The abbey
Crowning the island.
Annick Bregain — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Simon Höger — CC BY 4.0 · Celeda — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Falcon® Photography from France, France — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Kakha Kolkhi from Rouen, France — CC BY-SA 2.0
Mont-Saint-Michel is a rocky tidal island in Normandy, northwest France, at the mouth of the Couesnon river about a kilometre off the coast, 59 km northeast of Rennes and 284 km west of Paris in a straight line. The island covers 7 hectares and has only a few dozen residents. It could once be reached across the sands only at low tide, so the incoming sea guarded it against attackers. A medieval Benedictine abbey crowns the island, ringed by walls and towers, with a small village below. The island and its bay have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979. The island rises in a cone of stone houses, walls and towers above the wide sands of the bay, topped by the abbey's sharp spire. At high tide water surrounds it and it seems to float; at low tide shining sand flats stretch to the horizon. The bay's tides are among the highest in Europe. Visitors leave their cars in car parks on the mainland, then cross a footbridge or take a shuttle bus. They climb the narrow, busy main street to the abbey and walk the ramparts. Walking on the sands is only safe with a guide, because of quicksand and the fast tide.
Crowning the island.
Bay views.
The island floats.
Mouth of the Couesnon, Normandy, France
Only with a guide, because of quicksand and tides.
In mainland car parks, then the shuttle or footbridge.