The Magic of Mont Saint Michel

The fourth in The Wandering Wayfarer Series, "The Magic of Mont Saint Michel" is beautifully captured by award-winning photographer, Mark A Paulda. Page after page are stunning photographs taken from the blue hour to the darkest skies of the night. Included is a re-print of Guy de Maupassant's "Legend of Mont St Michel." This is an epic collection showing Mont Saint Michel like it has not been seen before, and a must-have from The Wandering Wayfarer Series.

The fourth in The Wandering Wayfarer Series, "The Magic of Mont Saint Michel" is beautifully captured by award-winning photographer, Mark A Paulda. Page after page are stunning photographs taken from the blue hour to the darkest skies of the night. Included is a re-print of Guy de Maupassant's "Legend of Mont St Michel." This is an epic collection showing Mont Saint Michel like it has not been seen before, and a must-have from The Wandering Wayfarer Series. Mont Saint Michel is a small rocky islet, roughly one kilometer from the north coast of France at the mouth of the Couesnon River, near Avranches in Normandy, close to the border of Brittany. It is home to the unusual Benedictine Abbey Church (built between the 11th and 16th centuries) which occupies most of the one kilometer diameter clump of rocks jutting out of the ocean. It is connected to the mainland via a thin natural land bridge, which before modernization was covered at high tide, and revealed at low tide. Thus, Mont Saint Michel gained a mystical quality, being an island half the time, and being attached to land the other : a tidal island. In 708 the Archangel Michael appeared to Aubert, Bishop of Avranches, and commanded him to build a chapel on the top of Mont Tombe, a rocky island in the middle of an immense bay. Overawed by this apparition, Aubert obeyed and built a sanctuary to the glory of God and Archangel Michael. Throughout its long history, Mont Saint Michel has had many roles. First a religious sanctuary with its monastic communities, it became a place of worship with its immense pilgrimages, a centre of intense academic activity with its production of manuscripts and illuminations, a symbol of national resistance with the glorious feats of arms of its knights and a formidable prison when the priests were ousted in the French Revolution of 1789, putting an end to the religious vocation of Mont Saint Michel. In 1870 Mont Saint Michel ceased to be a prison. It became a historic monument which gradually became a tourist centre. The religious vocation of Mont Saint Michel was re-established in 1965 with the arrival of monastic communities from Jerusalem perpetuating Mont Saint Michel’s thousand-year old spiritual heritage. In 1972 UNESCO classified Mont Saint-Michel as a “natural and cultural World Heritage Site”. Mont Saint Michel is also called one of the “wonder of the Occident."

Mark Paulda is not only an observer of life, but also has a passion for traveling to foreign lands challenging that which he is most familiar. Professionally, Mark is an award-winning travel photographer and best-selling author. His first book, “Celebrating El Paso,” sold out of its first printing within three months of its release, and went on to become the fastest selling book for TCU Press. “Edge of the Southwest” is now in production, and Mark’s third book, “London After Hours” is in the works. Additionally, his images have been part of colaborative publications such as Sandy Hill’s “Mountain,” published by Rizolli, David Tucker’s “London Walks,” and Karen Griffith’s “Reflections of Lake Lenore.” Mark Paulda’s photographic career has brought him many accolades including: finalist, 2008/2010/2011 International Travel Photographer of the Year; semi-finalist, Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year; semi-finalist for landscape at the Venice International Photo Awards; and 3rd prize, Prix de la Photographie Paris. His work is represented by the Hal Marcus Gallery, and has been exhibited at the El Paso Museum of Art, the International Exhibition of Fine Art Photography at the Center for Fine Art Photography, and many other venues throughout the world.