Discover the saint michel bay

Discovering the bay

 In the company of a guide from Maison du Guide (the House of Guides), you will cross the bay to go to Mont St Michel. Your guide will tell you everything about birds, flowers, the history of the Tombelaine island and its pilgrims, about all kinds of legends and he will explain you how tides work.
 Departure: Bec d'Andaine in Genêts village
 Lasting time: 5 hours and 15 min
 Distance: 12 km
 Rates: adults, 9 euros, children under 12, 5.50 euros
 For reservations:
 La maison du Guide
 1, rue Montoise - 50530 Genêts
 Tél : +33 (0)2 33 70 83 49
 Fax : +33 (0)2 33 70 83 33
 www.decouvertebaie.com

 Situated in the middle of a bay, the Mont Saint-Michel welcomes nearly three and a half million people every year this includes visitors, pilgrims and tourists. At the entrance of this medieval town is the ancient Burgher’s Guardroom now the Tourist Office. After going through the Boulevard Gate and then the King’s Gate fortified with its portcullis, you will find the « Grande Rue » or main street wih its museums, shops and houses dating from the 15th and 16th centuries. The parish church consecrated to St. Pierre, the patron saint of fishermen is a small edifice from the 15th and 16th centuries. Finally we get to the « Grande Degre » or Grande Staircase whose majesty is a prelude to the « Marvel ». After admiring the Abbey church, you can enjoy the beautiful and matchless view over the bay when going down the ramparts path.
 The Abbey : The Mount consecrated to St Michel in 708 was one of the first place of cult for the Archangel Michel with the Gargan’s Mount. The abbey presents a big panorama of the medieval architecture from the XI to the XVI th century.
 The museums :

 museum of history : old collections ( weapons, paintings, sculptures, watches), prisons and dungeons, the 19th century periscope which reveals the bay.

 archéoscope : a show to discover the abbey’s sacred history, its legends and its construction.

 maritime museum : to discover the tides, the bay and the massive building site to restore the maritime character of the Mont Saint-Michel.

 tiphaine’s house : to discover the 14th century residence that Bertrand Duguesclin had built in 1365 for his wife Tiphaine (furnitures, paintings, tapestries).

 Discover together with your guide, the Tombelaine island, its legends and pilgrim stories.
 Departure: Mont St Michel
 Lasting time: 7 hours
 Distance: 6 km
 Rates: adults, 13 euros; children under 12, 6 euros
 contact: www.decouvertebaie.com

Town of avranches

 The Mont Saint Michel Manuscripts: During the French Revolution, all the books from the Mont-Saint-Michel abbey were deposited for safekeeping in the town of Avranches. Among them are 200 medieval parchment manuscripts.
 Some thirty items (manuscripts and ancient books) illustrating the intellectual and artistic activity of the Benedictine monastery are exhibited in a superb recently renovated old library.This is one of the best collections from the Norman era in all of Europe, outstanding in its calligraphy and illuminated initials, the harmony of inks and colours, its many exceptional full-page illustrations and the diversity of knowledge it encompasses.
 Saint Gervais' Treasure: Because of its rich qualities, the treasure reminds us of the importance of the old bishopric of Avranches. It is kept in Saint-Gervais church, an imposing eclectic building from the second half of the 19th century. Not to be missed is the famous skull of Saint-Aubert, founder of Mont-Saint-Michel, where one can see the hole left in his forehead by the finger of Archange Michael.

Villedieu-les-poeles, the city of copper

 The Copper Workshop: One of the older workshops in Villedieu les Poêles still in activity. You could admire and appreciate the gestures, the old tools of the tinsmiths, weldsmiths, polishers and hammer smiths. For an attractive visit, you could watch a 15 minutes film in english, on a large screen, so that you could see how the Copper Workshop combine tradition and progress.
 The Bell Foundry: very active traditional workshop.
 From an archeological point of view the workshop is very interesting since the bell founders still use all sorts of tools coming from old times : an archaic windlass moving along a wooden trail helps to carry the loam over the pits to build the moulds.
 A unique reverberating oven of 20 tons, to melt the alloy of copper and tin, occupies the middle of the factory. On one side, a craftsman prepares the inscriptions and decorations to be put on the bells according to the old « lost wax « process.
 On other sides, different bells, at each step of fabrication, wait to be sent all over the world : United States, Canada, Africa, Armenia, ...
 The House of Pewter: The House of Tin proposes to disclose to you the noble history of this metal through : the workshop-foundry in activity, the prestigious collection Jules Brateau unique in France, a very beautiful exposure and a video.

 Your guide will bring you to the encounter of migratory and sedentary birds in the Mont St Michel Bay.
 Departure: Maison du guide (Guide's House)
 Lasting time: 2h30
 Distance: 5 km
 Rate: adults, 5 euros, children under 12, 3.50 euros

A different way to catch a fish

 Together with a guide and an experienced fisherman, you will learn to catch a fish bare-handed.
 Departure: Bec d'Andaine in Genêts village
 Lasting time: 3 hours
 Distance: 6 km
 Rates: adults, 11.50 euros, children under 12, 5,00 euros