Le Mont St. Michel

I have a new favorite place.  About 1 kilometer off the northwest coast of France, there is a tiny island.

This island is sometimes surrounded by water, but is sometimes surrounded by a blanket of damp sand - depending on the time of day and the tide schedule.

It contains a small village which, using the sea as it's natural defense, remained unconquered in the Hundred Years' War and throughout many other battles.

The village is capped off by a monastery for which this tiny island is named - Le Mont St. Michel

 Here we are exploring the meandering cobblestone lanes, and climbing up the various hidden pathways...

 Hiking up to the monastery is an absolute must...

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Looking below at the surrounding sand due to the temporarily low tide...

 Many tourists explored the sandy area beneath to leave their mark, if only temporary.  We found that someone else saved us the trip by marking our initials for us...

Luckily, Le Mont St. Michel isn't too far from Paris, and an easy side trip from Normandy - making it a very likely place for a return visit.