i m beginning this week in northern france, on a journey that two and a half million people take each year. i m kind of getting an idea of how popular this place must be, because it s off season, it s super cold but this bus is packed. i can see i vejust got a glimpse of the abbey. it does look pretty special. this is mont saint michel, one of france s most visited sites. it s an island off the coast of brittany, in normandy, connected to the mainland by a half a mile long bridge that opened back in 2014. and this year, the island celebrates a very special anniversary. it is the 1,000th anniversary of the construction of the church. how on earth did they construct something like this 1,000 years ago? mm hm. yeah, this is the best of medieval engineering. and it started off as a sanctuary dedicated to saint michel, saint michael, in the year 708. then it took off, you know, the pilgrims started to come. they had to come across the bay, so walk through the sands, and then i
distant bell ringing up in the abbey, the bell is rung for evening prayer. the abbey is home to a small number of monks and nuns, members of the monastic fraternities ofjerusalem. some of them spend their mornings down in the village tending to their guesthouse, or working part time jobs to help cover the order s expenses. yes, it s reallyl a unique place. and, you know, also, - we are here to say that this place has been made first for god, and for worship. | would you just like it just to be purely holy? no, that s, you know, that s the way it is. i you cannot change the reality. when we come here in- mont saint michel, we know that there will be a lot -