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Dinan, Normandy, France 2-nights Friday-Sunday, May 27-29, 2005
A well preserved/restored midieval town, Dinan comes complete with imposing ramparts, towers and a castle.		The old town on the hill is full of half-timbered buildings from the 13th and 14th centures.
Mont St. Michel, France Saturday, May 28, 2005
In the early eighth century, it is said that the Archangel Michael appeared to Bishop Aubert of Avranges, who started an oratory. In 966, a Benedictine monastery was established. In 1020, Richard II began the Abbey Church, and supported Abbot Hildebert's construction efforts. Over time, the spiritual foundations of the abbey waned, and in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries it was used as a prison. In 1874, the French government assumed responsibility for the abbey's upkeep and restoration. Mont St. Michel is a small (almost) island, separated by approximately one kilometer of waves from the mainland at high tide. It is about one kilometer in diameter and about 80 meters high, jutting defiantly above the ocean. At low tide, however, it is separated from the mainland by approximately one kilometer of sand. Before a causeway was built in 1879, the only approach to the Mont was by foot over this land bridge. This was never a casual stroll, however. The tides here are among the greatest in France, with a shift of up to 14m between the high and low water marks. Occasionally, an unwary pedestrian would easily be drowned by the sudden onslaught of high tide. The force of the tide shifts the sands unpredictably, leading to unchartable quicksand fields. The Bayeux tapestry makes mention that Harold the Saxon and William the Conquerer, visited Mont St. Michel. Hic Harold dux trahebat eos de arena, it says, "Harold pulled them out of the quicksand." Pilgrims needed great faith to visit Mont St. Michel. Today you can drive above the water, bypassing quicksand and irresistible tides. And when you arrive, you will find an edifice nearly as impressive as its geographical location.		The first spurt of grand construction commenced in 1020, with Abbot Hildebert's ambitious works. Instead of removing rock to make a level base for the church, Hildebert added a masonry foundation to make a level base, and built from there. By 1058, the church was well-enough established to host William and Harold. That construction was completed in 1135, but in the meantime Abbot Roger II planned and built a trilevel gallery/cloister/dormatory as well. In about 1170, Abbot Robert de Toringy started building a new facade on the western side of the church. In 1203, the Duke of Brittany accidentally set fire to the church as a side effect of Phillip Augustus expelling the British from Normandy. Phillip Augustus was not too happy about Archangel Michael's building being damaged, so used his influence with the King of France to allocate funds to repair the buildings. As is frequently the case with public funds, there was a little bit of alteration of the plan, and Abbot Jordan started building The Merveille - The Marvel - in around 1210. The Merveille contains a number of great halls (presumably for dining and assembly), kitchens, cloisters, and a dormatory. Work was completed around 1230. Unfortunately, Hildebert's original masonry was not adequate for supporting the weight of the granite his successors placed upon it. In 1300, one of de Torigny's towers collapsed, followed in 1421 by the collapse of Hildebert's nave. As there was some minor business about a war with the English going on at that time, reconstruction was stalled until 1450 and was not completed until 1521. In 1618 the de Toringy facade started to collapse, and had to be pulled down a mere century and a half later.
	Saint Michael is one of the principal angels (archangels), whose name in Hebrew means "Who is like God?".   His name was the war-cry of the good angels in the battle fought in heaven against the enemy – Lucifer – and his followers.	He is mentioned four times in Scripture, including this reference in Daniel 12, where the Angel speaking of the Apocalypse and the Antichrist says: "At that time shall Michael rise up, the great prince, who stands for the children of your people." This is picked up in Revelations (12:7): "And there was a great battle in heaven, Michael and his angels fought with the dragon." St Michael was also believed to stand at the gate of paradise, "to keep the way of the tree of life" (Genesis 3:24).	As a consequence, St Michael is primarily associated with controlling the dragon. Note that though he is often depicted as "conquering" the dragon, it is not implied that he kills the dragon, but instead that he "controls" the negative influences of the creature and restrains its influence. In the context of Perillos, the parallel with Ramon de Perillos and his fight against the demon Babaos must be made.
Sightseeing via coastal route and back to Dinan for the night... Saturday, May 28, 2005
		this picture, taken from Dinard, shows St. Malo across the River Rance.
Josselin & Pontivy, Normandy, France 1-night in Pontivy Sunday:  everything was closed Sunday, May 29, 2005
Josselin	Josselin	Josselin	The town of Josselin, I'm sure would be very picturesque, however it was raining on not much was going on during our very short visit.   Josselin is situated 30km south of Pontivy.  The town is built on the banks of the River Oust and was the home of the Dukes of Rohan. The magnificent castle was started by Jean II of Rohan in the late 15th century.  It is said that the castle is spectacular to view from both inside and out but we missed the days last tour. The old town with its half timbered buildings is centered around the Basilica of Our Lady of the Brambles whose tower may be climbed giving views over the town and countryside beyond.
Pontivy (our room)	Pontivy (our room)	Pontivy	Pontivy
	Pontivy is made up of two towns wrapped around each other. There is the medieval old town with its tortuous streets and half timbered houses, and the geometric Napoleonic town.  Twice in its history Pontivy has been known as Napoleonville (the town of Napoleon).  The town is situated in a very rural part of Brittany known as the valley of the Blavet and the River Blavet runs through the town.   The Nantes-Brest canal also runs through Pontivy.
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