Crossing the Baie du Mont Saint-Michel

On Saturday, my class took a trip to the bay of Mont Saint-Michel. Mont Saint-Michel is a tidal island (an island at high tide, connected to land at low tide) and village in Normandy. We took a bus from Rennes to Normandy, and had a picnic before starting on our trek. I didn't know what to expect - I knew that the walk was 8km, and I knew at one point that there'd be water. For some reason I thought it would be a long, grassy path that we'd follow until coming to a small section of the bay to cross.. I was wrong.

Right off the bat, we took off our shoes and our top layers. We all had on our shorts and stood in the sand with our bare feet.

This is how we started. Barefoot and chilly, with Mont Saint-Michel far, far away.

It was really fun crossing the bay. The dry sand became wet and rippled (from the water when the tide is high) once we got started. It was squishy, and as your feet sank into the sand with each step, your toes would feel funny with the sand slipping between them. Sometimes the sand would be drier and packed into the ground, and sometimes you would take a step and the earth would be quivering underneath you. It looked like a water bed - you could see it shaking underneath as you walked on top, but you never sunk into it. And then there were times when you would sink into the sand. You'd sink in  to your knees and have to have a friend drag you out, there arms under yours, pulling with all of their strength. The sand would grip to you, and suction you in, and refuse to let go. Quick sand. The slowest quick sand, I'm sure, but quick sand (which was much more menacing 10 years ago). 

The sludge.

And then came the water. I mean, sure, there was some ankle deep puddles that we had to walk through, but this.. I guess they were right when they said to wear shorts. We pulled up our britches and trudged through this water, and our shorts were even shorter as the water came dangerously close to hip-height. 

Calf-deep in sand! It took us this much to be Pauline's level (Teresa's host sister in the middle)!

But it got deeper than that - It's just a bit difficult to photograph when you're hip-deep in cold water!

It was like the world was mirroring the sky, and heaven was everywhere.

This is from the other side of the island. We walked around the side of the island (on the left) - this is where the island connects with the land. 

The bay was 8km, and took us more than 3 hours to cross! Our footsteps were washed away soon enough by the high, high tide - nobody would have known that we even crossed the bay on foot. It was absolutely incredible, and gorgeous, and stumbling through quick sand seems to make you love your friends even more than you already do.