You'll tell everyone you know about the day you walked to Mont-St.-Michel. The cathedral-capped

fortress floats on water—at least until the tide ebbs to reveal the sandy causeway to its gate. Then, as the faithful have done for centuries, we make the pilgrimage on foot across the seabed to one of France's most glorious landmarks. True, the provinces of Brittany and Normandy have their apple orchards and salt-meadow sheep flocks and picture-book villages deep in the woods. And we've planned beautiful walks among them. But like the people and history of this region, we always seem to come back to the sea. To explore coastlines that have seen invasions from Iron Age Celts to D-Day's Allied Forces. To stroll in quaint ports that launched the Norman conquest of the British Isles. And to feast in restaurants where great platters of fresh oysters, lobsters and Coquilles St.-Jacques are standard fare. So much beauty, in the shadow of so much history, warmed by a lively hospitality makes this a truly unforgettable journey.