A low-tide walk on the Bay of Mt. St.-Michel

​The Mount St-Michel is one of France’s most popular sites. The UNESCO World Heritage Site is located in Normandy, just at the border with Brittany. The surrounding bay has some of the world’s biggest tides. At low tide, the water’s edge recedes by more than 10 kilometers from the coast. For centuries, that was how access to Mt. St.-Michel was controlled. Pilgrims made the trip when the bed of the bay was revealed. The trick was to be anywhere but out there when the water swept back in. There’s a causeway now, so 99% of visitors keep their feet completely dry. 1% of the visitors are teaming up with a licensed guide who knows the bay inside out and whose brain is programmed to remember how many hours it is until the tide flows back, what kind of jiggle surface signifies quicksand, etc. One of the suggestions all visitors get is to make the trip barefoot – Mount St-Michel, Normandy, France.