cross the dangerous shores to reach Mont
Saint-Michel, their final destination. The priory church has become a
private property since the French Revolution, and the village is now
part of the parish of Vains.

[Illustration]

156. Saint-Leonard-de-Vains. Winter panorama. The village and its
priory church under the snow, at the end of the winter. Photo by Alain
Dermigny. [Alain-084]

[Illustration]

157. Saint-Leonard-de-Vains. Winter panorama. The village and its
priory church, seen a little closer, at the end of the winter. Photo by
Alain Dermigny. [Alain-085]

[Illustration]

158. Saint-Leonard-de-Vains. Spring panorama taken from inside the
priory. From there, the Mont Saint-Michel seems to open itself to
pilgrims and travellers. Saint-Leonard is a very old village. St.
Leonard lived there in the 6th century before being elected the eighth
bishop of Avranches in 578. The village was then invaded by the Normans
in the 9th century. After the Norman conquest, the village was part of
the duke of Normandy's territory, and the fief of the lords of Vains.
In 1087, shortly before his death, William the Conqueror gave the
priory to the Abbey of Saint-Etienne in Caen. In 1158, Henry II
confirmed this donation, which included a mansion, arable lands and
vineyards, as well as salines with the right to fish and to collect
kelp. Photo by Claude Rayon. [Claude-47]

[Illustration]

159. Saint-Leonard-de-Vains. Spring panorama taken from inside the
priory. The priory was a simple priory, that is to say a small
monastery where some religious men detached from a main abbey were
living under the direction of a prior, but without taking care of other
souls (unlike a pastor for his parishoniers). The priory church was the
property of the abbey of Saint-Etienne in Caen until the French
Revolution. Photo by Claude Rayon. [Claude-50]

[Illustration]

160. Saint-Leonard-de-Vains. The priory was sold in 1793, during the
French Revolution, and the buyer turned the church into a farm
building. In an article from the periodical Le Pays de Granville dated
December 1976, Jean Bindet recounted that, "after the nationalization
of the church properties in November 1789 and the sale of national
properties from 1791 on, the priory and dovecote were left abandoned,
and their ruins, with the church that had not suffered too much, were
sold in 1793 for the sum of 200 francs in banknotes ... The buyer,
wanting its purchase