อย่ามาที่นี่! เมืองกับดักนักท่องเที่ยว

อย่ามาที่นี่! เมืองกับดักนักท่องเที่ยว

Is this a magnificent abbey or a tourist trap? It’s like we’ve stepped back in time to the Middle Ages. Lots of restaurants and souvenir shops. All these shops are owned by just one person Breathtaking! This omelet is 1,600 baht. We’re traveling one of the world’s most beautiful abbeys, which is over a thousand years old. This abbey stands on a granite rock in the middle of a bay with the world’s strongest tides. During high tide, no one can reach the abbey. But when the tide is low, the surrounding area becomes extremely dangerous quicksand. So, for over a thousand years, people wishing to come here had to overcome many obstacles. This abbey is Mont Saint-Michel, which has now become one of the world’s most popular destinations. Each year, more than 3.5 million people flock here, bringing in a lot of money. Once a solitary abbey in the water with just a few restaurants and accommodations, this place is now filled with restaurants, numerous lodgings, and many souvenir shops. The key person who transformed this place into a tourist destination was the former mayor. He was once involved in a scandal about his abuse of power to exploit tourists. Many who visited Mont Saint-Michel years ago unanimously say that Mont Saint-Michel has now become a tourist trap. Is there any truth to that statement? Today, we’re heading there to find out whether this place is a magnificent abbey or just a tourist trap. We’re now at the parking lot of Mont Saint-Michel. To get to Mont Saint-Michel, which is all the way over there, you first need to park your car. Then, you can take a bus to get there. Or you can walk if you want. It’s up to you. There’s a whole flock of tourists here. The parking lot is huge. Let’s go get in line for the bus. This is where the bus stops. It’s a walking distance from Mont Saint-Michel.] So, let’s walk there. Behind me is the Mont Saint-Michel Abbey. This abbey was built in the 11th century. So, it’s over a thousand years old now. What makes this abbey special and attracts people from all over the world is that it’s surrounded by the sea. And during a low tide, it’s surrounded by quicksand. So, how was Mont Saint-Michel built? Is it built on sand? No, it’s not. Mont Saint-Michel is actually built on granite rock, which was formed by cooling magma that rose from the Earth’s core. The magma pushed up and got stuck in the middle of the mountain range. But the surrounding mountain range was made of easily eroded rock. So over time, the mountain range disappeared, leaving only this magma rock behind. Like many other important and difficult-to-build places in the world, the inspiration for building Mont Saint-Michel Abbey came from … A dream! Bishop Aubert d’Avranches had a vision of Saint Peter, who came to him in a dream and told him he must build this abbey. He kept having this dream until finally, in 708, he decided to build the abbey. Since then, the abbey has gradually grown from a small church into a larger and larger abbey until it became what we see today. Let’s cross that bridge and go in. Before this bridge that we’re walking on was built, tourists used to park on dry areas around here. Then, they’d wait for the tide to go out. Once the tide receded, a small path would appear. And people would walk across it. You could actually cross the sand too. But because it’s quicksand, many tourists actually died here. They didn’t die from being completely sucked down. But they died because once they got stuck, they couldn’t get out in time before the tide came in, and they drowned. This bay is among the top 5 places with the greatest tidal ranges. The highest and lowest water marks can vary up to 15 m. Imagine the pilgrims who came here in the past. It wasn’t as easy as this. No bridge or anything like this. It’s muddy like this. The quicksand is formed because when the tide comes in, it brings sediment, and when it goes out, it takes sediment away. This makes the sand in this area unstable. They call it “moving sand.” We’ve passed through the gates. And we’re now walking inside the fortress. The style here is medieval. It’s like we’ve stepped back in time to the Middle Ages. This place has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1979. Mont-Saint-Michel has been many things throughout history. First, it was a monastery for Benedictine monks and later a pilgrimage site. Later, during the Hundred Years’ War between France and England, it was transformed into a military fortress. That’s why there are thick brick walls on the outside. During the French Revolution, it was turned into a prison. And today, as you can see, it’s a tourist destination that attracts 3.5 million visitors annually. Can you guess how many people actually live here? Just 0.000001% compared to the number of tourists! Only 30 people live here, compared to the 3.5 million tourists. As you can see, the main street you see is packed with tourists, and lined with restaurants and souvenir shops. Interestingly, all these shops are owned by just one person. I’ll tell you more about that later. But right now, let’s head up to the abbey. Let’s go! I’m now in line to buy a ticket for Mont Saint-Michel Abbey. I think it’s around 11 euros. You see the statue over there? That’s the statue of Saint Michael. It’s a replica. The real one is on top of the spire of Mont Saint-Michel Abbey. And it’s not just for decoration. It also functions as a lightning rod to prevent lightning from striking other parts of the abbey and causing damage. It directs the lightning to that single point. So, we’re gonna go inside Mont Saint-Michel Abbey, which features both Romanesque and Gothic architectural styles. I’m now inside the abbey. It’s a mix of Romanesque and Gothic styles. The Romanesque elements include the fortress-like features, tall towers, and thick stone walls. The Gothic style is all about stained glass windows, pointed spires, and ornate elements. You can see how both styles are blended here. When you think about how this was constructed in the Middle Ages … It’s truly a remarkable feat. The size is just awe-inspiring. Wow! Stunning! Wow! Look at that. There’s a terrace here. Breathtaking! Look at all this. That’s the Saint Michael statue. A stunning lightning rod. From here, we can see the bridge and the Couesnon River. Did you know that Mont-Saint-Michel almost lost its island status? It was close to losing its island character. The main reason is that the incoming tide is stronger than the outgoing tide, bringing in a lot of sediment from the sea. There has also been a lot of construction. Before this bridge was built, there was a road here. With buildings and roads, more sediment was trapped, causing the area around Mont-Saint-Michel to become shallower. They realized this couldn’t let this continue. It had been an island since medieval times. They couldn’t let it become joined to the mainland. One thing they did was to remove the road and replace it with the bridge we crossed today. The second thing was to build a dam in the Couesnon River. When the tide goes out, water is released from the dam
to push the sediment away, which helps keep Mont-Saint-Michel an island. And that’s the story of Mont-Saint-Michel Abbey. We’re going to walk down and try the most famous dish on this island, which is an omelet! Let’s enjoy the view for a bit and then head back down. Hello. Hello. Notice that the tide has started to recede now. And it’s receding quite rapidly It’s almost all sand now. Can you see those 3 dots? People are already walking on the sand. But you must be accompanied by a guide only. Otherwise, it’s very dangerous. We’re now in front of the most famous restaurant in Mont Saint-Michel. It’s called La Mère Poulard. This restaurant was founded by a married couple, Annette and Victor Poulard, in 1888. The not-to-be-missed signature dish here is their omelet. You might be wondering why an omelet. This dish came about because of the tides. When pilgrims came here, they would rush in during low tide. And they’d hurry back, fearing the high tide. So, Annette was trying to think of how she could feed these people without having to prepare too many ingredients. Ultimately, she decided on omelet. Then, she had to figure out how to attract guests into their restaurant. They came up with the idea of building a fire and setting up a large stove in front of their restaurant. Then, they would beat eggs to make them fluffy like a soufflé and cook the omelets right there in front of the restaurant. The smell and the size of these omelets drew in pilgrims,
making them stop and eat. But 100 years after the establishment of this restaurant, Éric Vannier, the former mayor of Mont Saint Michel, bought La Mère Poulard. He didn’t just buy the restaurant, but also took the name. He used the name La Mère Poulard, which had been famous for a hundred years, to establish his own group called La Mère Poulard Group. La Mère Poulard Group consists of 6 hotels … 5 restaurants. 5 fast food outlets. And 3 gift shops. 80% of the businesses in Mont-Saint-Michel are owned by Éric Vannier. More importantly, he also used the La Mère Poulard name to set up a cookie factory, claiming it uses Annette’s original cookie recipe. Each year, they make over 30 million euros (1 billion baht) in revenue. I’m not sure what the omelets at this restaurant are like now. It’s said to be made with the original recipe. Well, let’s go in and try it for ourselves. Look at the prices of the omelets: 39, 42, 45 euros. 95 euros. The cheapest is about 1,600 baht. I’ve ordered the omelet. I got the cheapest one. The 1,600- baht one. I’m curious to see what a 1,600-baht omelet looks like. But before we eat the omelet, let me show you this. These are Éric Vannier’s cookies, also under the La Mère Poulard brand. Here’s what they look like. A box has this many butter cookies. It costs 10 euros or 400 baht. It’s not actually a cookie. It’s more like shortbread. Very buttery. And sweet. Slightly tangy. It’s not bad. But not particularly good. But not bad. Pretty regular. Here comes the omelet. We’ve got our omelet now. It’s quite large! It’s very soft when you cut into it. It’s incredibly soft and fluffy. And it’s huge. Here’s a slice. This is how fluffy it is. Let’s taste it. It’s an omelet made with butter. And it has onions and bell peppers. See this? It’s not chives. It’s called salt grass, which grows around Mont-Saint-Michel It has a salty taste due to the tides. This is delicious. Is it not delicious? Well, it’s good! But is it worth 1,600 baht? I think this is falling into the category of a tourist trap. What I mean is, it’s overpriced. The price is too high compared to the quality. I think it must have lost the warmth it had when the restaurant first opened. It seems to focus more on the business side. For example, when I came in, they told me that sharing food is not allowed here. Each person must order their own dish. Sharing food is not allowed. As you can see, the prices they set are quite shocking. Quite outrageous. But the place is still packed. Everyone wants to try it because of its name. That’s why I came too. I wanted to know what it was like, even though the reviews now are only 2.5 stars. The price is outrageous. But it’s not bad. But this is not worth 1,600 baht. I’m about to head back now. In the afternoon like this, there are even more tourists. Now, it’s time for the million-dollar question: Do I consider Mont-Saint-Michel a tourist trap? Many French visitors who came here long ago feel that it has lost a lot of its original character. It’s become something like an amusement park. All the restaurants are expensive. And there are souvenir shops everywhere selling strange things, even Halloween decorations and such. I think it all depends on how you define a “tourist trap.” Some might think it means expensive or overpriced. For me, when a place loses its unique identity and visitors can’t take in its original character or have a good experience, or everything is overpriced, that place is a tourist trap. As for this place, it’s up for you to decide. You can visit this place and see for yourself. Anyway, I’m heading back now. Stay tuned to see where I’ll go next time.

อย่ามาที่นี่! เมืองกับดักนักท่องเที่ยว ไข่เจียวจานละ 1,600!

0:00 intro
0:37 มหาวิหาร มง-แซ็ง-มีแชล
4:09 ประวัติของ มง-แซ็ง-มีแชล
7:53 บรรยากาศเบื้องหลังกำแพง
9:46 สถาปัตยกรรม
14:50 ร้านอาหารที่ดังที่สุดบนเกาะ
17:18 ไข่เจียวจานละ 1,600 บาท
21:08 สรุป

Facebook Page : https://www.facebook.com/IRoamAlone/
Instagram : https://instagram.com/iroamalone
TikTok : https://www.tiktok.com/@mint.iroamalone