Rennes, France. Published on 28 August
