There is village and a cathedral, on an island in Normandy, France, called Mont Saint-Michel. It is a fantastic place. It is about 1 kilometer from the mainland and when the tide is in the city is completely surrounded by water. There was once a tidal causeway that would be covered at high tide but now there is a permanent road connecting the island to the mainland. Now, less than 100 people live on the island but once it was occupied by Romans, Franks, monks, a French garrison to name but a few.

Mont Saint-Michel’s streets are narrow, cobbled and very steep. It seems that the buildings are leaning over as if they are trying to touch each other. When I first visited the city my children were all very small, the youngest only two. Needless to say we did a lot of walking and carrying of kids but it was a wonderful, magical place to visit.

One of the scenes from book III, takes place in the Cloisters, a tiny garden at the top of the mountain. It is beautifully decorated with arches, a garden in the center and a view out to sea. I have walked in this Cloister and imagined myself standing there, hundreds of years ago, and what it would have been like to live on this incredible island.

The coolness of the air here was most pleasant. Elieana walked

along the pathway surrounding a tiny, formal garden. One side opened to a spectacular view of the Alati Sea and the Dragon islands, barely discernible in the distance. Lavender bloomed in the very center of the garden, its scent, mingled with the salt air, reaching her on the slight breeze blowing in from the sea.