O.K., now that I've got your attention (I'M Sorry, I was desperate and I do need to know about the tides/waves), does anyone know how the tides work at Mont Saint Michel? Someone I work with (from Southern California) referred me to a "Noaias" Web Page (or something like that--it is a "Worldwide Tide Guide"), and after several (very frustrating) days I still do NOT understand the tide chart at: <BR>http://www.normandy-tourism.org/w/ville/Marees.html <BR> <BR>Now, I do understand that ocean tides come and go daily [even two or three times a day, most of the time(?)]...so is "The Mont" surrounded by water two or three times a day, and then it's accessible? It was my understanding (or reading somewhere) that at 'high' tides, the place was surrounded and/or isolated for days(?). Is this true? I would really like to understand this (I have only even been to (or been by) an ocean a couple of times. And those were on day boats...fishing. I have never even experienced tides! [I have heard about 'rip tides' and how to get/swim out of them (on T.V.)]. Anyway, thank you so much, if you CAN help educate a 'landlubber'! We will be at "The Mont" somewhere between the first of October and the middle of November (still planning). Oppps! And see there, I forgot to do a search first, and I know better! Something just tells me that this one has not been touched (especially since I have been planning this trip/monitering this forum 'daily' for the past year +). No excuse! Spankin's!!!

Can't help you much on the tides. There are probably two high and two low tides every 23 hours, but you'd have to check a tide chart to know the exact times on the dates you'll be there. But when we were there a couple of years ago, the causeway looked awfully built up. I don't think the Mont is ever cut off during regular tidal changes. If you happened to hit it during a spring tide (which occur at full moons, not necessarily in the Spring) and during strong onshore winds, I suppose it's possible to be cut off-- but not very likely. Hope this helps.

A sign is posted in the parking lot indicating when high tide will occur, written in about 20 languages. Mont St. Michel was one of the most breathtaking sights I've ever seen.

I was at Mont Saint Michel last Friday and truely enjoyed seeing it! I've always wanted to go there since a child. My Mother did a painting of it years ago. <BR> <BR>Anyway, there were signs posted in many languages stating that high tide would be at 1800 hours and to move your car up to the causeway. At about 4pm when we left, the police was directing new arrivals to park way back before getting to the causeway. They had a good 15-20 minute walk to S Michel. So don't worry about the tides. You'll get to it! <BR> <BR>It is a breathtaking sight! As I drove away (slowly because of the traffic) I kept looking back. <BR> <BR>

Monica, <BR>So, did you get the idea that this is a daily thing? I was hoping someone who lives in France (like Vincent) would respond. Maybe I should go ahead and e-mail him directly?

I do live in France. I did respond. Yes, dear, the tides do occur daily.

Thanks Martha, <BR>Yes, you did respond. I appreciate your reply, very much. And, I do NOT wish to seem ungrateful. But, you said, and I quote, "Can't help you much on the tides." (I believe that is what I asked for help with) "There are probably...," you said...probably? And you also said, "I don't 'think' the Mont is ever cut off...." You did not sound like someone who really knew anything, for sure. The web site for the Mont (which I listed) shows the 26th day, as the "High Tide", for October, 1999. They show one date and only one date, for each month of the year(?) There in lies some of my confusion. Also, previous posters talked about "using caution...since you could get 'stranded' (on or off) the island." Maybe, this has changed (as you say the causeway 'seems' high enough). I will give them a call just the same. Let me know if I can ever help you with travel in the Western United States. I think, I can be of some help.

OK, so you really want tide information. First of all, 26 October is the day of the spring tide I referred to in my first posting. Mont St. Michel has what are called semi-diurnal tides, or in other words, two high and two low tides per day. You will notice that the second high tide is 12 hours and 24 minutes after the first one. That is the amount the "moon" time (daily tidal swing) is lagging the sun time. If you add 48 minutes per 24-hour day after October 26, or subtract 48 minutes per day before October 26, you will get the APPOXIMATE high tides for the day you will be there. (You can go back to the tide table and check my arithmetic for yourself. The idea is that the high tide will get later and later.) Since the tides are posted at Mont St. Michel, you can correct this number when you get there, but you won't be hours and hours off. However, knowing the high tides will not tell you whether the causeway will be underwater. The causeway is designed to clear the water even in high tides. In storm conditions, with a strong onshore wind and high waves, you could get cut off. This explains the idea that you could get cut off for days-- obviously, it isn't caused by tides, since they will be at their lowest every 12 hours. (In fact, spring-tide lows tend to be lower than neap-tide lows. Neap tides, which occur when the moon is in the quarter, have relatively less difference between high and low water levels.) So, naturally, you will have to pay attention to weather as well as tidal information. If you have any further questions please let me know. <BR>P.S. I got to France by sailing across the Atlantic ocean. I served as navigator.

Wow! Hats off both to the comprehensive answer, and its author!

I LOVE YOU MARTHA B.!!! Wow! Across the Atlantic! WOW! You are my/the "Goddess of Adventure," and I worship you! And my offer still stands. I would be 'most honored' to be of some (any) assistance to you, should you ever decide to visit our 'Slickrock' Area or the Western United States. London, Paris, Rome, Tokyo, Moab.

Here is a website to find out Tide Schedule for Mont St Michel: <BR>http://www.normandy-tourism.org/w/ville/marees.html <BR> <BR>Any other questions, please e-mail me.

MarthaB: I recently read an extensive article about the Mont, that the swirling high tides are no longer 'high', cutting off the island from the mainland. Apparently, the French government is doing some sort of Army- Corps-of-Engineers dredging to put the ocean back to where it was and let the tides do their thing again. Do you know any more about this? (I think it's interesting that Venice is trying to make the sea go away, and France is trying to make it come back).

I decided I'm in over my head on this topic (Sorry-- couldn't resist) so I called the ministry de l'Equipement, des Transports et du Logement, and had a nice chat with M. Patrice Roux, who is an engineer at Mont St. Michel. <BR>The information I gave above (except, in my first post, 23 hours should be 25) is correct, as far as it goes. The tides cycle every 12+ hours, and the causeway (which M. Roux says was built in the late 19th century) is designed to clear all tides. The problem is not getting stranded on the Mont. <BR>However, the bay around the Mont has silted in since the city was built during the Middle Ages. So, during neap tides (around the time of the quarter moon) even when the tide is at its highest, you still see the mud flats. During about two weeks out of every lunar month, you cannot see the Mont completely surrounded by water. <BR>For the other two weeks of the lunar month, during spring tides (around the time of the full or new moon) the Mont is surrounded by water-- except, of course, for the causeway-- for as long as three hours, two times a day. Only then can you see it as its builders did in the Middle Ages. <BR>It's easy to find what time of month to see this, since most calendars show the phases of the moon. I gave a long, tedious explanation in my last post in this thread of how to know what time of day the tide will be high. <BR>To the Mont back to its original situation, surrounded by water at every high tide, the bay will be dredged. This will start in 2002 or 2003. I asked. M. Roux if there were any navigational purpose for the dredging. He says not. He says it will be done purely to preserve "the original spirit of the Mont." And how can you not love a country where a government bureaucrat can say something like that!

!

For Mary: <BR> <BR>Info on tides at Mont-Ste.-Michel

By the way, the mont is no longer surrounded by the sea because the sand is accumulating around it, mainly for two reasons : <BR> <BR>-the causeway, which blocks the waters. Another one, allowing the water to flow freely under it will soon be build. <BR> <BR>-the rivers who "washed away" part of the sand whose water have been used for agricultural purposes. I believe they should try to remedy to that also. <BR> <BR>Without this changes, the mont would soon be surrounded by lovely green grasses and sheeps. For the record, the mont was originally part of the mainland and was surrounded (naturally) by the sea only during the early middle age. <BR>