Cherbourg is gateway to one of the most photographed sights in France - lofty Mont St Michel. Begun by Bishop Aubert of Avranches in 708, the slender steeple piercing the firmament is a powerful statement of Norman/Romanesque religious fervor. Around it, the immense Monasstery and Cloisters buttress the the in massive walls of stone reaching all the way down to the sea.