French abbey to be an island again
Do you know what the third biggest tourist attraction is in France after the Eiffel Tower and the Palace of Versailles?
The honour belongs to Mont-Saint-Michel, the 9th century abbey in Normandy, which welcomes nearly four million visitors a year. The abbey was once an island and, at last, is going to be one again.
For a decade, the French government has dithered about whether to remove the millions of tons of silt that have accumulated in the bay and, literally, to bring the sea back around the rock, which measures 500ft.
The project will take five years and cost £160 million. The parking area, and a causeway linking the island to the mainland which was built in 1879, will be removed and replaced by a bridge, over a mile in length, which will allow tides to flow below.
Guest Article by Jeremy Skidmore
Monday, January 14th, 2008
