16 – Tombelaine

The Neighbour to the north

From the ramparts as well as from the saltmarshes below Mont Saint Michel, on a clear day you will see a smaller granite rock island off the Normandy coast. Situated a few kilometres from the Mont itself this is the island of Tombelaine.  Popularly (though probably apocryphally) believed to be named after a Princess Hélène reputedly buried here (Tomb of Hélène) Tombelaine was at one time also home to an abbey founded in the thirteenth century. More vulnerable than Mont Saint Michel, this island was occupied in early 1423 by the English during that period known as the Hundred Years War. All buildings and fortifications were destroyed in 1666 for fear of repeated English occupation.

Geologically these granite outcrops in the area are known as igneous intrusive formations, having formed below the earth’s outer crust – then being exposed through centuries of erosion of the outer sedimentary layers of softer rock formation.  Today Tombelaine is owned by the state as a bird and nature reserve. It is possible (given enough time) to hike across the bay from Mont St Michel, but be aware that you will be crossing quicksand areas and a couple of river burns, so your timing - in view of the strength and fearsome speed of bay tides - will be critical. Departure some four and a half hours before the high tide hour is recommended. A visit to Tombelaine will give the visitor some idea of what Mont Saint Michel would have been like before being built upon.