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)

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

5 a day they say…

Ok, but when tomatoes have no taste, when peaches are unripe and when strawberries are time bombs, what should we eat ?
Well, choose the breton strawberries… the one produced at Plougastel, called gariguettes. They are slim, very long and really tasty…



Plougastel has a long reputation as a land of strawberries. Again, it is due to a mild climate ... as often for the cultivation of vegetables in Britanny. Sea regulates the temperature (it is never really hot and it does not freeze). The season lasts from April to November.

The strawberry fields are located in the countryside of Plougastel Daoulas. During the last century, strawberries were protected by small stone walls. Today the plants are hidden in tunnels or in greenhouses.

Let’s go back to the 19th century. Strawberries are grown, replacing the cultivation of flax which was then the wealth of Brittany. Flax was used to make canvas (called daoulas) that were exported around the world. But the international competition (American and British) is too strong, breton producers have to evolve. They began to grow strawberries on the peninsula to replace the flax.

At that time, 25% of the French production was breton. And soon they tried to exporte their fruits to... England. Or Paris when the railway connects Brest to the French capital in 1865.

Since then, the strawberry culture oscillates between periods of plenty and bad times....Competition is fierce on the large international market of strawberries.

Have you ever eaten a gariguette. It is not the cheapest one but it is full of smells and extremely tasty. They are picked by hand, when they are ripe enough and delicately layed down on trays. No need to add sugar, as it is harvested at maturity.

And then if you are interested in sustainable development, they don’t come from far, far away…

If you buy organic strawberries, have you noticed the one with strange shapes: these are flowers that have not been properly gathered… they grow "distorted" ...



Want to know more about the history of the strawberries… In Europe and in our countries, the wild strawberry has been around forever (at least during the Roman times). Amédée François Frezier (Frezier in French even if it is not spelled the same, means strawberry plant), a French explorer, brought back from South America a variety of strawberries that are the ancestors of those of Plougastel.

Visit a strawberry farm at Plougastel. You'll learn much more!

Then, what do you think ? Are the strawberry a Breton tradition? A gastronomic heritage? A speciality of Brittany? Please vote !



Read it in French : Les fraises de Plougastel : tourisme ou patrimoine gastronomique

... Follow the guide ... and discover the history of the names of the holy founders in the valley of huge granite statues in France (Brittany).

These preachers of Armorica are not many for the moment in Carnoët (where the sculptures are) but they're the most prestigious ... The area has been evangelized between the 5th and 6th C. Most of them are "British" as they came from Wales and founded Dol, Quimper, Saint Brieuc, Saint Malo, Saint Pol de Leon, Tréguier and Vannes.
These seven cities were and are the main stops of Tro Breizh (walking tour of Brittany in Breton language), a very important pilgrimage of the Middle Ages that everyone had to do once in his life. If you like walking, cross the sea and do your pilgrimage, it is really nice to do.
Corentin (in Breton Kaourantin) died December 12. His Day is the day of his death (like many other saints). As a girl's name, it is Corentine.



Corentin has a remarkable originality because, among those 7 emblematic saints , he is the only one to be born in Brittany, France in 375. All other holy founders came from across the Channel.
Very pious, he did many miracles near his hermitage. He was best known because he had a fish that did wonders: as soon as he did cut a slice, it grew again ... No wonder that the sculptors of the Valley represented him with a fish ... almost as big as him ...

Legend explains that one day the king Gradlon (the hero of the city of Ys) went hunting and got lost with his court ... He arrived at the hermitage of Corentin who feeded them with the miracle fish ...
Later, when Gradlon wanted someone for the Diocese of Quimper, he remembered the hermit and asked him to become the first bishop of the city. He died in 401 at age 26. Corentin, the patron saint of Quimper, is buried in the cathedral.
And Corentine has other feminine names : Cora , Coralie ou Coralise.

Read this article in French : Histoire d'un prénom celte Corentin

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

You love questions! With no easy answers… And you’ve been to Roscoff ? Do you know why there is an expressway that runs from Roscoff, a small village of a bit more than 3000 habitants to Morlaix?

1 – This highway has been constructed because ferrys to England or Ireland leave from Roscoff ?
2 - Or because Johnny Halliday the famous French singer is behind the Anglo-French friendship!
3 - Or is it due to a love story between a Queen of Scotland and a French king?
4 - Or rather a history of shipowners, privateers and pirates!

1 – This highway has been constructed because ferrys to England or Ireland leave from Roscoff ?

If you are regular customer of the ferry, you have already taken the fast lane along the Bay of Morlaix. Ok, Roscoff is the port to Plymouth and Cork. But is it the only reason why there is this highway ? Why Roscoff rather than another port on the coast of Brittany?



… Well for economic reasons ... due to climatic reasons ... : The whole area around Roscoff has two major advantages: - A very regular climate with a low difference between the highest temperatures and the lowest due to the Gulf Stream (warm water current that goes in front of Roscoff).
- And a really good land for agriculture.
Yes, and then ... it creates unique conditions for an exceptional agriculture.

We harvest almost uninterrupted even in winter ... Agricultural products are shipped from Roscoff to Paris, Brest, in the ports of Holland and England, and particularly on the English coast of Cornwal l: in 187,5 7 803 055 tons of potatoes were sent, 2 million kg of artichokes ... the pier of the port is full of carts that provide vegetables for vessels. (Joanne Guide 1884)

It is not surprising that this stretch of coastline is known as the Golden Belt (ceinture dorée). Vegetables grow quicker than the rest of the Bay (3 weeks in advance) and the mildness of the weather allows a rapid succession of crops.More than 70% of French couliflower and artichokes are produced here.

If you take a walk on the coastal paths, you will see the agricultural wealth. Every parcel is cultivated.

And this production has to be sold. As the old port is depending on tides that empties it and impede commercial traffic, Roscoff had to find another way to sell its vegies.

The city needed a deep water port and the energy of a man, Alexis Gourvennec who, thanks to the capital of local farmers (and the help of the State that wanted to help economically this part of Brittany), created a ferry line to England to sell vegetables (1972). And then to develop tourism.... This is how the Brittany Ferries began cross-links.



2 - Or because Johnny Halliday the famous French singer is behind the Anglo-French friendship!

This connection with England is not new, and is not due to the fame of Johnny, the singer.
It is much more trivial…

Roscoff onions had already created the path. Yes, in 1828, one of the first Johnnie exported onions to England. They were called Johnnies because at the time they took with them their young children. And everybody knows (specially the British !!!) that all the Bretons sons then were called Yann (Jean in French).You nicknamed the youngs Johnnie…

Those Johnnies and fathers used to leave mid July, for 5 to 9 months with their bicycles covered of onions and were selling them across the sea. More than 1200 Johnnies made the crossing before the 2nd World War.
This breed of onion has been brought from Portugal by a monk (mid XVIth century) and was gradually introduced in the region. Indeed, it was a good product for the sailors fighting against scurvy (a disease caused by a lack of vitamins). Easy to preserve, the onion was useful for vessels, it could be taken on board and kept delaying the effects of the disease on the crews. Trade stopped after the war. A small museum in Roscoff commemorates this episode.

3 - Or is it due to a love story between a Queen of Scotland and a French king?

The connections with England existed long before this onion story ... Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland ... You know her… The legend said she resided here.
The future wife of François II landed at Roscoff in 1548 to join the Court of France, where she had to continue her education before marrying the king 10 years later.

But it is a legend, because the houses where she lived did not exist at the time! The chapel of Saint Ninien or rather what remains of it




(close to the watchtower, a remnant of the old city walls) commemorates the Scottish episode.

4 – Or is it rather due to an history of shipowners, privateers and pirates!




The relations with the British have not always been as peaceful as they are today. In the Middle Ages and beyond, Roscoff was repeatedly attacked and destroyed by the English troops. The honor of both side is safe because the reverse is also true.

It is a hole for buccaneers and an old nest for privateers, the Breton poet Tristan Corbière described it in the 19th century.
It is also a port that trade with Flanders, Spain or Portugal (linen, cloth, salt ...). During the French Revolution period it became a place for smuggling brandy, tea and gin with English ... The Wines and Beers are the worthy successors of that time!

This wealth is still encarved in the walls of the houses : sculptures still decorate the granite.



Read it in French : Roscoff : porte vers l'Angleterre et l'Irlande

Yes... in these unstable times, climate changes and warm worries, how to find the ecologically correct ?

With the Copenhagen summit, one is forced to wonder and to ask questions and to look all over, in front, below, above and on the sides to try to find an answer! Have you any tips to reduce your environmental impact, your carbon emissions?

Have you ever wondered what is your carbon footprint ? in CO2 ? in tonnes of carbon ? in greenhouse gas ? in carbon credits ? In other words, are you more methane? Or carbon dioxide?

Who do you think won the prize (carbon credits) from these competitors?

1 - Our first volunteer is a French, he has a good job in a big business, his house is heated with wood, he uses low consumption lamps and takes all morning his bike (10 miles to go and 10 return) to reach his workplace. 4 times a year he flights from Paris to New York ... for his work!

2 - Our second candidate is a 4 wheel vehicule Canadian driver. He lives on the coast. He goes hunting every weekend in a forest 30 kilometers from home. He has a wind turbine in his garden. And during the summer time, he likes to stay home and enjoy the sea... No need for vacation far away.

3 - The third competitor is a she : a hiker, a walker, retired, who abandoned her car long ago and only uses public transport to go around.
Vegetarian, she also stopped eating fish and buys only local products. She lives in an appartment with high isolation. Her delight is to hike in the Atlas of Morocco, in the Andes of South America ...

4 - Our fourth participant is a young American student. He has long forgotten the paper and handles all correspondence, invoices and other items through Internet.
He has no car, travels by bus or bicycle, depending. No more trips, he prefers to surf the net ... and pee (sic) in the shower. Only a small pleasure red bleeding meat .... once a day ....

5 – Fifth candidate: a young couple who lives in an old house. Far from a big city, they organize with their neighbors by carpooling to work. A small garden for vegetables, furniture made of recycled materials...They can not stand the cold and live in an apartment warm heated ... 25° ...

The results of the competition are as follows : consumption of carbon credits
- 250 kg of beef, 100 kg calf (candidate 4)
- 12 000 km of city car or 8500 miles per year with a four wheel vehicule (candidate 2)
- A year of fuel heating, 3 years of electric heating (candidate 5)
- A flight from Paris to New York (candidate 1 and 3)
Result: they all won the race ...

I did the test ... to calculate the ecological footprint for myself and family ...
It's easy to do, interesting and only takes a few minutes.
Currently the average footprint of a French is 4.9 hectares, 9.2 hectares for an American and 1.4 hectare for an African. The footprint for sustainable living all that well on this land is 2.1 hectares.

Read this article in French : Consommation de tonnes de carbone de C02 ou de gaz carbonique

I have some friends who tested the thalassotherapy establishment at Billiers in Morbihan. It is in the Domaine de la Rochevilaine (20 km south of Vannes). And they say it’s so nice…



Brittany has a long tradition of thalassotherapies : the first one was created in Roscoff at the end of the XIXth century. Roscoff was and is known for his incredibly huge variety of algae and thalassotherapies use algae for their cures, their massages, their cosmetics. Since then Brittany has a lot of thalassotherapies on its coasts and each one has its speciality : dietetics, relaxation, dermatology, and its famous cosmetics …

Rochevilaine (Spa Vannes - Domaine de Rochevilaine,Pointe de Pen Lan, 56190 – Billiers tel: 02 97 41 61 61) is in a small peninsula – just for the thalasso- and offers a wide range of cures with a tasty gastronomic program.

The Domaine de Rochevilaine is a Relais & Château (the label Relais &Chateau means it has to be a really nice, charming, silent place with character and really nice food). To enter the Domaine, you have to go through a XIIIth century porch and you are in a beautiful garden and you soon discover the manor house.



The center is also known for its medieval sculptures and the exhibitions of modern artists.

You want to make a thalasso , well, you re in the ideal spot. You have all the facilities of a spa center : spa, sauna, hammam, fitness room. The whole establishment is surrounded by the sea. There are two sea water swimming pools , one of them is an out door one on the cliffs and you have the feeling you’re bathing in the sea (that’s what I’ve been told).

And the food ? You know how are the Frogs with their bellies… Well the restaurant is also really nice : large bay windows makes you feel like eating on the water. The courses are done with sea products (lobsters, oyster, bass…) and other local goods. And it is SO good (I quote my friends).



Once you’ve eaten well, relaxed a bit, you can walk along the coastal paths and discover the curiosities of the village Billiers. On your walk on the coast you’ll find the dolmen du crapaud, the port and the lighthouse of Pen Lan,



Saint Maixent church which is a seamark (seamarks are white painted markers such as walls, stones… that are done to be seen from the open sea). The abbey of Billiers (abbaye de Prières) with its sole’s stone (pierre à soles) that was used as a build for the soles fished by the fishermen…

If you want to mix health and pleasure, that’s the right place to go to…



Read it in French : Thalasso et gastronomie en bretagne : domaine de la Roche Vilaine à Billiers (Morbihan)

The area around Guérande (gwen = white in Breton and rann = countries) has been known since the dawn of time, for the salt activity. For centuries even milleniums, salt has been THE mean of food preservation.

- Since when?
- Where?
- How does it work?
- Natural Process?
- Why do we see colourful marshes?
- Harvesting
- Fleur de sel and cooking salt
- Visit the saltmarshes

Since when?
Long before the construction of those salt marshes, we go back to the Iron Age..., another technique was used for the production of sea salt…
Sand or clay salt was collected during the summer and « washed » to extract a highly concentrated brine. It was then poured into pots and heated in clay oven until crystallization of salt. This technique was widespread throughout the Armorican coast, it even led to a deforestation.

The current saltmarshes began before the 9th century and lasted for several centuries. Around the year 1500, the marshes reached 80% of the current surface. The latest were built around 1800. In the middle of 19th century, a gradual decline started for different reasons : competition from the salt mine, lower consumption of salt as a product of conservation and improvement of transport by land.
The salt of Guérande used to be trade throughout Brittany, tax free until Napoleon. The Emperor decided to tax it and it was the beginning of the decline of salt activity. And the last attack came with the refrigerator in the 70’s.

But never say never… as we say in French. The amateurs of Guérande little by little, with energy and enthusiasm will help the activity to recover. They created a training course and a cooperative to promote quality with a label (the french Label rouge). Today around 250 workers live on the salt marshes.

Where ?
Until recently, the whole region was a large salt marsh. But the coastal villages Le Pouliguen and La Baule soon preferred buildings and tourism as the salt activity. There are still 2,000 hectares for the production.

How it works?
The principle is simple. Channels that feeds the water reservoirs with sea water using the tides. Salty water will evaporate in different dams till there are only a few centimeters of seawater left. That is the last step, where the salt crystallizes and produces the fleur de sel and coarse salt.



Natural process?
Yes, sea, sun and wind !!! And the know-how of the workers.
It is a 100% natural product from a listed site! explains Ronan Loison, director of Terre de Sel. Unlike refined salts, the one from Guérande undergoes no washing, no chemical treatment or additives. After harvest, it is just sifted, milled and packaged.

Why do we see colourful marshes?
Red micro-organisms and algae live in seawater.



Harvesting?
The harvest (12,000 tons of salt per year) takes place from June to September. Here are salt granaries from yesterday



and today ...



The rest of the time, you must maintain the marshes.

Fleur de sel and cooking salt
The cooking salt is most of the harvest. If it is gray, it still contains a hint of earthy substance. The best for chefs is the flower of salt.. These few kilo are harvested and collected separately. For 12,000 kg of gray salt, you’ll get 80 kg of fleur de sel!

Visit the salt marshes?
First of all because it is an exceptional heritage (listed since 1996). Then because it is beautiful, yes it is ! Also because you’ll discover nice animals and flora. And finally, to understand better how salt is produced.

In the village of Saillé, former village of salt, the maison des paludiers is a museum. There is also one at Batz sur Mer. At Guérande Terre de Sel, the cooperative, offers guided tours of the marsh. And in La Turballe visits are made in carriage. (00 33 //(0)6.26.45.25.58 )



Read it in French : Les marais salants (salines) de Guérande

Why should you go and visit the French Côte d'Amour?

- because it is a long, long, long sand beach and a nice, nice, nice bay !
- because you are lovers !
- because we like nested Port, Pines and Promenade in Pornichet !
- because you’re lost and want to understand why there are 3 La Baule : La Baule Escoublac, La Baule Les Pins and La Baule

Located on the Atlantic coast, the beach of La Baule is known as one of the most beautiful beaches in Europe. Well, it is up to you to judge but what is sure is that it is quite long (almost 8 kms) and facing South West, which is nice as the sun is concerned! .



The bay houses 3 different cities and 3 different moods… Pornichet, La Baule or Le Pouliguen… It is on the French Côte d’Amour (love coast which runs from St. Nazaire to Le Croisic). This romantic name was given during the 19th century after a competition organized by a local newspaper : their readers had to baptize this already trendy coastline…

Let’s begin with Pornichet, the first resort to have a touristic fame during the 19th century…

It used to live from the salty marshes but that’s not something special as all the cities from the Guérande peninsula were living on salt too. Dunes and marshes were the common landscape. And it was also the problem of the area.
These mountains of sand were moving and in the middle of the XIXth century threatening the next village Escoublac. It was decided that the bay needed to be fixed by planting pine trees.

As one problem is never alone (un problème n’arrive jamais seul as we say in French)… the salt trade was going down and the port silted up… They seeked a solution ... that came from the railroad which connected Pornichet to St Nazaire in 1854.

In 1860, the success of this bathing resort began…

Soon the new wood pine was divided and sold to build villas.


The development of Pornichet continued, the salt marshes were filled up and horse races began in 1907.

During World War II, Pornichet, as the whole Atlantik coast, was part of the Atlantic Wall (defensive wall built on the coast by the Germans). It was covered with bunkers. Walking around you’ll still see plenty of them.

Pornichet is a family resort and quite different from its neighboring, La Baule, more stylish...

Known as one of the most mundane beach of Britanny like Dinard, it is a nice place to enjoy luxury… or more simple activities. You can rent bikes all year long in Pornichet (as in La Baule) or (less expensive!) use your feet.

La Baule used to be Escoublac, the village that was (as I already said) gradually invaded by dunes. End of the 18th century, the village was buried under sand by a violent storm and had to move.

La Baule, or rather Bôle as it was spelled in the 19th century, comes from the Breton language (that is one of the few places in the east Brittany where breton was still spoken) and means marshy shoreline covered by tides (the equivalent of salt marshes of Mont Saint Michel). The spelling La Baule we know today was given at the end of the 19th century.

As Pornichet, the same company seeked to stop the dunes with pine plantations.
400 hectares of pine trees (one hectare is about 100 m to 100) were planted : a magnificent pine forest grew and was called Bois d’Amour (love wood). Today a very small green spot still remains in the middle of La Baule Escoublac, close to the Parc des Dryades (nice park with 300 trees and playgrounds for children).

Soon, as in Pornichet, it was used to build villas.
The war (1939-1945) did its job too and used the wood for the implantation of bunkers, military structures or just as firewood. The ruins of a church are visible in the dunes, because it was under these trees that the old village is buried.

This wood is nice for long walks (when you want to escape the sea breeze).

The tourist boom of the station is linked with the railway (1879), 20 years after Pornichet ... Soon it became very popular and the need of a new church, the Chapel of St. Anne, to accommodate tourists was urgent (the population of La Baule increases so much during the summer time).



It is now a cultural center for concerts and expo. In the 20’s, the resort is quite successful and the erection of cottages continues. This is the beginning of a major urban development.

In the 30’s, the train station Art Deco is built at La Baule Escoublac.



There are three Baule : Escoublac the first one, La Baule Les Pins because of the wood and La Baule the international sea resort.

Today a large pedestrian walk (and road) runs along the bay, which has lost almost all its beautiful villas. Multi-storey buildings or hotels have replaced them. If you leave the waterfront, you’ll see the villas, which have made the reputation of the resort. Hundreds of them between Pornichet, La Baule and Le Pouliguen are to be discovered.
The plaza also houses luxury accommodations (this is a mundane city, do not forget it!): Hôtel Royal (built in 1896 combines British style and Belle époque)



or L'Hermitage (Anglo-Norman style)



host presidents, stars, singers and actors.

What to do

This is a very good destination for a long weekend anytime because many activities are possible throughout the year.

If you want to walk gently along the bay or enjoy cycling around the peninsula of Guérande (rentals available all year in Pornichet and La Baule).
If you love the sea and the elements : no problem for sea fishing (port Pornichet), sailing, waterskiing, kite surfing or kite flying.




Families, go to the Aquabaule (heated leisure pool).

Riding, golf or first flight, parachuting are possible if you’re bored !!!

But if you re looking for nice gastronomic restaurants or thalassotherapy centers you’re also in the good place.

The Pouliguen ends the bay .. and its wild coast await you.

A map to help you...



Read it in French : Tourisme sur la Côte d'Amour : La Baule ou Pornichet