Driving the Normandy Coast

July 27, 2025

The day began with a stop in the town of Avarnches, and in particular, the Scriptorial. The Scriptorial Museum is the only museum in France dedicated to the presentation of ancient manuscripts and in particular the collection of manuscripts of the Abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel.

A book with a labyrinth, I have no idea what it is about

And a book whose writing is so small I do not know how one reads it, let alone how one wrote it.

A butterfly in the Park of Flowers in Avranches

Hombye Abbey

The Abbey of Notre Dame of Hambye was founded around 1145 by William Painel, Lord of Hambye, and Algare, bishop of Coutances (the Diocese of place). The monastery was established by a group of Benedictine monks.

The construction took place in the late 12th and early 13th centuries. The religious community reached its apogee in the 13th century and then, after a long decline, over the following centuries, when the abbey was down to seven monks, it disappeared in the 1780s.

Like all French abbeys, it became national property at the beginning of the French Revolution. Eventually, the abbey was sold in 1790. The abbey church was used as a quarry from 1810 and was gradually dismantled.

The abbey was saved in 1956 through the acquisition of the monastic buildings by a local couple.

The abbey church, the gatehouse, and the lay brothers’ building were bought by the County Council of La Manche in 1964. Considerable work to restore and stabilize the remains of the abbey has been done.