AVRANCHES is the nearest large town to Mont St-Michel, and it has always had close connections with the abbey. The Mont's original church was founded by a bishop of Avranches, spurred on by the Archangel Michael, who supposedly became so impatient with the lack of progress that he prodded a hole in the bishop's skull - still to be seen in Avranches' St-Gervais basilica . Robert of Torigny, a subsequent abbot of St-Michel, played host in the town on several occasio... [More]