Unfamiliar Brittany: A special itinerary from the city of Rennes and back

The route I am about to suggest starts in the city of Rennes, the capital of the Brittany region. Most travelers in France start in Paris, so you must first get to Rennes from there.

How to get to the city of Rennes from Paris?

This can be done easily and quickly on the A11 motorway. See the blue route on the map below. Sections of the road are subject to a toll, recently it cost about 30 euros. You can pay in cash or by credit card. You can bypass these sections. If you do not bypass, the journey will take about 3.5 hours.

I think we should take the opportunity and travel through Normandy. The green route on the map below. The landing beaches, the Bayeux Tapestry, the fishing towns, Mont Saint Michel, Saint-Martin-Eglise. I won't go into more detail, because that's a topic for a separate article. In any case, if you choose this route, you should dedicate at least two days to it. The times I did it, I stayed in one of the hotels on the beach. It's an experience to hear the sea return at night, after low tide. Of course, also during the day, the sight of the fishing boats resting on the sand at low tide, the oyster cages exposed, and tractors driving to them. Sights you won't forget.

Of course, you can also get from Paris to Rennes by train. The express train makes the journey in two hours. Prices vary from 10 euros, of course at inconvenient times, to 70 euros in first class at any time you want. It is advisable to check before traveling, because there are many strikes. To the best of my knowledge, they are part of the struggle against President Macron's attempts to streamline public systems in France. You can also take a bus, and even a domestic flight from Charles de Gaulle to Saint-Jacques, which is a suburb of Rennes.
I won't elaborate on Ran, because she too is worth a separate article.

These are the main landmarks on our route, but what lies between them is no less fascinating.

Port de Roche

We have a circular day tour ahead of us, from Rennes and back. About 350 km. A little busy, but worth it. Two fast and good roads go south from Rennes: N137 and D177. For those in a hurry to get to the beginning of the proposed destinations, the resort town of La Baule, I recommend choosing one of them.

But why choose? We'll combine both, and along the way we'll gain a story.

I suggest leaving Rennes south on the N137. After about 40 kilometers, start looking for a descent to Grand Fougeray, pass the village (on its south side there is a good supermarket, from the Super U chain). Continue on the D56 to the bridge over the Vilaine River, cross it and stop after two hundred meters. You are in the tiny hamlet of Port de Roche.

Why did I bring you here? Oh. I live here… Welcome. A glass of wine is guaranteed to every visitor. The house I live in is an ancient stone building, whose foundations date back to the 12th century, called The Manor of Port la RocheIt is said that one of the roads called the “Camino de Santiago”, or as it is called in France, the “Way of Saint James”, passed through here, whose branches lead from across Europe to the city of Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain. I walked it recently, but that too is worth a separate article, and your precious time is dedicated to the story for which you came.

My hamlet, Port de Roche, is adjacent to the Vilaine River, about two hundred meters from the iron bridge we crossed. The bridge was dedicated to Napoleon III after its completion, and was considered the pinnacle of technological progress at the time. Before the story, a picture of where you are standing, with your back to Vilaine:

Tombstone. Cross of Lorraine. Manoir de Port la Roche. Everything will connect immediately.

The boy who didn't warn

One of the first days I arrived here, I was sitting in a small pub in a nearby village called Langon called “Annie’s Pub,” even though there is no “Annie” in the place. The pub was packed, and people with glasses of cider (the Breton national drink) were standing around waiting for a seat to become available.

In the center of the place, sat an old man who looked to be about a hundred years old. There were a few empty chairs next to his table, but to my surprise, no one was sitting on them. No one spoke to him, and he didn't try to talk to anyone. He calmly drank his cider, wiped his yellow mustache from nicotine, and walked away.

When I investigated the matter, I encountered evasive answers. Slowly, I gathered information, and then I realized the connection between the rejected old man and a memorial stone located at the intersection near the house where I live, right across from the Huylan Bridge. The stone is dedicated to 7 Resistance fighters (the French underground that operated against the Germans in World War II), who fell there on August 6.8.1944, XNUMX. Below their names are two more names, probably of martyrs from the area, who also fell. Next to the name of the second one it says that he died in Deportation, so it is possible that he was Jewish. At the bottom of the stone is a separate memorial plaque, dedicated to a man who was deported to Bergen-Belsen (a Nazi concentration camp in Saxony, Germany). It is possible that he was also Jewish.

It turns out that in August 1944, about two months after the Allied landings in Normandy, the Resistance was no longer engaged in sabotage, but rather the opposite: in defending strategic infrastructure that the Germans were trying to sabotage. In this context, a platoon of underground fighters captured the Huylan Bridge that I mentioned. A 16-year-old boy was stationed as a lookout two hundred meters from the bridge. A force led by an American Sherman tank, painted in American colors, approached. As it turned out in retrospect, it was a captured tank. A Wehrmacht battalion followed. The Resistance fighters did not shoot or evade, they were all killed on the bridge. On that occasion, the Germans took out the gardener of the castle where I live to be executed, and buried him next to the castle fence:

The only one who was released unharmed was the 16-year-old boy, the observer. Was he afraid to warn that a German battalion was marching behind the tank? Was he a traitor who deliberately misled his comrades? No one knows, but 73 years have passed since then, and no one talks to him.

From Port de Roche we first continue south and then west to Langon, connecting to the D177 which will lead us to La Baule.

The Baule

Our trip today begins in the luxurious resort town of La Baule. The town itself is quite ordinary, but its beach is considered the most beautiful in Europe. I think this is an exaggeration, but it is undoubtedly the most beautiful on the Atlantic coast. Along the bay, about 7 km, between the villages of Pornichet and Le Pouliguen, a promenade stretches. Unfortunately, the old houses have been replaced by modern apartment buildings and hotels. But the beach and the sea have remained the same.

After a short walk along the promenade, we continue to the Guerande salt ponds. We leave La Baule at the western end of the promenade, and a short time later we find ourselves on the D774 on the way to Guerande. The entire area is networked with shallow, tiny pools of seawater, separated by earthen embankments. The idea is simple: the water evaporates, the salt is collected with simple tools, and sprinkled on the separating embankments for further drying. This way, all the natural components of the seawater are preserved in the salt, mainly magnesium and iodine. The gray Atlantic salt from this area is considered the best in the world, and is also imported to Israel.

On the map you can see the huge number of ponds in the area:

Guérande

After passing through the salt ponds area, we arrive at the town of Guerande. The ancient center, preserved from the Middle Ages, is surrounded by a circular wall and a moat, part of which is still flooded with seawater. You must park outside the walls, then enter through one of the four fortified gates.

In the alleys leading to the church in the central square are dozens of shops. The most interesting ones are those that offer different types of Atlantic salt, starting with natural sources, and continuing with different types of seasonings with pepper, curry, tarragon, turmeric and even chocolate. You can taste before you buy.

La Roche Bernard

After we have eaten and been satisfied and indulged (as the wise Talmudic legend says), we will continue on the D774 road to La Roche Bernard. The small town sits at the mouth of the Vilaine River into the ocean. The port was once a point of departure for goods such as wood, salt and wine, today it is packed with yachts and sailboats.

The city is still protected by ancient cannons:
By the way, although I haven't seen it on these cannons, perhaps because the inscription has been eaten away by rust, or they are older, but on most French cannons, since the days of Louis XIV, the inscription is engraved
Ultima Ratio Regum (The Last Reason of the Ruler)… See, you have been warned.
You can continue along the marina to the bay where the Vilaine River flows into the sea. There are of course many restaurants and cafes.

Josselin and the Battle of the 30th

From here we sail to the small town of Josselin on the banks of the Oust River. Near it, on March 27, 1351, a battle known as the Bataille des Trente (Battle of the Thirty) took place. As part of the succession battles for the throne, the warring parties, the Duchies of Brittany, which Josselin supported, and the Kingdom of England, which sought to take control of the region.

About five kilometers from Josselin, the parties agreed to decide the battle through a battle between 30 knights from each side, led by the two opposing generals, who would fight on foot to the death. “Our” knights, that is, Josselin’s, were victorious after a full day of fighting, in which both sides completely exhausted themselves. The English general and eight of his knights were killed, the rest were taken prisoner. It is said that the Breton general, Beaumanoir, asked for water at the end of the battle, when he was wounded. One of his men shouted to him: “Drink your blood, and your thirst will pass.” A brotherhood of warriors.
The battle has been described in many ways, including in paintings, here is one of them:

Josselin Castle was built in the 14th century, and has been destroyed and rebuilt many times since. Today, only four of the original nine towers remain, but it is still impressive. To see it at its most impressive, you have to stand on the bridge between the two banks of the Oust.

This is where we are finished for today.
Return to Rennes on the N24.
See you on the next trip.

Some more reading material

• If you would like to learn more about the history of the Hundred Years' War in Brittany, you are invited to read Dr. Orna Lieberman's article. Jeanne de Belleville, a lioness in love thirsting for revenge.
• If you would like to learn more about the story of Joslin Castle, you are welcome to read the article. Josselin and the Rohan Family: A Thousand Years of History.