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This splendid building is a pleasing jumble of architectural styles. Its jewel is the Merveille, built during the abbey’s heyday and incorporating cloisters, knights’ hall, refectory and guests’ room.

Punctuated by imposing towers, the longest section was built to repel the English during the Hundred Years’ War. The abbot’s soldiers lodged in the Tour de l’Arcade.

Through the fortified Porte du Roy, its portcullis still visible, the Grande Rue winds steeply uphill. Pretty and cobbled, it was the 12th-century pilgrim’s way, and remains the only route to the top – though now you have to run a gauntlet of souvenir shops and overpriced restaurants.

Highlights are the garden periscope, 14th-century monks’ bath, 17th-century riding boots, and recreation of the prisons.

Chief of the king’s armies Bertrand du Guesclin built this house in 1365 for his wife, Tiphaine – a safe haven while he was away at war.

A large model of the Mont rises from a huge tank of water in a spectacle of sound and light, with a historical commentary in French.

The most interesting feature of the parish church, begun in the 11th century but not completed until the 17th, is the apse that straddles a narrow street. Its treasures include a silver statue of St Michael.

Legend tells of a huge rock blocking the entrance to a cave where the abbey now stands. Nobody could move it until a small boy miraculously pushed it into the sea with his fkot. This tiny 15th-century chapel was built on the site where the rock was supposed to have landed.

Films and displays offer a fascinating insight into the bay of Mont-St-Michel – its formation, evolution, eco-structure and the planned project for its survival.

Less technological and more child-friendly than its namesake at Courtils, this exhibition examines “life in the bay” (flora, fauna and environment), as well as the past lives of fishermen and salt workers, through models and computers.