Le Mont St. Michel - Une visite émouvante - A "moving" visit

This weekend the Rennes Language and Culture Honors students did an excursion to Mont St. Michel, and what a moving experience it was (see video!). Mont-Saint-Michel was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979. The Abbey which was built around 1000 is the most visited site in Normandy. Our students toured the site at their own speed with tablets and headphones. The tablets allowed the students to see what the spaces looked like during the Middle Ages. 

We met our guide, Bertrand, at the foot of the Mont where we took off our shoes to explore the bay during low tide. After a short walk, Bertrand told us at one point that we needed to se concentrer. The students thought that he meant that we needed to focus on what he was saying, but no, he explained that we needed to come in closer to him as if he were going to tell us a secret. After we "concentrated" close to him, he then said "Sautez!" The students started to jump up and down and all of a sudden, the ground started moving up and down as if we were on a floating pad on a lake. A lot of the students said that it was one of the craziest things they had seen or felt. Some of the students stood still and started sinking in past their knees. There were no worries as our guide was very knowledgeable and there were friends there to help you out if you needed assistance. I have no doubt that this experience will go down in our students' journals and memories as one of the best experiences during their time in France.