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

In France, November 11th is the Armistice Day, the end of the Great War. And Brittany was the region which losts the highest number of soldiers : one dead for 19 inhabitants (in France one dead for 29).



The memorial of Sainte Anne d’Auray (South Brittany, France) commemorates the Breton soldiers who fell in the First World War 1914- 1918. 240 000 names are written on the Monument -erected between 1922 and 1932-. But nowadays historians think that the loss were less important. Between 110 to 130 000 Bretons lost their lifes during the Great War in Brittany. 1,4 millions of soldiers died in France for 41 millions people (Brittany had then 2,5 millions inhabitants).


Explanation for the high losses in men in Brittany : in 1914 the Breton region was a seamen and farmers country. Most of its population was rural. And country people were sent on the frontline. Workers were kept for the factories. Lots of people in Brittany then did not always speak French. Some of the regiments were only breton because the recruting was then regional. So in some of the regiments orders were given in Breton language.

The War changed the way Breton people were living. Men were soldiers and women were alone in the farms and had to work hard in the fields : the troops had to be resupplyed. Cities were even cultivating public gardens such as the jardin du Thabor in Rennes.

A Breton writer Roger Vercel wrote a famous novel in 1934 with his Great War memories : Capitaine Conan. It is a famous movie now Captain Conan (from B.Tavernier in 1996).

Read it in French : Les Bretons et la première guerre mondiale

Sainte-Anne d'Auray is not only one of the biggest French catholic pilgrimage, it is also the place for a famous memorial to victims of the first World War.

10 millions people died between 1914 and 1918... about 20 million became disabled and France suffered more than one million deaths. In Brittany, about 110 to 130 000. It is the region that gave the more compared to its population.
The Great War began the modern world: new military equipment was used, the weapons changed, tanks, artillery pieces, powerful cannons (Big Bertha shot more than 9000 meters) chemical weapons with the gas in the trenches ... And the soldiers. A war that has drained France of his men. And above all Brittany.



Expalnations : for some, it is a deliberate sacrifice of the Bretons, because they were second-class citizens (in France the regional divisions were: the Bretons, the Normans ...).
Testimonies tells us about those Breton soldier, not being abble to speak French, unable to understand orders of the military elite and who were shot by mistake. Or this other Breton considered a deserter when he returns to seek treatment and could not explain what he was doing... Some of these soldiers have been rehabilitated. For others, the contribution of Britain is linked to its rural character and its extremely dynamic demography. Truth must be between the two.



This memorial in Sainte Anne d'Auray was originally dedicated to all victims of Brittany. Located next to the basilica it is a huge square surrounded with slabs engraved and at its center, an imposing altar.
Built in 1923, the site bears the list of engraved names of some 8000 soldiers, entire families (father and son!). But, not all the deads are honored here, no. Only the dead of the families who had enough money to engrave their names. Wealthy families or Catholics have subscribed. At least 100,000 names are missing!!!



The purpose of the monument has changed : it is now dedicated to the missing people of all wars and during the feast of St. Anne (July 25-26), the office is celebrated from the altar. A peace memorial ...

Sainte Anne d'Auray has also an important cemetery of victims of war (made up of Belgian soldiers and the wounded died in hospitals in the West).

Read this article in French : Le mémorial de Sainte Anne d'Auray : le monument aux morts des Bretons

If you 're trolling through the region of Brocéliande in small Britain, place of the Arthurian romance legend...you can stop and admire an ancient tree, thousand years old ...



My name is Eon Guillotin and I am thousand years old. I am an oak tree, over 20 m high and nearly 10 m in circumference.
I was born during one of the passages of Halley's comet ... in 1144, but I hardly remember, it's so far back and I was so young ...
Eon the hermit baptized me ... He took refuge in the Brocéliande forest. He has lived near my young branches like a highwayman... and he got caught and did end in a dungeon in Reims in 1148 ...

200 years later in 1352, I was already centennial, I saw this fratricidal battle between Bretons, the Battle of Mauron which pitted French and English soldiers... or another one that took place in 1364 and opposed our countrymen again …

Until 1370... another battle... a famous one when Lord Duguesclin besieged the castle of Comper and made fire and sword ... The castle has been dismantled in 1598 by King Henry IV when visiting Britain (Go visit it, it is not far ...).



During the French Revolution ... I saved the life of a man Guillotin. That's my second name! It was not safe to be a believer at the time. The priest Guillotin was chased by the Sans-culottes (knee-breeches... meaning the poorer members of the Third Estate). He hid in my trunk.
The anti-clerical soldiers arrived in front of me and didn't see Guillotin : a huge web had been woven on my trunk. Notre Dame de Paimpont had become a spider to save this priest and it saved him.

If you knew what I know... all the laments of love that I've heard, the first kisses I've seen, the owls I've saved, the thunder I have supported, all the kids that climbed me, the cows that I have protected from the sun (the heat wave of 2003, remember), the birds I've nested and the births I have helped and the fear I've had hear when carpenters are seing me as tables or floors ...
My old bark marked by time could tell you so much ...

Read this article in French : Arbre remarquable de 1000 ans : le chêne à Guillotin

You’re visiting Britanny and specially the South Coast. You have to go to the Gulf of Morbihan, a small sea surrounded by peninsulas. The place is really unusual with its inland sea, an incredibly high number of islands... it's worth it.
And on the presqu'île de Rhuys, one of the peninsula that closes the Gulf, you’re close to an historical place the tumulus de Tumiac, where the legend says that Caesar did watch the naval battle between the most powerful tribe of Armor the Veneti and the Roman fleet.



Gallic War. Here we are, back in 56 before Christ when Caesar decided to conquer Brittany.
In 57, Roman already tried to dominate the peninsula. One year later, when they came back, they had to do it again. Veneti did resist and were known as good sailors. Ceasar decided to attack them, here on the South Coast. The legend said the Emperor watched the encounter from the top of this hill.



220 large sailing ships faced the Roman fleet, which was easy to move. And Romans had sickles tied to long poles that were quite useful to cut the sail down. The sailing ship could not move anymore and the soldiers just had to board the ship. And that ‘s how Caesar won this unexpected struggle… and the wind did not blow to help the Armor tribe.

That’s the legend… and now the truth about this little mound. It is on the main road that goes from Sarzeau to Port Navalo. Stop on the parking place and go on a small path that leads you to the top of the hill.



You can no more visit the underground… because of degradation…

86 m high, 20 m diameter of clay. Underneath, there is a grave (5000 before Christ).



A stone coffin 4 meters long and 2 meters wide where an important man from that time was burried. In 1853 excavations did reveal human bones which is rare in Brittany –acid soils do “eat” bones-.

Read it in French : La butte de César : légende historique ou site préhistorique du Golfe du Morbihan

... Once upon a time ... there was a time ... an usual war ... a war of succession between members of one family ... for a ducal crown ... and that, some time ago ... Middle Ages, back in the 14th century ... in Brittany
The Duke of small Britain dies without having choosen a successor ... The pretenders to the throne are two: the husband of his daughter (Charles de Blois, a nephew of the king of France) or his younger brother (Jean de Montfort) supported by the British ...

It will take more than 20 years ... 2 long decades of succession wars between Bretons ... but also between French and English to find a way out.
This Breton War of Succession (1341-1364) took place during the Hundred Years War (the war between the French and English, and ending with the death of Joan of Arc). Brittany is therefore the land of Franco-British confrontation ...



In short, many adventures will punctuate this period of struggles in Brittany in medieval times... And this tower is an episode of the story: the main protagonist is a star of the Middle Ages: the Lord Duguesclin.

Who is Duguesclin?
A Breton born near Dinan in 1380 ... He took an active part in the Franco-British confrontation, the Hundred Years War, which lasted so long... (1337-1453).

He delivered several battles and was imprisoned many times ... This Breton Lord, known to be a contemporary of Joan of Arc but unloved in Britain for supporting the French camp ...
That may be why the legend says he was short and not very beautiful (not to say ugly), greedy, pretentious ... But courageous, he was.

Duguesclin, no, Duguesclin wanted to reconquer the castle that the English had conquered ... The actual tower, we see today, is the remains of a 12th century fortress in the village of Grand Fougeray. This village is in a region called the Marches de Bretagne (literally the doors of Britanny), the border area between France and Britain, land of many battles ...
The castle is in the hands of the English troops... In 1354 Sir Du Guesclin will reconquer it thanks to a good trick. With some soldiers, having learned that a shipment of firewood would be provided, they disguised themselves as loggers and are allowed to enter the castle (the Trojan horse is back). The English did loose their conquest ....
You understand now why the constable Bertrand Duguesclin gave its name to the dungeon ... where he played an abominable trick to the hereditary enemies of the time ... our English friends ...

The castle will be razed during the 18th century, only the tower will be kept ... It has been listed in 1913. The Grand Tour Fougeray now houses a restaurant and is surrounded by a park of several hectares.
... For fans of cycling, a tour is proposed linking several villages in the area ... Green tourism !!!

Read this article in French : Le chevalier Du Guesclin et la guerre épisode de la tour du Grand Fougeray

I was wondering what kind of green walk I could do when I remembered this legend...

Teillay is a small village about ten miles from Bain de Bretagne. It is in the forest, bordering the administrative border of Brittany and Pays de la Loire in France, that a story took place during the French Revolution.
Leaving the village take the first road into the forest on your right hand. Go a few hundred yards, you will notice a small trail that leads to a grave. The legend is reported in several versions, the end is the same : the girl died ! ...



Sainte Pataude is buried here, according to the legend, (Pataud means clumsy and it was the nickname given to Republicans by the Chouans) ...
And you'll understand why when you know the story of Marie Martin, (Sainte Pataude) a young woman from Tresboeuf... a village in the surroundings... She is 18, 19 years and works in a shop. The Chouans (the Monarchists) are looking for her... because she denounced the Royalists or because they did not like the attachment of her master to the Republic. Anyway, she did resist ...
The story happened in 1795, 6 years after the French Revolution, days of hate and cruelty in France between the Monarchists and the Republicans ... The girl didn't talk... The soldiers took her... She suffered all sorts of atrocities (I'll spare you the details, Amnesty International did not exist at the time but they would have had something to do!) and ended up hanged by the hair ... She is buried at the foot of the oak where she was found.



Soon rumors suggest that patients who went on her grave, came back healed ... Curiously the refractory priests tried to stop beliefs by threatening to excommunicate the "pilgrims" who came ... for miraculous cures. (Don 't forget the Chouans killed her, the defendants of the right to believe in God). Anyhow, as it is written in the report of the time, everyone, aristocrats (against Revolution) and patriots (for), went there.

The tomb is still visited today. It is covered with flowers, clothes are hanging on trees, shoes littered the floor, letters testify to the Saint's commitment. Sainte Pataude is still prayed for children, to help them walk (small children's shoes are around the grave), but also for many other ailments or hope of healing. The number of ex-votos on the site shows how Sainte Pataude can still help many desperates.



The local newspaper explains that the villagers continue to maintain the grave, for fear that if they abandoned it, they'll get bad luck and misfortune.

Read this article in French : Croyance populaire : tombe à la fille

Since 2006, you can visit the feudal castle of Léhon all year long (for free : week-end 10 am to 7 pm off-season).

Located on a small rocky peak, it was before impossible to walk to the fortress because the ruins were hidden in a green jungle, full of bramble bushes…
The town council of Léhon decided to stop the destruction of the castle so that one day archeologists would be abble to excavate the site and discover the history of this monument. They did not try to restore it as it used to be but just did strengthen the ruins to avoid the total erosion of the buildings. The site is an archaeological reserve and when time and money is available, they will begin the researchs…



But let’s talk about the story of this fortified castle. Léhon has long been a strategic place because of his ford on the river Rance and then its bridge. The Benedictine monastery was already built when the Lords of Dinan decided to erect a castle. They choosed to settle on a rock promontory to dominate the Rance river. They took part to the different wars of the time : against the English or the French or during the War of Succession of Brittany. And the architecture of the stronghold evolved in the course of the centuries to fit to the evolution of the war machinery...



In the year one thousand the castle was first in wood. The bishopric of Aleth (the future Saint Malo) was divided into several seigniories. The viscount of Dol inherits Léhon where he settled his capital. The fortress is destroyed many times during the 11C. End of the 12C, the place is even razed to the ground as a punishment following the peace treaty between France and England.



The structure of the nowadays stronghold was done at the end of the 13C : a surrounding wall with towers that fits the rock.




The architecture evolves with the War of Succession of Brittany (1341-1381). The castle was besieged and the walls between the towers destroyed. The archers used the loopholes to reach their enemies.



Those holes were useful because thanks to their shape, the attacks could not get in. Inside the tower, thanks to the openings placed on different points of the tower, the soldiers could defend most of the tower.



Firearms appeared during the 15C and the buildings had to fit to the new attacks of guns. The castle raised and strengthened its walls (the basis is solidified to resist to the guns), the loopholes were enlarged to be abble to shoot from the inside of the castle. But all these modifications were not useful as … the Duchy of Brittany was now part of France and French troops don’t fight inside the Duchy but on the borders of the Kingdom of France.
That the end of the medieval fortress !!! The castle is already in ruins at the end of the 15C and will soon be used as a stone quarry for the monks to extend the priory of Léhon during the 17C.
In one of the tower a new chapel dedicated to Saint Joseph was done during the 19C.



Inside the castle signs explained the story of the castle both in French and in English.





The small village of Léhon is also worth it…

Read it in French : Promenade dans les ruines du château de Léhon (Côtes d'Armor, Bretagne)<br />