Off the SW tip of Normandy sits a small but dramatic rocky island with an abbey originally built by the Benedictine monks in 10th C. While holding strategic fortifications throughout history, esp in conflicts with England, it became a place of pilgrimage with the walkers arriving at low tide. The high tide kept attackers at bay, and even later Mont Saint-Michel housed a prison. With great accuracy and balance, the architects throughout the centuries added great halls, cathedrals and spires higher still on the rock resulting in layers of history to explore today and an emblem of France.
