In Brittany, south, you have a nice little sea called le golfe du Morbihan (Gulf of Morbihan) where it is really nice to cruise.
And if you like old stones and megaliths, you'll be amazed by the island of Gavrinis and its cairns.
Back a few centuries ago, when the cairn was erected, the landscape was quite different : the gulf and its 42 islands did not exist. No cruise in the sun... no 10 minutes boattrip from Larmor-Baden ... to reach the island of Gavrinis … Land replaced the sea. There was just a beautiful hill.

The island is today divided into two : one part is a private property (Council of Morbihan would have liked to purchased it but they had no money) ... Stars from Paris bought it : the farm and the dozen hectares of the island became the property of a ... Parisian .... The other tiny part is the cairn !



Back to the huge cairn ...
... It was probably part of a more important megalithic site ... Leaving the island, you will notice that the island in front of the cairn has standing stones (discovered when low tide). They are still standing! Even after billions of tides ! The builders of the Neolithic time were working really well !!!



The monument was built around 3500 BC: it is composed of a dolmen (stone table) covered by a mound of dry stone ... ie a long corridor with stone slabs that leads to a room ... it seems that the corridor is the longest in Brittany and the room is the smallest ...
And as always, my answers/questions are assumptions : no paper trail, no skeletons (Breton soil is too acidic), only ideas and imagination to understand those prehistoric people. We still can not explain these singularities ...
By cons, it seems that the corridor has been intentionally filled with stones at a time ... (the spirits did not want curious minds to destroy the place, they wanted to wait until humanity will be mature enough and concerned to "discover" this awesome vestige) ...

How did those heavy stones get there?
The assumptions are : a river had to pass near the hill Gavrinis ... stones weighing several tons have been brought by reverse flotation (the guide will explain) near the site and then rolled on logs. One of the stones of the dolmen, which is the "roof" ... corresponds to one of the broken menhir in Locmariaquer ...a huge stone over twenty meters broken into three parts ... (do not miss it !)



How do we know that our ancestors did use it as it is recovered ?
As the slab is turned towards the sky, we would never have known it... but fortunatly the cairn has been damaged... a crater at the summit was showing a part of this carved menhir … Therefore no seek of the missing piece of the table des marchants!

Another interesting detail : each stone is decorated with geometric patterns or designs ... A true team of professionnal sculptors and engravers have worked for hours to get this result: perfect lines, without corrections, with regular spaces between curves, precision work on a very hard stone (try to carve granite, you'll see!).
Presumably, the community that built the monument had artists among them !

In short, the history of the monument is exciting ... The site guides will reveal more secrets about the cairn.
You need to pay for the visit and it is only possible from April to November. Book before you go, it is often full... (same thing for accommodation, we had to drive far inland to find a place to sleep !).
For once, if crowds are passionate, there is nothing to complain about!



Read this article in French : Croisière dans le golfe et les îles : Gavrinis

5 good reasons to go on this island!

Getting away
One day walk and break
It can be visisted most of the year (late March to All)
Enjoy flowers and sea spray !
And finally, greet a seal!

After 15 minutes of ferry through currents and reefs, you arrive on Kernoc’h harbor.
As 600 inhabitants live on the island, there are ferries quite often to get there : out of season several times a day and in season every 30 minutes. Whenever you want to go there… it is possible… till 7 PM.



The island measures just over 3 kms long at high tide. Because at low tide ...the island is much bigger… One day walk, you have plenty of time to discover Batz.



And as each side is different, it is very pleasant to walk around it. One side, you’ll discover Roscoff and the mainland, opposite the ocean.

And the shore of the island itself is very various : rocks, dunes, shingle or sandy beaches of extremely fine almost white ... It's not all, depending on the tides, the landscape changes again and again.



And despite all, the island does not live only on tourism ... With its nearly 600 inhabitants, it also lives on agriculture ... And therefore has a real life ... It is the island of flowers, they grow everywhere thanks to the mild climate : flowers of the fields (wild cloves, wild gorse, poppies, camomile ...),



dunes flowers (eryngium…), or common garden flowers (hydrangeas, geraniums, ...) or even exotic flowers that have spread out from the exotic garden.
At the end of last century, Georges Delaselle installed a colonial garden on the east of the island. He grew tropical plants (the climate is very mild in Batz) ... After decolonization, the garden changed its name for the name of its founder.

The park has been abandoned for several years but since 1986 it has been rehabilitated, hosts tropical plants and trees. Cedar, eucalyptus and dracena (palms of New Zealand), agave (cactus from Mexico used to make Mezcal) echium are all around the island.



If you walk to the ocean side, you will find beautiful white sandy beaches ... you’ll disturb birds or even sometimes … seals ... Further, on the far west there is a chaos of stones called : Toul ar Sarpant, the hole of the snake. That side hosts also a swamp with its fauna and flora.



The last facet of the island is the sheltered side, which faces Roscoff. And there anjoy a crepe or a drink after your nice walk…

On your bike, with your foot, enjoy the island.

Read it in French : Randonnée sur une des îles du Ponant : l'île de Batz

TRUE OU FALSE

The island of Batz was connected to the mainland during the Iron Age (8th to 6th BC)
A village is buried in the east of the island
The island has never sent a soldier to the Army
The lighthouse of Batz has 500 steps
Enez Vaz means Dragon Island
Algae have replaced the trees on the island
British people settled fortifications on Batz
The island is a paradise for early vegetables and organic farmers

By bike or on foot, go and get the answers ...



The island of Batz was connected to the mainland during the Iron Age (8th to 6th BC) ?
Yes, you could walk there at low tide. Last century, thirty neolithic graves (4000 years old) were discovered by Georges Delaselle, the founder of the colonial garden. He dug a hole, protected by a hedge of cypress and pine trees, on the east end of the island (where the garden is now) to house his exotic plants.

A village is buried in the east of the island.
Yes, the present village (where the ferry arrives) is recent.
Until the 17th century, the village was located on the east side of the island, where are the prehistoric tombs. This place may have been continuously inhabited since the Iron Age, as other traces of human presence were found. In any case, the village is covered by 6 feet of dunes.

You’ll understand better if you go to the chapel of St. Anne. This Romanesque church is half hidden in the dunes.



Its square pillars replaced the monastery built by Pol Aurelian, a Welsh arrived in the 5th century to convert Britain. Towards 530, he created a monastery then destroyed by the Vikings in 878.
At the end of the 11th century, when calm has returned the monks rebuilt a church.
When the sands were threatening, it has been gradually abandoned for the Kernoc’h bay. The ruins of the church have been used as an artillery warehouse shortly before and after the French Revolution. Today a mass in the open air is celebrated for Sainte Anne (Holy Ann) end of July The chapel and the cemetery are listed since 1980.

The island has never sent a soldier to the Army.
That is how the tourist guide Joanne (1884) presents the island. On this island, all men are sailors. The soil is grown exclusively by women. And some of them let their name in the history of Batz.
A native Yves Trémintin began to serve the State as a pilot. Soon, he fought with courage against pirates and lost a leg. He finished his life on his island limping ...
There is also a Portuguese privateer ... Balidar, who hated the English and therefore helped the French during the Revolution ... With his vessel, he was hidden in the channel and awaited the enemy ... The Batziens (inhabitants of Batz) prevented him when ships were in sign and he attacked.



The lighthouse of Batz has 500 steps.
It was built between 1836 and 1852. But you have to deserve it… 210 steps to climb…



Enez Vaz means Dragon Island
No, Bazh means in Breton language stick. And it has no link with the legend of the island…
There once was a dragon ... who was terrible.
In the early centuries of the Christian era, Pol Aurelian arrived in Batz to convert the island. The governor of the island begged the saint to set the island free from the monster ...
With the help of another gentleman, he went dressed in his priestly vestments, to the lair of the beast. There, without being intimidated by the wrath of the animal, he surrounded the neck of the dragon with a stole*. And led him to the sea where it disappeared.

On the north of the island, the place known as "Toul ar sarpent", the Trou du Serpent, still has the claw of the dragon printed in the stone.



The two heroes were rewarded. The gentleman was given the privilege to go to church with the sword to the side. As for Pol, he received many presents : a palace that he turned into a monastery. He also made some more miracles : a spring gushed out and healed 3 blind men, two mutes and a paralyzed.
Around the year 600, he was buried in Saint-Pol-de-Léon.
*The stole is retained in the new church of Batz.

Sometimes in Brittany, in legends, snakes replace dragons (because dragons were frequently linked with fairies and fairies are not working all over). The serpent is also more familiar and therefore more credible. These legendary figures are in any case often a symbol of the pagan religions that have to disappear...

Algae have replaced the trees on the island ...
There were very few trees on the island ... Islanders used algae and cow pats dried in the sun as combustible to cook or heat the houses (Tourist guide Joanne, 1884).
The more difficult was to harvest them… at low tide or in water up to the knee, women pulled wrack out of the sea ... Not always easy ... being a woman in Batz!

Today the harvest is done by tractors



or with scoubidous these strange boats, with long arms that gather laminars on the seabed.

British people settled fortifications on Batz
Yes, there are many vestiges of fortification against the English…
4 batteries (18th C) used to defend the Bay of Morlaix : the Penn Ar C'hleguer one is after the exotic garden, the battery Bilvidic, on the opposite edge and the other two on the remaining points.
There are also remnants of the Atlantic Wall (German defensive system of the Second World War) with bunkers .... But the vegetation today hides them well ....

The island is a paradise for early vegetables and organic farmers
The parcels are sheltered by small walls or hedges and fertilized by seaweed. Potatoes, fennel, rhubarb grow ... with a few weeks ahead… early agriculture. 3 harvests a year, sometimes the collection is done by hand.
Half of the island is grown in organic agriculture.
The island deserves its label…

Read it in french : Les histoires de l'ile de Batz : prétexte à une balade

Brittany was a very important strategic place during the Second World War. German militaries defended the breton region with the building of fortifications, the Atlantik wall along the atlantik coast (from Danemark to France). Bunkers but also antitank obstacles, concrete pillboxes to house machine guns... were done.

They also transformed the ports of Saint Nazaire, Brest, Lorient et Saint Malo into fortresses.



That’s for the main context. Let’s go now to Saint Malo and one of its district Saint Servan. (Saint Servan is part of the municipality of Saint Malo since 1967). The fortifications of Saint Malo were designed by Vauban (1663-1707), Marshal of France and famous military engineer. He also wanted Saint Servan to be strengthened and specially the cité d’Aleth, the outposts to the Rance estuary.



But it was done much later when the peninsula suffered from a British assault. In 1758, the major Marlborough invaded the Aleth peninsula and was thinking of doing the same in Saint Malo when he was shelled. He left the peninsula but did burn all the ships around before leaving the place. It did not take long, in 1759, one year later, Mazin, a French engineer began to build an artillery fort



to protect the estuary.



Almost 200 years later, the fort was strengthened by the Germans : you can visit the Mémorial 39-45,



situated in the middle of the peninsula, in a large coutyard. The Museum is located in one of the bunkers of the fortifications, you’ll see a documentary and an exhibition about the WWII.

On the platform, about 30 bunkers






were erected joined by underground passages with pillboxes.





The whole region was fortified : Cézembre, the island in front of you, the pointe de la Varde (Varde’s cape at the end of the long beach of Saint Malo), a radar at Cap Fréhel… The fort of Saint Servan was the German headquarter with the commandor Von Aulock.

The Allies invaded Normandy in June and arrived at Saint Malo August 2d. But they were not many to conquer the place, most of them were fighting in Normandy. The Allies decided to shell Saint Malo and after 15 days of intense bombings,



the German surrendered (august 17th). More than 70% of Saint Malo was destroyed and it lasted 12 years to rebuild the city like it was (1948-1960).

The island of Cézembre held out untill September 2d (site de l’inventaire général du patrimoine culturel). 80 bunkers were built there to control the port of Saint Malo and it is the more bombed place on the French territory.



Napalm bombs were dropped on it. Unexploded shells are still on the island and have to be defused. It is still a no trespassing zone on most of the place.

From the courtyard, you have a really nice view : on your right of Saint Malo, in front of you Dinard




and on your left, the Rance estuary.

Read it in French : Visite du fort de la Cité d'Aleth à Saint Servan, quartier de saint Malo (Bretagne)

You stay in Roscoff and you want to have fun answering questions. The main one is : Why does Roscoff, a small city, have such a highway ???

Some more …

5 - The fishermen wanted a highway to transport their fish to Paris
6 – The wolrdwide reputation of Roscoff is due to algae and scoubidoooos…
7 – No, Notre Dame de Kroas Baz is the origin of the roscovite fame
8 – No, the exotic garden is the reason of this motorway
9 – Sainte Barbe, the little chapel on the coast gave his main road to Roscoff
10 – Non sense. It is just because it is the way to reach the island of Batz



5 - The fishermen wanted a highway to transport their fish to Paris



The fishtanks for lobsters existed already during the 19th century. Today it goes on thanks to the same phenomenon : the tides that go up and down and renew the water of the ponds every 6 hours.
The fishing boats lay traps under the sea and come back full of lobsters and crayfish.

6 – The wolrdwide reputation of Roscoff is due to algae and scoubidoooos…

Algae is one of the other lives of Roscoff. As I already explained this coast has a special climate due to Gulf Stream (it is probably going to change with global warming… it may move or disappear…) and is the home of hundreds of unique algae. Even the Japanese, the big consumers of algae, are intested in our marine plants.
Since a very long time, the region is aware of its algae wealth and they have been used as fertilizer for local agriculture for centuries…
Dr Bagot organized the first center of thalassotherapy Rock roum institute in France at the end of the 19th century. This place uses algae to treat rheumatism, bone disease… and it still does.
Today, scoobidoo is also a major character of the place. It is the name of a boat that has a long arm to pick algae in the deep sea.

7 – No, Notre Dame de Kroas Baz is the origin of the roscovite fame

Roscoff already existed in Roman times. In the Middle Ages, it depended on Saint Pol de Léon. As the hamlet was rich, it wanted to be free. Shipowners and merchants of the city wanted to baptize, get married or die without refering to the big Saint Pol. They managed in the 16th century to build the church Notre Dame de Kroas Baz.



These architectural constructions (16 and 17th century) with its gothic church, 2 chapel-ossuaries…is in granite. The church is carved with merchants ex-voto. …



Inside the wodd vault and the beams are colorful.



In the parish close, one chapel is dedicated to Sainte Brigitte where the engagement used to be celebrated. The other with no door but windows was used to store bones.



A commemorative plaque to Mrs Silburne, an english woman who helped the refractory priests during the French Revolution. (Those priests had to renounce to their beliefs or they would die).

8 – No, the exotic garden is the reason of this motorway

The exotic garden has subtropical spieces (the climate…). Built around the rock Hievec, this small height up to 18 m offers a beautiful view over the bay of Morlaix.
From the garden, you can make a beautiful walk on the coastal footpath till Saint Pol (you’ll see the island Sainte Anne and the castle Kernevez), it’s really nice.

9 – Sainte Barbe, the little chapel on the coast gave his main road to Roscoff




This chapel was built during the 17th century to protect the Christians from the enemies of the Church and the invasions of hackers, it is rarely open.
Located on a rocky hill, it supervises the bay and its white wall is used by seamen as a daymark.



10 – Non sense. It is just because it is the way to reach the island of Batz

The deepwater harbour is the departure to Irland or Great Britain. Downtown, you have the old port, depending on tides. It is here that you can catch the ferry to Batz. And they are many everyday to cross the small sea between the island and Roscoff.


Read it in French : Algues, thalasso, homards et exotisme à Roscoff

When I was walking on the seafront at La Baule, I saw a sign that attracts my attention : war cemetery. War cemeteries are quite usual in Normandy or at Verdun but here in La Baule, a place of watersports and leisure…
So I went to see it. And it is not an American but a British cemetery from the second World War.

It is hidden in a housing estate close to La Baule aerodrom. But it is part of another town la Baule Escoublac.

You may not know that we are no more in Brittany (administrative region) . In fact we are in the historical Brittany, that means the one that used to be the Duchy of Brittany. Loire Atlantique (which is the name of the department where La Baule is) does not belong anymore to Brittany but Pays de Loire. Explanation : During WWII, in 1941, Pétain (the leader of the occupied France at that time) decided to reorganise French regions for economic and strategic reasons. He wanted the department Loire Atlantique to be part of the Pays de Loire. The Loire flows to Nantes (capital of Loire Atlantique), but Nantes has been capital of the Duchy of Brittany… Anyway, the decision took effect in 1955, much later. But till now some Bretonese want it back...

Let’s go back to our cemetery. British people take care of it. More than 300 soldiers are buried there, most of them quite young. They died in 1940 and 1942 and a sign explains both in French and in English what happened to those combatants.



Why 1940 ? France lost the war and British troops are hurrying to Saint Nazaire, a port on the French Atlantic coast for the evacuation. Several ships are there, one of them is The Lancastria.
The requisitionned cruise liner is overloaded (survivors talk about 6 to 9000 passengers) and is sunk by the Luftwaffe (German Airforce). Probably between 4 to 7000 people died. It occured the day of the French capitulation (17th of june 1940) and Winston Churchill decided not to talk about it, he didn’t want to demoralize more his citizens. It is probably the worst British maritime disaster of all time.
In 1942, Saint Nazaire is a German naval base for submarines. The British wanted to destroy the only dry lock capable of repairing battleships. The soldiers, who rendered unusable the lock till the end of the war, were Commandos from UK, but also New Zealand,



Australia, from occupied countries such as Poland…



Operation Chariot was successful.

All the pictures of the graves.



Read it in French : Cimetières de guerre de la seconde guerre mondiale en Bretagne

Want to visit a very famous French monument… the Mont Saint Michel… A really good idea for a cultural week end in Northern France.
Before getting there, do you want to play… with this little quiz …
And want to learn everything you always wanted to know about the rocky island ... practical informations and nice anecdotes, you’ll discover an unusual Mont Saint Michel.

1 - The residents of Mont Saint Michel are called:

- The Michelins
- The Montois
- The Miquelots

The residents of the Mount are called the Montois

2 - Tourists at Mont Saint Michel, how many ?

- 30 000 visitors per year
- 300 000
- 3 000 000

Over 3 million visitors a year (an average of more than 8000 per day!) And the number increases every year. It is one of the most visited sites in France after Paris. That reputation has centuries of life…Since the Middle Ages (12th), the pilgrims arrived to the Mount and stayed several days. Old houses (15th and 16th C) were inns or shops. The pilgrims left the abbey with souvenirs such as lead bulbs filled with sand.

3 - Le Mont Saint Michel and his daily life:

The Mount belongs to 3 families
There are about thirty residents
100 shops enliven the island

Actually 3 families share both the administration of the county and the shops. About 40 people live on the Mount. In short, 3 families, 300 businesses and 3 million visitors. The Mount loves the 3.



4 - Le Mont Saint Michel: his titles and awards
In your opinion, it

- listed as a historic monument
- is is one of the World Heritage List of UNESCO
- Belongs to the category "touristic city"
- Is one of the seven wonders of the world

The Mont is listed as a historical monument since 1874. Almost 100 years later, in 1979, it is an heritage of Unesco. In 2009, it is a touristic city that means that it has an accommodation capacity forlots of tourists and especially a particular legal regime in different areas (rest of the employees or beverage for example). It is a wonderful place but it is not one of the 7 wonders of the world.

5 - The origins of the cult of the Mont Saint Michel

- Druids started the cult there
- Ii is an angel who wanted the erection of the abbey
- It is a king of France who built it

It was a place where druids used to venerate their gods and also a tomb dedicated to the popular veneration, that's how the touristic guide Joanne presents it in its 1884 edition.


This is not an angel but an archangel ... says the legend. An archangel is a superior angel,he is above the angels and can act without God's permission. The Archangel Michael asked several times the bishop of Avranches to build a convent on the Mount .
And when in 709, he led the monks, a wonderful stamp indicated the place where the abbey had to be erected. A spring gushes too to provide drinkable water to the monks.

The Mount was attacked and destroyed several times in the Middle Ages. Philippe Auguste, a French King, attempted to conquer Normandy and asked his men to besiege it, they burnt it.The King rebuilt the abbey and fortress Tombelaine. It is the origin of the Wonder.

6 - What is la Merveille the Wonder as we call it in France?

- The whole Mount : village and religious buildings
- 3 floors of the monastery
- Part of the religious building

It is only the Northern part of the monastery dating from the 13th century.
It still includes 6 different spaces on 3 levels: 3 dining rooms one for the poors, at the bottom, one for prestigious people such as King and at last the monks' refectory. The other wing includes the cellar, the Knights' Hall and the cloister. All those religious buildings are a mixture of architectural styles: Pre-Romanesque, Romanesque and Gothic.

7 - Le Mont Saint Michel and its nicknames?

- It was called Tombelaine
- Saint Michel at the peril of the sea
- The Wonder

No, Tombelaine, another fortified rock of the bay, has also been the subject of numerous battles and conquests. It was also called Mont Tombe.

With the reputation of the pilgrimage which had an international success in the Middle Ages, the pilgrims had to cross the bay to visit the rock. It was and it is very dangerous : drownings, mudslides (quicksand) were and are very common ... even today, there are still dead ... You definetly need a guide to walk in the bay. And therefore it was called Saint Michel au péril de la Mer, St. Michel at the peril of the sea.

8 – The Mont Saint Michel and its nationalities:

- Independent?
- English
- Breton
- Norman

Independent! Even so, since a digue (1877) connects the island of Mont Saint Michel to the mainland, the silting of the bay goes on, the rock becomes an island just during high tides. Works are to be done to change the dam to allow the sea to flow into the bay (which should be less silt), and thereb yto give the Mount its independence of origin.

English ... Yes, during the 100 Years War in 1427, the English after a long siege took the site. The pilgrims continued to go to the abbey Mont Saint Michel with safe-conduct they paid to the enemy.

Breton ... In 1204, they besieged the rock, burnt it and eventually conquered it back but for very short time... Duguesclin, the famous friend of Joan of Arc was Breton. He was captain of the Mount and built a house (1366) for his wife Tiphaine (which can still be visited today).

Norman ... Well, yes,it is Norman. It is the Couesnon River, which is the border between the two regions ... Listen to the well known proverb:
The Couesnon in its madness
Put the Mount in Normandy
When the Couesnon will found the reason
The Mount will revert Breton.
All is not lost!

9 - The Mount and its functions.

- A very popular religious place in the Middle Ages
- A fortress
- A prison

The Mount was a religious place renowned in the Middle Ages.
But when the order of Saint Michel is created in 1469 by Louis XI, it is the beginning of a turning point. The knights of the Order multiply the celebrations, religious are appointed by kings, forgot to deal with the Mount and are just interested in profits. Decadence.
So much so that there is no more monastic life after the French Revolution and the monks will return there only in 1969.
In parallel to its religious life, the rock has been a fortress since its creation (8th century) or almost ...
The inhabitants took refuge on the Mont Saint Michel to escape the attacks of the Normans (understand Vikings) and have thus created the actual city.
Later fortifications are done against Bretons or against the English. You can follow the walkway on the many walls and defensive towers. The place has been a jail since the French Revolution.
If you visit the monastery, you will see a huge wooden wheel where 5 to 6 prisone sused to walk to bring food on top of the Mont Saint Michel. 10 - The Mount and its peculiarities

- There is only one entrance to go into the village
- There is a church outside the walls of the Mount
- There is only one street that goes through the island
- There is no drinking water on the Mount
- The train used to come to the rock
- there were windmills on the Mont Saint Michel
- The granite used in buildings comes from the Channel Islands

There is actually only one entrance to go into the Mont Saint Michel with 3 doors ...
There is only one street that actually goes to the abbey.
No drinking water for centuries except the fountain of Saint Aubertwhich is due, says the legend, to the will of the archangel. It is not located in the village but outside the walls.
You could take the train to Mont Saint Michel since 1901 and that for almost thirty years.
There was a windmill on the Mount. Yes, yes, they are mad those Normans ... Some granite used for the religious buildings come from Chausey ... the Channel island ...

So you’re conquered and want to run and visit it during your holidays. It’s worth it, believe me but… don’t do it in summertime, if you want to have a romantic short break… it is too crowded…the only street, you know suffers from pedestrian traffic (reall,y I've experienced it several times), queues for the tickets ... Speech guide are lost between the comments of Japanese tourists (many) and those of Italians, Spanish, English, German, Dutch…

Read this in French : Entre Bretagne et Normandie week-end insolite au Mont Saint Michel

The idea is pharaonic ...
its size first: a breton valley with monumental statues (over 3 meters high) .... and its number: 1000 granite Saints ....
What a job! Most of them are still invisible, they are waiting for the sculptors to create them...



The project of the association, is to create an Easter island, a Breton one for the 3rd millennium … to glorify the memory of 1500 years of popular Breton culture ... and to protect the identity of the region.

The first Patron Saints to be carved are those who helped for the Christianization of Britain.
At St. Pol de Leon, during the summer of 2009, artists began to carve the granite and St. Pol was born. 6 other saints of Christianity have followed: Pattern, Malo, Brieuc, Corentin Tugdual and Samson. Each one done by a different artist ...

These works of art were looking for a place to stay : 9 cities have been competing to receive the project. And the city of Carnoët , central Britain, (a few kilometers from Carhaix), won the bet.

After a summer on the coast, the statues returned to their final home, the elected site Tossen Sant Gweltaz .... And the valley began to be inhabited.
The project continues ... There are still a few (!) dozens of carving statues to be done to "feed" the valley. Sponsorship (each statue-menhir is funded by a company) must allow sculptors, each year make their works in granite. From May to September, each month, 8 artists will carve a Catholic patron saint with its attributes (about forty a year). If you want to compete, go on ! The sculpture competition will go on for a while !

The association hopes to attract thousands of visitors and be a cultural crossroads site (Welsh, Irish, Cornish, Breton ...). A center of information and documentation about the Middle Ages (time when the Saints arrived in Britain), the reconstruction of a Celtic monastery and a stage to receive theatrical, musical ... will be created too.

The idea is certainly very good ... and very ambitious, for sure. An arts center to attract hikers from everywhere with a unique site in France, even in the world .... in the Center of Brittany .... (according to the Tourism Committee of Britain, visitors come overwhelmingly in the region to enjoy the coastline, coasts and sea ..). To divert the flow to the inside of Brittany, you need at least a mammoth project ... The musical festival in Carhaix, festival des vieilles charrues, is a good example of success, it is one of the biggest music scene in France...

I went to see ... this winter, these carved megaliths. It is not easy to find them... There was no sign for the precious valley. I was a bit lost in Carnoët when a nice lady told me where to go. It's in the land, park in front of a beautiful church with a beautiful Calvary and after a few meters, you'll arrive at the place which hosts the statues.



The three-meters high statues watch you from the top of the hill.

But for now, the Saints seem to be standing there ... ! and wait for friends! ... May be this outdoor celtic park in Brittany will be competing with Disneyland Paris!



Read this article in French : la vallée des saints : 1000 statues à Carnoët (Bretagne)

Rohan is a famous name in Brittany, even now one of the deputee of Brittany is a Rohan. It was one of the three most important family of the Duchy of Brittany. Among others they have built the castle of Josselin ( a really nice town to visit) and helped William the Conqueror in 1066 when he crossed the Channel.
Rohan is also the name of a small village in Morbihan, there is no remain of one of their castle in Rohan except a chapel (Chapelle de Bonne Encontre). This small town is located at 10 kms south of Loudéac, about 20 kms east of Pontivy, on the canal of Nantes to Brest.
If you walk along the canal de Nantes à Brest and you’re lucky, you’ll find a mile-stone where the old name of Pontivy is written ; that is … Napoléonville. If you find it, tell me because I’m still looking for it… Why Napoléonville ? you know the french Emperor Louis Napoléon Bonaparte (1769-1821) who was defeated at Waterloo and had to exile in the island of Saint Helena where he died. Well, when he was emperor, he decided to convert Pontivy, a small city that agreed with the ideas of the French Revolution in a conservative Brittany into a military centre. Pontivy had a strategical position, located in the middle of Brittany and betwenn Brest and Rennes, it was the best place to control the region. In 1804 he called it Napoléonville. It changed names several times after that, it took also the name of Bourbonville and recovered its name Pontivy in 1870.

Read it in French : Rohan

April 30 is the day of Saint Guirec, he could be the patron saint of singles! ...
And so what ? You're looking for a nice holiday, an idea for week ends (April 30 is the eve of May 1st!), a great place for a short break in a beautiful area ... But the problem is : you're alone ... single ... and therefore, time off and vacations have become a nightmare ...
Except, except if you want to try something else... a day off, a little trip to the coast of pink granite, in France, in the village of Ploumanach, on the northern coast of Brittany...



Yes, this village is part of Perros Guirec, named after a Welsh monk, who arrived in Ploumanach in a stone bark in the 5th C to evangelise Small Britain. What made him special is that he had a magic nose ...

Returning to the purpose of this trip ... go away single on a nice holiday!

The village is on the pink granite coast (the granite is pink because it is a mixture of three minerals : feldspar (pink), mica (black) and quartz ...) and you'll come across strange rocks eroded by the climate. A footpath leads you around the 30 kilometers of this pink wonder.

If you are vigilant, you'll soon be facing an island where sailors used to dry their fish ... (In fact, the only remain of this fishery is the name of the castle built on the island) : the famous château de Costaeres (in Breton language it means place to dry fish). The manor is a celebrity here in Brittany as it stands on every brochure and postcard showing the coastline of Côtes d'Armor ...



The bay that faces this mythical construction of the Brittany coast, hosts a small monument accessible at low tide ... the oratory of Saint-Guirec (12th C).



Yes, for years, sailors wifes came here to pray for the safe return of their men during fishing seasons. Girls looking for an husband visited it too... And it is still used today by single tourists (or anyone who is seeking wife, husband ... or soul mate!).
The legend says that if ladies were able to stick a needle in the nose of Saint Guirec, (and especially if the needle remained there until the next tide) they would find a lover in the year ...
The wood statue of Saint Guirec was used so much that the spikes had completely damaged the nose of Saint Guirec. It was replaced with a granite copy... The original is in the chapel overlooking the bay.

Gentlemen, don't be desesperate, I did not forget you... Even if the heroes of the story are women, the 20th Century brought gender equality..., go and try !

If unfortunatly the needle did not stay in the nose of Saint Guirec during a tide, console yourself...

- Perros (as the locals say here) is a touristic place... its population is multiplied by 8 in summer ( 7500 by 8 = 59,000 persons) ... Among this crowd, all lovers of pink granite coast, there is surely someone who is looking for you !

- Smile again, (only if you're speaking well French) a master of humor, Thierry Le Luron (cheerleader), is from Ploumanac'h and is buried here in the cemetery of the village of Clarity. Go give him a quick hello, he will lift your spirits! -

Or finally, if you love race sailing la course en solitaire du Figaro, the town of Perros may be a step for you ... and among thousands of visitors...

- Finally don't forget that the pink granite coast was worth it, anyway.... (There are only 3 pink shores in the world, one here, one in Corsica and one in China ...).
But the other two have no saint for singles, no ... Saint Guirec



Read this article in French : Comment rencontrer l'âme soeur en Bretagne sur la côte de granite rose

April 15th, the feast of St. Patern! That's an original French name ! I don't know anyone who's name is Patern. Anyhow it is a famous breton saint who is connected to rain and springtime...
Paterne or Paterne (and not Pattern !) is the patron saint of a French city in Brittany Vannes, where he was the first bishop. He was revered during the Middle Ages, when Vannes was one of the stages of the pilgrimage, the Tro Breizh, which linked the 7 bishoprics of Small Britain (Dol, Quimper, Saint Brieuc, Saint Malo, Saint Pol de Leon, Treguier and Vannes). The pilgrims had to do it once in their life.

Patern is one of the 7 founding saints of Brittany, a native from Wales. He emigrated to Armorica during the 5th C. Like many Great Britons who had fled the big island to take refuge in the small peninsula.
This religious man was not really welcomed by the local people (he is a foreigner but a Breton yet!). Nonetheless he is the first bishop of Vannes (c. 465). Quickly forced to resign, he moved to a hermitage in the region and he died forgotten in April 15 in 475.

Unloved, he should have been abandonned when a century later, the city of Vannes suffered a severe drought. The parishioners thought they were punished for abusing their bishop and they began to pray. As the rain returned, they built a church in his name... The tomb of Patern is not in the cathedral of Vannes, but in this little church (2 Place Saint Catherine Vannes).
Here is the story of Patern, whose fame continues... His statue is in the Holy Valley of Carnoet (but I forgot to photograph it). Signed by Olivier Leveque, it stands with the other contemporary sculptures of the founding saints of Brittany. You don't like this male name of Patern. Go and read my others articles on Corentin, Tugdual, Malo... or check a guide on Celtic names and their original meanings ...

Read this article in French : Un prénom breton original : Patern le saint fondateur de l'évéché de Vannes