Over a thousand years ago, some local monks decided that a rocky island in the English Channel would be a great place to build an abbey. It’s sort of a “tidal peninsula” because the water is shallow enough that you can sometimes wade there. Not exactly convenient, but that didn’t stop them from adding more and more buildings to the island until it’s packed full. The place looks magical... at first glimpse it gives the impression of the Emerald City of Oz (but not quite as green). Needless to say there’s nowhere to park your car out there, so we left our Peugeot in a lot on the mainland and took a shuttle bus down there narrow, artificially-maintained land bridge to get to our hotel. The accommodations were compact, but we expected that. I imagine it’s a bit like what Tokyo must feel like, just more medieval. Anna was thrilled because our hotel room had a little loft with two small twin beds, accessed by a little ladder. She had her own little window up there, giving her a view of the waters below and a deep orange moon rising over the landscape beyond.
The cobble stone streets are steep and twisty, leading between shops and restaurants up to the abbey perched on the top.