Thousands of people have gathered at Mont Saint-Michel in northern France to watch what has been billed as the high tide of the century wash around the picturesque landmark.

The exceptionally high spring tide, swollen by a so-called supermoon effect linked to the solar eclipse on Friday, was predicted to cut off the island from the mainland with a wall of water as high as a four-storey building.

But the tidal surge was not as high as the 14.15 metres expected, and a tiny sliver of causeway no more than a few metres wide resisted the surge of water pushed by the Moon's gravitational pull on the sea.

Saturday's tide on the long, sloping estuary of the River Couesnon could, however, go higher, although scientists said low air pressure might have lessened the phenomenon.

The bay on the coast of Normandy has some of the strongest tides in the world.

Police had difficulty holding back crowds eager to get a picture of the scene in the final minutes before the surge on Friday evening, with the tourist hotspot lit up as night fell with 60 spotlights for the occasion.

Even before dawn, tourists from France and the world over - Japanese, Germans and Belgians in particular - were on the bridge leading up to Mont Saint Michel, a site visited by three million people a year.

French foreign minister Laurent Fabius and defence minister Jean-Yves Le Drian were also among the curious.

People also gathered on the waterfront to watch the incoming supertide in Saint Malo, western France. ( Reuters: Stephane Mahe )

In the bay of Mont Saint-Michel, as the saying goes, the sea rises "at the speed of a galloping horse".

A 70-year-old fisherman in the south-western Gironde region got caught in the high tide and drowned on Saturday, firefighters said.

Although dubbed the tide of the century, the supertide phenomenon occurred once every 18 years.

The supertide will also be felt in Tierra del Fuego off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, the northern coast of Australia and the Bristol Channel in Britain.

The last so-called tide of the century was on March 10, 1997 and the next will be on March 3, 2033.

The largest tidal ranges in the world occur in Canada at the Bay of Fundy and Ungava Bay, where, according to the Canadian Hydrographic Service, tides can reach 17 metres in height.

March 19: The 11th century abbey is usually accessible by foot from the mainland by both humans and sheep. ( Reuters: Pascal Rossignol )

AFP