Well, just realise not given much cover to this area of my beloved Morbihan , this is backward country and we love the road warrior opportunities. Of course, they can be call off the beaten path towns but one at least is world famous ! I like to tell you a bit more on La Gacilly ,Morbihan 56, Bretagne, my belle France.
The town of La Gacilly is the home of the famous cosmetic firm Yves Rocher labs, the site of the Festival International de la photographie (photo festival). The Festival of photography is held from june to september and need to check the dates at official site below. There is as well as a large section of métiers d’arts or artist districts of many professions. Their houses are done with stone call pierre bleue de la Gacilly or blue stone of La Gacilly, with a presbyteerian church from the 17C, and old library from the 19C (that was the old mayor’s office), and many pisturesques streets along rue St Vincent and rue la Fayette with woodend houses.
To discover its heritage site here is the official webpage of La Gacilly in French: City of La Gacilly on its heritage
And this is the photo festival official page in French: Photo festival of La Gacilly
The tourist office of La Gacilly in French here: https://www.broceliande-vacances.com/decouvrir/incontournables/villes-villages/la-gacilly/
Yves Rocher has an entire complex over the same bridge where there is a unique big store with all the line of products, the Vegetarium Cafe, atelier de cosmetique or cosmetics shop, a jardin botanique or botanical garden, hotel with spa La Grée des Landes, unique webpage in French here: https://www.lagreedeslandes.com/fr/
This is Yves Rocher main store site in French with the hq store info here: https://www.yves-rocher.fr/tout-sur-les-magasins/bretagne/la-gacilly/la-gacilly/S-FRYROC1
The HQ house in La Gacilly of Yves Rocher is here in French: Maison Yves Rocher
There is plenty of outdoor activities here link to the fabolous river and path on both sides of tis bank this is the Aff river.
La Gacilly has the river Aff, passing thru city center and a great place to do kayak/canoe which enthusiasts were doing even in the cold weather as well as a nice rental boats small marina to let you ride on the river. This is their blog for these activities there http://canoe-kayak-lagacilly.over-blog.com/
This one you can rent from the nearby town of Saint Vincent sur Oust or from La Gacilly, webpage here: https://www.canoe-lilopi.fr/nous-trouver
For the rental of boats right there by the bridge you can use these folks at webpage in French: https://echappee-fluviale.com/les-balades-2/
The Church Saint Nicolas de Myre is from the 17C of neo greek style sitting right just outside the inner core of the city by the covered market on rue Antoine Monteil. A bit of history I like
The Montauban archives point to a chapel at La Gacilly before 1395; as the Lord of La Gacilly did not have a family tomb at Carentoir, it is reasonable to think that he was in his particular chapel at La Gacilly. There are reports that Françoise d´Amboise liked to come and pray in this holy place ;she was Duchess of Brittany from 1450 to 1457 , and founder of the first female Carmelite of Brittany in Vannes (and the third in the history of the Order of Carmel), while the Carmelites had not yet arrived in the neighboring kingdom of France . Widowed, she entered Carmel and became prioress of her convent. She was beatified a few years after her 1485 death.
The Church Saint Nicolas de Myre being barely a century and a half old, she had it repaired and enlarged in the middle of the 15C. The chapel of the castle was transformed into a tréviale church, probably in the middle of the 16C when the parish priest responsible for the truce obtained the permission of the dean and the bishop to perform baptisms there and to serve the parish registers; the first date from 1573. This Church Saint Nicolas de Myre consisted of a single nave 25 meters long and 9 to 10 meters wide ending in a chancel with tombs on the side of the altar and, on the other hand, by a fairly low bell tower provided with a single bell in the beginning. This bell tower was not built until much later, the blessing of the first bell did not take place until February 16, 1664. In 1698, a clock was placed on the bell tower and a second bell was installed in 1790. A sacristy was supported to the wall on the north side, towards the city. Four beautiful Corinthian columns in this nave have long been preserved in the garden of the former rectory.
Around 1640, Catherine de Kerguézec, wife of René de Talhouët, lord of La Gacilly, donated to her church a painting from the Italian school depicting the miracle of St Nicolas. This painting has long been hung in the present Church Saint Nicolas. It is said that St Vincent-Ferrier lived from 1350 to 1419. He probably passed to La Gacilly in 1418 to go from Ploërmel to Redon. This is undoubtedly the reason why the Roman road, at the entrance to La Gacilly, on the West side, took the name of rue St-Vincent and that a chapel and a cross were built there where it was done a sermon to the locals, a place which became a place of pilgrimage. Françoise d’Amboise was at the origin of this chapel. It has even been written that she laid the foundation stone in 1458
Right in front of the church, there is a monument to the fallen of WWI,and across it is the Halles or covered market with fruits,veggies, meats, fish etc
The mediathéque or library dating from the 17C in what it was before the city hall or mayor’s office is a nice tree crawl building, by Place du général de Gaulle. The arts of artists display is very rich as what is the Métiers d’Art and La Passarelle down steps down streets of quaint blue stone construction, many are listed in the tourist office webpage. The Passarelle is by the bridge over the river Aff, and is call in French Le bout du pont, the unique webpage in French is here: https://lapasserelle-lagacilly.com/
The family favorite store for Breton cookies,canned seafood , deco Breton etc all over the region is La Trinitaine ,by the bridge Le bout du Pont, info in French here: https://www.latrinitaine.com/nos-boutiques-en-france/la-trinitaine-la-gacilly.html/
And of course, we did stop for food here, and we chose the Créperie Mouchoir de Poche 7, rue lafayette (literally the pocket hankerchief), named as one of the cultural representation of the art in Bretagne, créperie gourmande and qualité tourisme. Off season closed Mondays and Wednesdays ,in July and August open every day from 12h to 18h , and then from 19h to 22h, open Sundays afternoon all year. The Créperies gourmandes webpage with info on them in French here: The Créperies Gourmandes on the Le Mouchoir de Poche creperie
They , also , their personal Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/Br.Ferre56/
We had galette sindar with filet mignon, potatoes, and salad ,an apero of druite, cider, pommeau eau de vie with calvado, and blackcurrant or creme de cassis, coffee, a bottle of kerizan cider, banana splits and similar menus for the rest of the family for 99€ for five persons.
Definitively I live nearby , an area that has a huge amount of sites to visit (not to say all of France lol!) as I tell my reader and those that partake with me in travel sites, it will take a lifetime to see it all and maybe even that would not enough time. This is France a movable feast indeed.
Now, I wont leave without telling you how to get to the town, well here the car is king, and we do use it a lot , we are about 45 minutes away. .For La Gacilly you can take a train from Paris (2h10) or Vannes (35 min) you can take a train TER Bretagne from Vannes to Redon, and there take bus 12 to La Gacilly if that helps of course never taken it.
TER Bretagne: https://www.ter.sncf.com/bretagne
Public transport official page in Bretagne/Brittany: https://www.breizhgo.bzh/se-deplacer-en-bretagne
Tourist office of Brittany on La Gacilly in English: https://www.brittanytourism.com/destinations/the-10-destinations/destination-broceliande/la-gacilly/
And well fed we continue our journey into backwater Morbihan. Hope you enjoy the tour of a famous place still inoff the beaten path territory for most. La Gacilly remember, and Yves Rocher.
And remember too, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 