PHOTOS: When the 'tide of the century' hit France

A supertide turned France’s famed Mont Saint-Michel into an island and then retreated out of sight, delighting thousands of visitors who came to see the rare phenomenon.

The so-called ‘tide of the century’ actually happens every 18 years and is caused by the solar eclipse and the current ‘supermoon,’ which has seen the moon coming closer to Earth than usual.

Although the tide rushes in and out along the whole northern French coast, it’s especially dramatic at the UNESCO world heritage site, which is normally linked to the mainland only by a narrow causeway.

The high tide, said to rise at the pace of a horse’s gallop, turned the Mont briefly into an island on Saturday, while the day’s low tide allowed people to walk on the expansive flat seabed.

See the dramatic images below: 

An aerial view shows the Mont Saint-Michel off France’s Normandy coast. The Mont Saint-Michel 11th century abbey was entirely surrounded by the English Channel. Photograph: Pascal Rossignol/Reuters

A man stands on an embankment as the incoming high tide surrounds the Mont Saint-Michel 11th century abbey off France’s Normandy coast. Photograph: Pascal Rossignol/Reuters

People gather on the waterfront to watch the incoming high tide in Saint Malo, western France. Towns on France’s North Atlantic coast braced for their first giant tide of the millennium on Saturday as the full moon and this week’s solar eclipse combined to create an ocean surge not seen since 1997. Photograph: Stephane Mahe/Reuters

People stand along the waterfront as a wave crashes onto a seawall durng the rising tide in Saint Malo. Photograph: Stephane Mahe/Reuters

A man paddles a kayak as the incoming high tide surrounds the Mont Saint-Michel 11th century abbey off France’s Normandy coast. Photograph: Pascal Rossignol/Reuters