France's Mont Saint Michel to become island once again

The mediaeval abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel -- a jewel of France's architectural heritage -- is to become an island once again, with the start of a massive engineering project designed to reverse centuries of silting.

Built 1,300 years ago on a rock off the northwestern Normandy coast, the Mont Saint Michel is France's main tourist attraction outside Paris. But the the encroachment of surrounding mudflats has spoiled the insular character of the Benedictine abbey, which is now only cut off from the mainland at very high tides.

"Historically, the Mont was more than four kilometres (2.5 miles) from the mainland. Today it is only a few dozen metres (yards) away," said project director Francois-Xavier de Beaulaincourt.

Experts believe that at the current rate of silting, the Mont Saint Michel would be permanently connected to the mainland -- even at high tides -- by 2040.