Pampon – the enchanted forest of Brittany

To the tomb of the wizard Merlin, to the fountain of youth,
To the lake of the mirrored fairies, to the underwater palace,
To the golden tree, to the valley where there is no inhabitation,
To the castles and to the Middle Ages in general!!!

Good morning, Francophiles,

I celebrated Shavuot with a preliminary tour that Karen and I took in the Paimpont Forest.

In one piece with Zvi, the main Francophile, we set off for the forest, which is only 40 km away from our castle. The goal: to check if the place is worthy and interesting enough to bring travelers to it. We are referring in particular to those of you who will join the star-hiking trips that Zvi and I intend to offer you soon, whose starting point will be בA castle, where we will also offer you accommodation.

Of course, the article I am bringing here is also suitable for the independent traveler, who combines the forest with his or her stroll in Brittany. The forest is, generally speaking, in the center Brittany, and therefore absolutely accessible from every direction.

I will first upload a map that locates the forest in Brittany, relative to the main cities:

And now a route from our castle to the forest:

historical background

This forest has been known for centuries as an enchanted forest, with many mystical sites. You don't need much mysticism to get into the atmosphere. The forest is dark, gloomy, and at the same time wonderfully beautiful. The sites in it are linked to the legends of King Arthur and the characters who star in them. The king himself, whose historical existence, by the way, is disputed, is very similar, in his vague form, to our King David, and that's a good place to start.

Arthur, King of the English, lives… lives… and is alive!!!!

The reign of King Arthur is seen as the golden age of England. The Golden Age. The king and his associates, the Knights of the Round Table, rule law and order, justice and fairness throughout the kingdom. The Round Table symbolizes equality. Churchill, in his book “The History of the English-Speaking Peoples” states:

Whether the stories are true or false, they have at any rate acquired an immortal hold over the minds of men. If we were allowed to see what happened correctly, then we would have before us a story no less established, inspired, and an inseparable part of the heritage of the human race than the Odyssey or the Bible.

Sir Thomas Malory, who in the 15th century compiled the various legends about King Arthur, his associates and enemies, into a unified book that recounts the events of the period, also cites an inscription found engraved on a tombstone in the courtyard of the monastery in Glastonbury:

Hic Iacet Arthurus, rex quondam rexqua futurus

[Here lies buried Arthur, the king who was and the king who will be]

This inscription is a clear expression of hope that Arthur will one day return to reign over England, just as some of us hope that David will return to reign over us, but we will not set foot on this slippery political slope.

Between King David and King Arthur

There are many parallels between the stories of King David and King Arthur. Both were born in sin. David testifies to himself in the Book of Psalms: “In my iniquity I have committed adultery, and in my sin my mother has put me to death.” According to the Midrash (“Yalkut HaMachiri” on Psalms 3:XNUMX), this means that David’s father, Jesse, separated from his wife for XNUMX years, at the end of which he tried to sleep with his wife’s maidservant. The maidservant told her mistress, and the two of them deceived Jesse into thinking that he was sleeping with the maidservant, while she had already left his bed and her mistress had come in after her. And after him, of course.

King Arthur also had a deception, but in reverse. His father, Pendragon, fell in love with Ygrena, the wife of his rival Gorlois. With the help of Merlin's magic, whom we will meet again, Pendragon entered his rival's castle, posed as her husband, slept with his wife, and fathered Arthur.

Both David and Arthur were very young when they appeared to their people, both greatly expanded the borders of their kingdoms. After both of them, their kingdoms collapsed (although Solomon came after David, but after him the kingdom had already disintegrated). Of course, one must take into account the possibility that the events surrounding the figure of Arthur were deliberately adapted, by Christian writers, to events related to King David.

Christian-Celtic genealogy was not content with simulating events, and claimed a real family connection. Joseph and Mary, the parents of Jesus, left the Land of Israel after his crucifixion, via Brittany they arrived at Glastonbury in England, and from there it was a short journey to the birth of Arthur, a descendant of David.

Stop the chatter, let's go!!!

(But before that, it's impossible without a little Monty Python song)

https://youtu.be/m9wdYy3tCm4

The Pampon Forest Tour

I'm not sure I have any readers left after the previous section, I'll drown my sorrows in the memory of the excellent beer that Karen and I drank at the bar right across from the Office de tourisme de Paimont:

And this is the tourist office itself, it is also important:

The office is located in the center of the village of Paimpont.
It's really worth going there, and picking up a map of the forest sites. This is a scaled-down version of it:

What you get at the tourist office is a large map, 40 X 60 cm, on which you can clearly see the sites. Most of the sites appear in the navigation programs of “Waze” and “Google Maps”. I will not refer to all the sites in the article, but only to those that seemed interesting to me. The reference is according to the numbers on the map.

The village of Paimpont

Before setting off, you can take a tour of the village of Pampon itself, in a large carriage. The departure point is right next to the tourist office:

Site No. 3 is where we are – the center of Pamporovo. I wouldn’t linger at the monastery, but I would stop before or after the bridge to see the lake:

Merlin's Tomb

Fontaine de Jouvence Fountain of Youth. 9 km northeast. Parking in the marked spot close to the site.

Here rests peacefully on his bed, under the stone in which he was imprisoned, the great wizard, the terrible sorcerer, Merlin.

First clarification: Although Sir Thomas Malory combined the various legends about King Arthur and his associates into one book in the 15th century, the Forest of Pompon and its enchanted sites were known much earlier. Consequently, many of the sites are associated with characters different from those in Malory's version, or the characters play different roles.

Merlin was involved in all the events surrounding King Arthur: he was the one who made his birth possible, gave him the sword Excalibur, helped him defeat his enemies. There are different versions about his death and grave. The one related to this grave site claims that he fell in love with the fairy Viviane, who asked him to teach her the secret of his magic.

After he did so, she imprisoned him within the stone that is now considered his tombstone. The same Vivian will reappear in the Lake of the Mirroring Fairies, where he, Merlin, imprisons her in an underwater glass palace.

It turns out that even in the Middle Ages, the story depended on the number.

For the romantics among us, I will offer another explanation that I read, according to which the tombstone appears to be divided in two (I do see three, but I'm after a beer, as mentioned), because the two lovers became adjacent stones, thus uniting forever.
And indeed, a hidden hand places a red flower on the couple's gravestone every day. I saw it with my own eyes.

The Fountain of Youth: An old man told me…

When we arrived at the Fountain of Youth in the forest, I was reminded of the immortal poem by chansonnier Ofer Levy:

An old man told me that there is a hidden spring in the mountains among the basalt rocks.
Whoever drinks from it will have good luck forever and will remain young forever.
The fountain of youth, your happiness will shine.

I got up and went, I lived in the mountains, searching, I came out, the hidden spring.
For months I searched and asked in the villages but I couldn't find any hidden springs.
I met a shepherd girl and fell in love with her there among the mountains.
And only then did I realize it was so clear
He who has love in him is forever young.
He who has love in him is forever young.

(Sung by Ofer Levi. Lyrics by Yosh Granot. Folk tune).

And for those who want to hum the song on their way to the spring 🙂

From the Tomb of the Fossil Lovers to the Fountain of Youth is only 160 meters. There is a marked trail, but it is easier to follow the other visitors, or in the direction they are coming from. Along the way, by the way, there are several places where visitors have piled flat stones into small towers:

Karen – Proof that the spring works:

Me – the proof that it depends on who it is supposed to work on:

As I limped away from the spring, I noticed that visitors who were about to dip in it were quickly fleeing.

 Chateau de Comper

Tradition! Tradition! Tradition!
“And how do we manage to maintain balance?
The answer to this question is also very simple:
It boils down to one word, one only: tradition!”
(From “Fiddler on the Roof”)

It's not our tradition, but we also need to respect other traditions. Here they preserve the tradition of the legends of King Arthur. We have Judaica, they have Arthuriana.

The castle itself is beautiful. Built in the 13th century, it was considered one of the strongest in Brittany. It is located on the shores of “Vivian’s Lake.” The one that imprisoned Merlin. According to another version, the lake is named after her, but she herself lived in a glass palace where Merlin imprisoned her, under the waters of the Lake of the Reflecting Fairies, which we have not yet reached.

What's there? A permanent exhibition of figures and objects relevant to the legends. But what's important are the actors and singers in medieval costumes who roam among the guests.

There is also a witch who tells fortunes:

And there is a band of musicians accompanied by singers:

warning: I arrived on Sunday. There may not be performances on other days of the week. But since you are in the area, it is worth stopping by. For more efficient results, I suggest checking by phone: 2 97 22 79 96 (0) 33 +
Entrance fee: 7 euros.

Lake of the Mirrored Fairies Etang du Miroir aux Fées

“Words become magic
And the kingdoms of fire”
(The song “Fairy Section” / Rami Fortis)

According to legend, the fairies come here to look in the mirror of the clear water, perhaps to fix their makeup, to get a bonnet. Beneath the surface of the water is the glass palace where Merlin imprisoned the fairy Vivian. A little to the left of the lake view, after a slight descent, you will reach the Golden Tree.

Golden Tree Arbre d'Or

In 1990, a fire destroyed part of the forest. Artist François Davin coated one of the remaining tree skeletons with gold leaves, leaving several burned trees next to it. The idea: to express renewal from the dead. Not something ancient, but spectacular.

Trecesson Castle Chaetau de Trecesson

Before we conclude our journey in the Valley of No Return, I want to show you the Tresson Castle Chateau de Trecesson. It was not possible to enter it, but it is spectacular with the clarity of the lake waters and the moat that surround it:

The Valley of the Uninhabited

She forsakes the youth of her youth, and forgets the covenant of her God.
For her house is drowned in death, and her breasts are drowned in physicians.
All who enter it will not return, nor will they attain the land of life.
(Proverbs 2:17-19)

Hmmm… Well, in our case the traitor is a woman, in the legends of King Arthur the traitors are only men.

Morgan de Fay (by the way, the Italian translation of her name is “Petta Morgana”), Arthur’s half-sister, is described as having magical powers, which she learned from Merlin. She inherited romantic disappointments, although according to other versions she caused them. In any case, she bewitched the valley we are in, after catching her lover cheating on her with another woman, according to one version. First she turned them into rocks:

That wasn't enough for her, so she placed a curse on the valley: any man who passes through here, and who has ever cheated on his partner, will not be able to leave here.
According to legend, Sir Lancelot, the best and strongest of the Knights of the Round Table, who were also known for their loyalty to their boss, King Arthur, entered the valley and thus broke the curse.

A small but puzzling detailSir Lancelot was very loyal to King Arthur, but it was in the romantic realm that his loyalty stopped: he had a turbulent love affair with Arthur's wife, Queen Guinevere...

How does this work out? According to one legend, Morgan de Fay herself seduced Sir Lancelot and took him from Guinevere's arms. What's the connection? I don't know. I'd love to hear interpretations from anonymous Francophiles who are more knowledgeable than me about female preferences.

I, however, left the valley from which traitors do not leave, and while walking leisurely to the car, I glanced, expecting appreciation, at Karen. It means nothing, the passing. After all, Sir Lancelot lifted the curse.

Thank you to those who came this far with me, I would love to know if the place is worth a visit in your opinion.

Want to meet Danny and live in the castle where he lives?

The castle is called Manoir de la Chausée and is located exactly between Nantes and the city of Rennes. You will find decorated rooms, a huge garden and even ten cute puppies. You can read more about her in the article Manoir de la Chausée – live in an Israeli castle in Brittany.

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