Second phase of restoration work on Mont St Michel begins

France's Centre des Monuments Nationaux is continuing its multi-stage restoration of the island abbey of Mont St Michel. This year the Norman-Gothic cloister and its 13th-century courtyard garden will get a 2.2m makeover. This follows repairs in 2016 to the 19th-century gilded-copper statue of Archangel Michael that tops the abbey spire, and earlier projects to restore the roof and stained-glass windows.The abbeys site and topography presented its builders with particular architectural challeng