Iconic abbey evacuated after threat
France’s Mont Saint-Michel is a popular tourist destination
MONT-SAINT-MICHEL, France — French authorities evacuated tourists from the Mont-SaintMichel abbey and searched houses Sunday on the famed outcropping in the English Channel for a visitor who apparently threatened to attack security services.
The exceptional evacuation of one of France’s most-visited tourist sites came after a string of sporadic attacks around France in recent years targeting police, some of them fatal.
The site reopened Sunday afternoon and a trickle of tourists started returning to the Mont across a promontory that connects it to the mainland. Several hours of searching failed to turn up the suspect, and police expanded their search to neighboring towns, according to the national gendarme service.
Details of Sunday’s threat were unclear, but the gendarme service said authorities ordered the evacuation as a precaution.
During the police operation, at least three police helicopters circled over the peninsula, notably famous for being isolated by high tides. The hilltop abbey, which dates to the 10th century, and surrounding sites attract more than 2 million visitors every year.
Police officers patrolled the steep cobblestone paths leading up to the abbey, packed with restaurants and souvenir shops — and normally packed with tourists and pilgrims 365 days a year.
Thousands of people were affected by the evacuation, but the mood was calm. Some tourists were taken out of their hotels, while others were blocked upon arrival.
“We wanted to go to Mass at the abbey. But now we can’t,” said Clotilde, a 23-year-old from Paris who arrived Sunday morning.
Some angry South Korean tourists shouted at an organizer trying to explain the situation. Their group of 32 was turned back to Paris after being blocked from reaching Mont-Saint-Michel.
Tour guide Andrew Rui remained calm, however, noting that the evacuation was prompted by security reasons.
“We cannot control the situation so we accept this phenomenon,” he said.
The regional prosecutor’s office opened an investigation into the threat, amid contradictory information about what happened. An official with the national gendarme service said the man made the threat Sunday on one of the shuttles serving the site.
An official said the man made the threat when he was trying to stage a street performance and got in an argument with a cafe worker. The man was caught on video surveillance cameras.
A house-to-house search was ordered to verify if the individual was still on the Mont or had left the with the flux of tourists.
Monks and nuns were told to stay inside the abbey during the evacuation, and the Mont’s few other residents were told to stay in their homes.