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The Couesnon River runs past Mont Saint- Michel. At the time of this photo the tide was out, leaving extensive mud flats.

Some more info I have found about the tides at Mont Saint-Michel - The tides in the area change quickly, and have been described by Victor Hugo as "a la vitesse d'un cheval au galop" or "as swiftly as a galloping horse". The tide actually comes in at one metre per second.

The tides can vary greatly, at roughly 14 metres between high and low water marks. Popularly nicknamed "St. Michael in peril of the sea" by medieval pilgrims making their way across the flats, the mount can still pose dangers for visitors who avoid the causeway and attempt the hazardous walk across the sands from the neighbouring coast. The danger of drowning due to coastal tides after getting caught in quicksand continues to claim lives.

The final stretch of the river Couesnon forms the border between the historical duchies of Normandy and Brittany.
Its historically irregular course, alternating between two beds on the north and south of the Mont Saint-Michel but eventually definitely settling to the south bed, inspired the saying "The Couesnon's madness placed Mont Saint-Michel in Normandy" ("le Couesnon en sa folie mit le Mont en Normandie"), as the Mont is just to the Norman side of the river's current mouth.
However, the administrative boundary separating the two regions does not depend on the course of the river, and is about six kilometers west of the Mont.

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