Day 111, 23 October 2012, Mont-Saint Michel Abbey - An Island that was, then wasn't and is almost an island again. This glorious location in Normandy dates to 708 when a Bishop had a vision and a sanctuary was built in honour of the Archangel Michael. By the 10th century the Benedictines (poverty + silence) settled in the Abbey and a village grew around it - in fact all the way down to the base of the rock by the 14th century. Remember - it was an island. The ramparts and fortifications resisted all English assaults during the 100 years war and it became a symbol of national identity (so much so that the 2013 Tour de France route, announced yesterday, includes Mont Saint Michel!) Whilst now a Unesco World Heritage site, over the years it has even been used as a prison but now has monks in residence again (shhh....). We climbed to the top of the mount and explored the abbey along with Lee and Annie and it was truly incredible - especially looking out through the walls of the cloister and realising how far up we were. In the 50s and 60s a permanent road was built to the island and land reclamation occurred - but this affected the tidal flows severely and for the sake of the environment a bridge is currently being constructed and the artificial land removed - so what was an island will become one again... by 2015 or so.