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)

1 –The biggest menhir in Brittany weights 30 metric tons ?
It weights much more. Menhir is a breton word : men means stone and hir means long. If you know the French Obélix, it is the stone he is carrying around. The biggest in Brittany lies in Locmariaquer (Morbihan) it used to be 21 meters (more than 65 ft) long but it is broken and lays down on the floor. It weights more than 300 metric tons.




2 – A dolmen is a circle of different stones ?
You’re wrong. A dolmen is a « stonetable » in breton language, that means upright stones that are carrying a roofstone. Dolmen are really often without roof and have misceallanous architectures : the passageway is short to long, it has one to many chambers that are round, rectangular… La Roche aux Fées (Essé, Ille et Vilaine) is a nice one. During the neolitic time, it was probably covered by earth and stones forming a barrow.



3- And what is a cromlech or a cairn ?
A cromlech is a circle of standing stones.
A cairn is a dolmen,( the stonetable I was talking about earlier), but covered by a barrow. It is hidden by an earthen mound and it looks like a small mountain. Barnenez and Gavrinis are two famous breton exemples. Here you can see the tumulus (barrow) of Dissignac close to Saint Nazaire, (Loire Atlantique).



All these buildings have been erected at several periods, some of the stones were carved with symbols. They probably have had different goals, but we don’t know for what. Some were graves, may be some others were temples but we can only guess, the stones could have religious functions, astronomical functions,... We also don’t know why our megalith builders destroyed them (menhir brisé de Locmariaquer). When Christianity begins to appear in Brittany, the stones are already used for pagan rituals, and the Church doesn’t like it. They try to christanize it and carved christian cross or others christian symbols on it.



4 – Were the Egyptian pyramides already built when our ancestors were carrying their menhirs.
Well, some of the breton buildings are much older. We know it surely since the 50’s when carbon 14 was found. And we finally discover that they are really old. The neolithic men built the megalitic buildings between – 5000 and – 2000 BC. Our Egyptian friends began their pyramids around - 3000 when our Bretons are megalith specialists. The megalith time lasted 3000 years. And the buildings done are quite different : short corridors, long corridors, square, circular chambers…



5 - Menhirs , dolmens and other megalithic buildings were built by
- a Celts
- b Druids

a – During the XVIIIth century when the “scientists” began to look at those strange constructions, they thought that the Celts built them. We know now thanks to Carbon 14 that they are much older as Celts arrived in Brittany around 500 BC.
b – Caesar wrote about the druids in their stonetemples but they just used it and did not built it.


6 – In Brittany we say that Pantagruel, and his friends let menhirs everywhere ?

May be you don’t know who is Pantagruel. he is a hero of a book from Rabelais, a French writer from the XVI th century. He is part of the French folklore. Pantagruel, a jovial fellow, is a giant with an enormous appetite, and he is good-humoured.
He is the one who left a tooth in Saint Suliac (menhir de Saint Suliac, Ille et Vilaine). He took a gravelout of his shoe and let it fall in Fort Lalatte,another one in Cap Frehel ...


7 – Others say that the fairies did it !!!
They actually did the dolmen called la Roche aux Fées, that explains its name fairyrock. Look at the work they’ve done with the stones !!!



We don’t have any written signs for this civilization and archeologists guess every time they discover something new. They think now that the settled agricultural communities, that erected the buildings, were quite organized. They probably had a leader and asked the other communities around to help them to built the monument. So the monument was a common work : it needed the help of geologists (stones were not choosen at random and were often extracted far from the place where they wanted to build the monument), engineers for the architecture, astronomists to position the building…they did not need mason as the building are done without mortar.
Some experiences have been done to try to carry the stones : in 1979 at Stonehenge, about hundred men succeded in towing a 32 metric tons stone, supported by logs and using vegetal ropes.
To extract the stones, they probably were introducing small pieces of wood in the crevices of the blocks, and swollen with water, it did fissure the block. What a job!!!


8 – The megalithic architecture was born in Brittany ?
No, it was not but the alignments of Carnac are a famous place because of his high number of stones ( about 3000 and specialists guess that they were much more, may be 10 000). You can see megaliths in many other places in the world, close to us in Corsica, in Sardinia, Malta, Majorca… but also in Asia or South America.


9 – There are just 5 to 10% menhirs left in Brittany ?
Yes, that’s right. During the XIXth century, the “learned society” wanted to study the past and were carrying out excavations. These excavations were destructives because they were just dismantling the sites and razed it after. And also for many centuries, people used the stones to build their houses, later to do the roads. They did not care of culture and inheritage at that time.


10 – Why don’t we find bones under breton stones ?

Well, because the dogs came first !!! Some of them were burial chambers and you find no bones because the soil in Brittany is acid and « eat » the bones. Flints, pottery, pearls,arrows…were found in the megalithic constructions.


11 – What were those stones used for ?
We can only guess, they must have had a religious purpose. Standing stones may be calendars, markers of territory … Dolmens or cairns were burials sites…

Read it in French : Menhirs, dolmens, cromlechs et autres cairns en Bretagne : testez vos connaissances,

La fête des mégalithes...

Pleslin-Trigavou is a small village that got married several years ago. Yes, these two parishes wanted to be one and each had a beautiful heritage to give as a dowry : Pleslin is the 3rd megalithic site in Brittany (it has 4000 years) and hundreds of bronze axes were found in Trigavou last century, which are 3000 years ....

A union of history and heritage, so ...

Have you heard of la fête des mégalithes end of july ?
And do you know what it celebrates ?
Is it to honor the fairies?
Or to commemorate the druids?
Or to perpetuate a tradition of the nineteenth century?

The megalithic site, listed since 1887, is certainly very different from the Neolithic period : we can see now 65 standing stones, arranged in 5 rows and oriented as in Carnac, East – West but it used to be different. Because today the stones are lying, they were menhirs (standing stones). And therefore the site looks like a field of rocks (Champ de Roches) and is less impressive…

Imagine if all those tons were standing ...

How did they get here, these stones ? It is the eternal question, the Neolithic suspense... but I have a clue: the Mont Saint Michel ...

Oh, it already existed!
That's the story : The fairies were carrying stones to build the Mont-Saint-Michel. Tired-it 's heavy-, they got rid of them here in the Field rocks.



Next to it a collection of oak trees (lots of different species) remind us that standing stones are also the domain of druids. Later around 300 BC, Celts reused the standing stones and this Champ des Roches will be the place for new beliefs … Legends and myths will also survive till now… Probably rituals that might seem strange today took place then.
Through these rituals the Celts tried to communicate with the supernatural and the Other World.

Opposite, there is a large area to maintain the tradition?



Around 1850, a very old tradition was the pretext for a village fête for the inhabitants of Pleslin and other neighbours during the day of Saint John and Saint Peter. Celebrations, banquets were probably too pagan for the priests of the parish who tried unsuccessfully to stop these rites.

So la Fête des mégalithes, what is it done for ?

Read it in French : Les menhirs de Pleslin-Trigavou, Cotes-d'armor, Bretagne

North coast of Brittany is beautiful… Specially the pink granite coast. And in land, some kilometers away from the coast, you’ll discover an unusual standing stone.



Everybody knows that Brittany is THE land of standing stones (men in Breton means stone and hir lifted). And even if it is still not clear what they were done for, and that lots disapeared, they are still everywhere. And some of them are unique.

If you stay on the pink granite coast near Pleumeur Bodou, you need to go to the menhir of Saint Uzec (Saint Duzec) on the village called Plemeur Bodou.



This menhir is impressive, massive. First, its size, about 8 meters, on the top of a hill, you can see it from far away.We do not know its meaning when it was first erected during the Neolithic Time (5000 to 4000 BC), but it seems clear that our ancestors wanted it to be noticed. And some centuries later, it has been christianized with a granite cross, 27 sculptures and a painting that has been erased by the time.

You’ll admire it from the chapel of Saint Uzec on the opposite hill.



The granite church was built in the late fifteenth century, long before the transformation of the standing stone. Its bell tower is original - a tower-wall - all rectangular in which you can fit 3 bells. It is dedicated to Saint Uzec (also Judoc or Josse), a Breton prince of the sixth century who did not want to inherit his land and his title and instead became an hermit. 2nd Sunday of July takes place a pilgrimage.

Opposite stands the menhir. Its huge size could impress the Christian spirits. Surrounded by an enclosure, surmounted by a cross and decorated with symbolic sculptures, it is one of the most beautiful Christianised menhirs of Brittany. It became national heritage in 1889.
The tradition says that the menhir was transformed in 1674. And it is as if it alone brought together all the symbols of Christianity, all topped with a carved cross with a Christ on the cross. The 27 sculptures are arma christi (objects or instruments of the Passion). That are images that evoked the suffering and agony of Christ, before and during the crucifixion (Passion of Christ).
They were common in the eighteenth century and understood by the population. Today, those symbols –in France- are no more known.



The sun and moon symbolize the resurrection and death. A spear and a stick or a spear and a reed with a sponge (which satisfies the thirst of Christ on the cross) mention the arrest of Jesus. The vase and the hand are the pictures for Pontius Pilate who sentenced him to death.
A woman praying, Veronica’s veil which was used to wipe his face, the scale refers to the descent of the cross. The seamless tunic (clothing that the Virgin has created for his son who grew up with him), the three nails…

A large panel explains the standing stone in English. The vertical grooves are signs of erosion ... Yes, it's raining in Brittany, huh!
On old postcards of the last century, there are a painting of Christ on the cross, which has unfortunately disappeared. The sculptures were also painted. You can walk in this area, there are lots of paths …



Read it in French : Le menhir christianisé de Saint Uzec en 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

Visiting the Valley of the Saints... I have desires of hagiography (stories of holy names).... to understand the meaning and origins of the Breton first names...

I'll begin with Tugdual... a very famous saint here in Brittany... and an original male name...

This young man was not born in Brittany but in what is now called Wales. He, like many other Great Britons, crossed the Channel to Armorica to evangelize it.
So... he was Welsh, born in the late 5th century (about 490) and was educated in a monastery. Nothing very original for this time!
At 25, he emigrated with his family and other religious compatriots in Leon (Northern Brittany), where he founded a monastery and then a hermitage. Soon the two schools are very successful and lots of believers arrived.
He soon performed miracles, conversions increased... The Tréguier Monastery wanted him as a bishop in 532. Converted princes thanked him giving lands to found other religious establishments. In short, everything is fine.

Tugdual went to Rome in 548 and the legend says that Rome was burying the pope.
After the funeral, while the clergy gathered to elect the new pontiff, a white dove, symbol of the purity of the soul, rests on Tugdual head. And that's how his life switched : he was elected Pope Leo V.
The end of his pontificate is announced by a new sign two years later when a white horse fly him back to Tréguier.

The sculptor Francois Breton has carved him with a dove... It should be on the Valley of Saints in Central Brittany (France). (it is supposed to be there but it was not there during my visit, I have no photos to show you! Next time !)
He died in Tréguier November 30 with 73 years (if I counted right) in 563.
Celebrated this day, his name has many variants: Tual, Tudal, Tugal, Tudwal, Tuzval, Tutuarn, Pabu or Papu in Breton.

In summary, if Tugdual is the first name of your dreams for your boy, that's what you must remember: Saint Tugdual is one of the seven founding saints of Brittany. It was the first bishop of Tréguier. He is often associated with a dove... remember, Brittany had its first and only pope thanks to him and the dove.
Your son's Nobel Peace .... Not bad?

Read it in French : Saint Tugdual et sa colombe : évèque de Tréguier et unique pape breton

Have you ever read Asterix and Obelix ? If you did, you surely know the menhirs Obelix is walking around with. Well, the dolmen of La Roche aux Fées was not done by Obelix but thanks to breton fairies…



The dolmen is at about 20 km east from Rennes, under old oaks in the country of the village Essé. Once you reach Essé just follow the signs to the megalith. It is open all year long and free.
The dolmen is one of the most impressive in France : 20 meters long , 4 meters wide and you can stand inside, it was build with about 40 stones, some of them weighing more than 40 tons… Yes,the people at that time were quite strong…



A dolmen is a breton word that means table of stones, it is a chamber made with upright stones and covered with large flat capstones for the roof.…. Quite simple no… This dolmen has a long corridor, a portico nicely cut



and at the end a room. Until the 50’s the megalithic monuments were seen as building done by the Celts (they arrived in Brittany in 600 BC) but we know now thanks to the Americans that discovered the Carbon-14 that it is much older, for this one around 3500 BC.
It did not look like that during the neolitic time, because it was probably recovered by a tumulus (mound of earth and little stones). Specialists still don’t know if it was a temple or a grave (dictionnaire du patrimoine breton d’Alain Croix).
Neolitic people were really strong when you know that the stones weight more than 40 tons and that they come from an area that is 4 kms away. (foret du Theil)
Neolitic time (in Brittany from -3500 to-1800 BC) correspond to the beginning of agriculture and breeding. Thanks to the domestication of plants, a new type of social organisation appears with a specialization of men and work. They begin to build those monuments. But to build them they need specialized workers : “ geologists ” that choosed the type of stones, “ architects ” that think and build the construction and "drivers" to transport the stones – we guess that they were using woodlogs to rool the stones - , and "astronomists" that decide in which direction the corridor will be.




The building is orientated Northwest-South South East but it is not fate. No, it is a solstice alignment. You should go there on a 21 december and you’ll see the sunrays penetrating the building just in its center. You said they were wearing beast skins…
But may be we’re wrong and the fairies did it. That explains its name (Roche aux Fées = fairies rock) , the legend says that the fairies carried the stones from Le Theil. They let some fall around (at Retiers la Pierre de Richebourg or at Janzé la Pierre des Fées). I ll tell you the legend another day…

To sum up, you have to visit the dolmen for three reasons :
- to quench your curiosity
- to do the same thing that neolitic men were doing on december 21st
- to be sure of your lover. Don’t trust meetic, and test your love at la Roche aux Fées (also called lovers’oracle). Take your love on a full moonnight. Count the stones. If you find the same number, go on and marry him or her. If you don’t… recount them…
Last thing : take care of the building. I want my grand,grand grandgrand children to see it...
Leaving the place you can taste nice local products, see you on the next post

Read it in French : Visite au pays de la Roche aux fées (Ille et Vilaine, Bretagne)

Menez-Bre, this is the breton name of one the highest mountains of Brittany... 302 meters high ! Yes, and I climbed it... the rise of Menez-Bre it's 18% ... of fatigue... or of great pleasure...



Menez-Bre means sacred mountain in breton language (z is sometimes pronounced sometimes not depending on the corner of Britain you live in). It is a beautiful hill where St. Hervé chapel is built.
It is located in the middle of Brittany, a bit North, and it is surrounded by three villages Louargat, Pédernec and Tréglamus.
It can be hiked up from all sides and down on the opposite. And then walk the road, that returns to your starting point.
At the top, the Chapel Saint Hervé dominates the landscape and you will guess, through an orientation table, the different points of the land ... Monts d'Arrée ? Pink granite coast ?

A legend says that Conomor, the breton Bluebeard, was judged here... And it is also there that Gwench'lan, a prophet and a bard of the 5th C, (who refused to convert to Catholicism and had therefore his eyes gouged out, who was an enemy of Christians but a lover of birds) has been buried here after the battle against St. Hervé.
Hence the chapel Saint Hervé, symbol of the winner ! Parts of the building date from the 16th, 17th and 18th C, it has often been rebuilt.



It used to be a place of an important pilgrimage - but it is now unfortunately closed most of the time.

Let me tell you ... the history of Saint Hervé and this French first name.... and its chapel.
He is one of the few saints from Brittany to be born here in Britain in the 6th C. Blind since birth, God would not let him see the deceptive appearances of the world, he became a hermit and was always moving with a wolf. He was also a very popular confessor all over Brittany. He is also a holy bard and exorcist.

A bard ... He is the patron saint of Breton musicians and singers. That is why the Breton bards gathered here all night to pray ... And exorcist …Demons... watch out ! In fact, the 18th C exorcism sessions were held here on the sacred mountain.

One episode is often reported : a priest, Guillermic climbed the hill barefoot reciting prayers... Before him, many exorcists came here to celebrate a Mass at midnight to scare away evil spirits.

Saint Hervé is used to cure anxiety, fears or even depression.
This patron has also sparked a source close to the Chapel (300 meters East) where sick children were plunged to heal.
Many believers suffering from eye diseases or scalp came also on pilgrimage ... to be cured.
Finally, he has composed a the famous breton song the Paradise (Ar Baradoz). Hervé is celebrated June 17.

The Menez-Bre is also, since the Middle Ages, renowned for its horse fairs that stopped in the 1960s.



Hike on the village Louargat... too.
First, because the stones village is nice. And because you will find other excuses to walk around : or rather the menhir Pergat a few kilometers away from downtown. It is one of the highest menhirs in Europe, 7 to 10 meters according to sources.
And another smaller is quite weard... Put your back against the great menhir (don't wear nylon), look at the small menhir, a field of lines of force is created. your hair will tend to stand on your head.

There is also a mound (not easy to find ... I have not found any info about him) is in the opposite direction.

There are also many churches and chapels (Saint Eloi, Our Lady of Snow, St. John, St. Fiacre, Saint Paul, Saint-Sylvestre ...) in this town.

Why not spend a weekend here...
You can choose between accommodation in a cottage very close to the chapel of St. Hervé, or you can pitch your tent in a campsite within the Park of the Manor of Cleuziou (15th – 18thC).
You can even decorate your dishes or salads with herbs gathered in their garden ... Fun, no !



Read this article in French : Week-end de randonnées dans les montagnes de Bretagne : escapade dans le Trégor

The statue of Vénus de Quinipily is a mystery down here… Is it a Roman statue or a Egyptian goddess or a Gallic idol ???

I’ve been investigated and I’ll tell you its long story…

This 2 meters high granite statue is located in the walls of the now destroyed castle of Quinipily, a few kilometers away from Baud (Morbihan).

To find it, drive to Baud and follow the signs…



Stop in front of the portal and walk in. you’ll have to pay 3 euros to visit the park to see the Venus, the remains of a fountain and a nice heather garden.



A leaflet in English will tell you the story of this statue… but I’ve got some more details to tell you…



Extracts from my old tourist guide from 1883 :
At that time, they were remains of the castle and the statue was standing in the park ((where it still is)… The guide explains that it used to be in another hamlet where it was the object of a pagan worship.
Offerings were given by farmers, it was touched to be healed, young people who wanted to get married used to have wrong behaviours in front of it… Lustful habits … specially because it was naked…
Reading that, it is easier to understand that the clergymen used to considered it dangerous and that they wanted to destroy it. They tried several times with no success. Then they decided to throw it in the Blavet river (1661 and 1690) but again the farmers discovered it and started again to worship it.
The statue moved in Quinipily after a trial in 1701 between two local landlords (Lannion and Rohan) who wanted the Venus.



But we still don’t know if it is Egyptian, Roman or Gallic…

The official website of the breton inheritage gives some more informations :

The statue is not the original one. The “first”one has been destroyed and this one has been done by the landlord of Lannion. The carved date 1696 is probably wrong as the trial took place in 1701 and the statue was moved to Quinipily after it…

If you go up you’ll see the remains of the old chapel of Saint Michel.



And it is not a coincidence that it floors a dragon as the dragon represents the popular beliefs… that have to disappear.



Drive around as the place is really nice and visit also Poul Fétan or Melrand (le village de l'an Mil).

Read it in French : Patrimoine paien breton la Vénus de Quinipily près de Baud (Morbihan, Bretagne)

If you have some time after your visit of La Roche aux Fées you should try a bend to taste a really nice bread. On the way back to Essé, you’ll see a sign for le Theil (D99). Follow it till you see a sign for Fagots et Froment ( Le Rozay 35150 Essé - 02 99 47 04 26). That’s the name of the farm where you can buy bread.



The farm is a biological farm. Arriving on the parking place, you’ll see the bundle of sticks used to warm the oven.



Inside, you’ll see big baskets full of bread and you’ll hear the oven crackling.

The farm has an old tradition of making bread. Till some years ago, in Brittany every farm has had its own oven and was doing its own bread. In this farm, the children are just continuing tradition and making bread not only for the farm but to sell it on markets, in shops…

Bundle of sticks are outside the farm waiting to be burnt. Do you know the story of the sticks in Brittany ? It has a connection with the breton countryside and specially the hedges of trees. Well, to understand the strange look of the trees, you have to know a bit of the peasant history. The peasant when he rented the farm, could not use the trees. He was just allowed to cut the branches and that makes the strange look of the hedges. But after years, the trees then were no good for woodwork.



Bread is done with bio flour, produced on the farm. The farmers are trying to cultivate old types of wheat that were cultivated for centuries. They do that because scientists have noticed that the « old » wheat has an easily digestible gluten.
Most of the wheat is produced in the farm, it is milled in the farm, the bread dough is hand knead and then cooked in the oven, with wood from the surroundings… Culture to cooking, most of the bread is produced in one place : you want sustainable development. Here you are !!!



Well the only trouble is that they are one kilo stick… well it is not a real problem because it is a really nice bread and not expensive ( 4 € for one kilo, that makes the baguette at 80cts). You can choose a white flour bread or a wholemeal flour one.
It is open every day except sundays, from 10 am to 6 pm and saturdays from 10 to 12. You can find them in several markets from Nantes to Saint Malo. Have a look at their website to discover the closest selling point .

You can also buy bio meat produced by the son. Boxes from 6 to 12 kilos at 12 € for the beef and 14 for the veal. The 6 kilo boxes are small you can easily fit them in your freezer.

Leaving the place, if you’re driving direction le Theil, stop at the chapel Notre Dame de Beauvais (leaving the village, direction Sainte Colombe).



Notre Dame de Beauvais or Notre Dame de la Charité has a nice architecture and is full of commemorative plaques, nice stained-glass windows. It used to be a place of pilgrimage. On the porch an epitaph with 100 days of indulgence



shows that the chapel was a place for remission of punishment. Facing the porch, a calvary is carved with a Virgin (XVth century).




You can finish your day jumping back to neolitic time : direction Sainte Colombe. At "Le Haut Bois" hamlet, look for the menhir de Rumfort. The fairies let it fall when they were building la Roche aux Fées.

Read it in French : Visite au pays de la Roche aux Fées (suite) : déguster du pain paysan bio en Bretagne

Once you ‘ve crossed the bridge, walk up the street and soon you are in front of the priory looking like some centuries ago...




The first abbey Saint Magloire was erected in 850. Nominoë, first King of Brittany gave land and money to the monks to settle the monastery. The first one was in wood but it didn’t last long…



The church is dedicated to Saint Magloire, an holy Breton from across the Channel who arrived in Brittany at the end of the 6C. Magloire was the bishop of Dol, one of the nine breton bishopric, he retired in Sark (Channel island). The abbey was founded once the relics of Saint Magloire were brought back in Brittany. This time the church was built in stone but it did not resist to the Norman attacks. The monks left the place for Paris and came back much later during the 11C.

The nowadays church is a mixture of buildings of different times. It has stones from the 11C, taken from Corseul, a city some kilometers away. Corseul was one of the Roman capital, 5 to 8000 inhabitants were living there. After the Roman, the old capital became less important or even an ordinary small town. As it was already expensive to build in stone… the old Roman city became a stone quarry…



The foundations are from the 12C and the 13C – the front of the church is romanesque and each century will add its piece to the building.

The abbey is a rectangle and during the 14C and the 15C they added a chapel where the important families of Dinan were buried. It has been restored during the 19C and works still go on.



Inside the church the chapel shelters the graves of the Lords of Dinan, the family Beaumanoir. The chapels were at that time the possession of famous families and they were buried there (14C and 15C recumbent statues).



The 13C stoup with carved heads was used to bathe the young children during their baptism.



Next to the church, a 15C doorway



leads you to the closter (17C)



with its square pillars.



It was used as a passage to go from one place to another in the priory and in its center there is a nice garden…

North you’ll see one of the two best kept refectories of Brittany.



The second is at Paimpol (monastery of Beauport). This 13C building is gothic, with its large stainedglass windows showing the Rance estuary. It is the oldest building of the priory and it has been restored between 1987 and 1991. The 17C dormitory houses are on the first floor.



During the 18C, the King Louis XV decided to close the abbey. The French Revolution sold it to a family who lived there for 30 years. It then became a brewery, a canvas manufacture… and a classroom for young girls. As it was in ruins, the council of Léhon wanted to restore it to use it as the parish church.
At the end of the 19C, the works began. Nowadays the priory belongs to the Council and is used for religious purpose. In the buildings of the priory, a museum shows you the life of the monastery.



The priory of Léhon was a Benedictine monastery. The monastic life of the order was a mixture of work (agriculture, writing...) and prayers. The first Benedictine covent was founded by St. Benedict of Nursia in Italy (529). He explained the Rules of his future Order in a small book of 73 chapters. The Benedictine Order became very popular in Europe quite quickly.

Each priory is autonomous. The abbot rules his church following the Benedictine rules, he has total authority over the monks and represents the Christ in the community. Monks have a shaved head and wear the scapular (long piece of canvas).

The place is free and open all year long. The buildings have signs in English explaining the story of the priory. To visit the museum, you have to ask for the timetable at the tourist office.



Read it in French : Balade à l'abbaye de Léhon dans une petite cité de caractère des Côtes d'Armor (Bretagne)