Mont Saint Michel
This is something a little bit special to me. A view of Mont Saint Michel at sunrise with the tide rushing into a little inlet in the grasslands to the south west of the Island. The movement of the water is created by stacking 5 images.
I've wanted to photograph this magical place for a couple of years now and I'm ecstatic about finally having had the chance.
The construction of the abbey of Mont Saint Michel goes back to 708 AD! As is common with something originating from the middle ages, there's a crazy myth to go along with it. The one of Mont Saint Michel goes a little like this:
One day the archangel Saint Michel was summoned to fight a devil who had transformed into a dragon (I would have thought that trying to beat a demon in combat would be much more difficult than beating a dragon, but oh well what do I know). Oh and Satan was there to assist as well.
The fight started on Mont Dol in Brittany, continued for a few days in the sky, only to end on Mont Tombe.
After the archangel won the battle (turns out the demon's call to transform himself into a dragon wasn't such a good one after all) he visited the bishop Aubert d'Avranches, who had been a witness of the battle, in his dreams to persuade him to build a place of worship were the the battle ended. The first two times the archangel visited him the bishop was, understandably, sceptical and didn't act on his commands.
Frustrated the archangel, on his third visit, decided do leave him with uncountable proof that he hadn't gone mad. He left him a circular hole in his skull. The bishop wouldn't have to suffer that long though because he would die only a few years later.
After the abbey was built, Mont Tombe was renamed to Mont Saint Michel.
Today one can visit the bishop's skull on display in the abbey.
(The moral of this story? Don't be a witness to a fight between angels and demons).