Rising out of a vast expanse of sand at low tide and water at high tide, the island of Mont Saint Michel immediately elicits images of medieval grandeur and timeless majesty, replete with monks, knights and desperate damsels. It’s really no wonder that pilgrims in the Middle Ages considered Mont-St-Michel (mohn-sehn-mee-shell; pop. 50) to be an image of paradise on earth, and were willing to risk their lives against the treacherous tides to try to get to it. A trip inside the millennium-old abbey, with or without a tour, is an indispensable part of the experience; no less intoxicating are the panoramic views from its fortified walls. Expanses of sandy marshland seem to extend into the horizon, with the perfectly preserved Mont standing out in idyllic isolation.