Paris1972-Versailles2003

And here I am still on my road warrior trips of my lovely Bretagne and going to in land places never before seen as if there is plenty to see here, will take me more than my lifetime! I come to La Trinité-Porhoët!

La Trinité-Porhoët is located in my Morbihan department no. 56, in the region of Bretagne. The Trinity of the Holy Trinity representing the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Villa de Trinitate was known from 1251 recalls that this place can be linked to the existence of a Gallo-Roman villa. It is 52 kms from Vannes, and 16 km from Josselin. About an hour from my house!

La Trinité-Porhoët takes its name from the priory dedicated to the Holy Trinity and the lordship of Porhoët. “Por oët” is, it seems, a contraction of the Celtic “Poutre-Coët” or country beyond the woods. Porhoët can also come from the Celtic words “Porh” or courtyard,in a castle and “Coët” or wood, forest. The land of Porhoët was first part of the domain of the kings of Brittany, who owned it until 874. On the death of King Solomon, this domain was shared, and the land of Porhoët was included in the county of Rennes until   the end of the 10C, when it appears to have been dismembered. In 1241, during the second division of the goods of the house of Porhoët, the city was baptized “La Villa de Trinitate“. In 1603, La Trinité-Porhoët became one of the seats of the Duchy of the Rohan family. La Trinité-Porhoët was established as a town and the capital of the canton in 1790.

The Chapelle Saint Yves dates from the 15C, built by the Lords of Cambout the chapel is dedicated to Saint Yves, defender of the poor and orphans and who became the patron saint of lawyers. As early as 1581, the inhabitants decided to make major repairs to part of the chapel. However, due to lack of funds, the stained glass window at the back of the altar was not replaced and the opening was walled up. In his will in 1719, Vicar Yves Lusse asked that part of his inheritance be used to feed the sick and the needy. The other part of his inheritance is to be used to install a hospital in the chapel. this chapel served as a hospice until the French revolution. To see inside if open as only on heritage days or special ceremonies, you see its pretty frame in the shape of an overturned boat hull. Following the stairs behind the chapel, the town pond or lake appears, a magnificent site of more than 3 ha. A true haven of peace for fishermen and hikers, but also for mallards, moorhens, etc to see. Pristine beauty deep in the woods of La Trinité-Porhoët.

We came in and parked easily free by Place du Martray. This is a nice architecture and historical spot we like. At the top of the Place du Martray, in front of the houses, stood a covered market on the high sidewalks, while opposite, in place of the current city/town hall or Mairie, were the covered markets. These existed until 1898.  Several half-timbered houses date from the 16C. One of them, destroyed today, would have belonged to the Marquise Madame de Sévigné. She would have inherited this house, following her marriage to Henri de Sévigné.

The city of La Trinité-Porhoët on the chapelle and the mairie! in French: http://www.la-trinite-porhoet.bzh/tourisme/sites-touristiques

I was pleasantly surprise by this small town as it was our first time here! Yes and you can see only one hour from my house, the choices are endless in my beautiful Morbihan alone! Hope you have enjoy this off the beaten path trip to La Trinité-Porhoët, and there is more.

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!!

Often the case in my road warrior trips into the deep woods of my France I come upon a village that is quant picturesque and pretty even if not much to see. I was driving along on the lonely road D66 and came upon Plumieux!

Let me tell you a bit about this small village of my lovely Bretagne.

Plumieux is a village in the Côtes-d’Armor department 22, in my region of Bretagne. It is located to the south of the department  bordering on mine, Morbihan 56. It has a grand total of 1015 inhabitants!!!

Plumieux is a former primitive parish which formerly included in addition to the current territory of Plumieux, those of Le Cambout, Coëtlogon, La Chèze, La Ferrière and Saint-Etienne du Gué de l’Isle. The old parish of Plumieux gave birth later to several towns of the Côtes d’Armor such as Plumieux  itself from the Middle Ages, La Chèze and La Ferrière ,before the 14C, Saint-Etienne du Gué de l’Isle in 1526 and again in 1829 , le Cambout in 1866 and Coëtlogon in 1870.

One famous personage who lived here and the town is proud of it was Marcel Carné, the famous filmmaker. He lived in Plumieux at the start of the 20C.  Born in Paris in 1906 and died in Clamart in 1996 at the age of 90, having left behind some of the most illustrious films of French cinema. He rests in the Saint-Vincent cemetery in the 18éme arrondissement of Paris, at the foot of the Butte Montmartre.

Marcel lived in Plumieux, that is to say a little before WWI or the Great War when at the time he was  5 years old. He becomes assistant for the production of Richard Oswald in the film “Cagliostro” 1929, of René Clair in the film “Under the roofs of Paris” (1930), of Jacques Feyder for “Le Grand Jeu” (1934), “Pension Mimosas “(1935) and” The Heroic Fair “(1935). In 1936, thanks to the help of Feyder, he succeeded in directing his first film, Jenny; Le Quai des brumes ”, shot in 1938, won a great success. The successes then followed:“ Hôtel du Nord ”in 1938, “The day rises” in 1939, “the Evening Visitors” in 1942, “The Children of Paradise”, etc.

And of course, it caught my attention passing by and plenty of parking in front of it, so therefore, here is a bit on the Church of Saint Pierre.

The Chapel of Saint-Etienne, in the parish of Plumieux, was erected as a parish church by bull of February 4, 1526.  The Saint-Pierre Church came much later in 1873.  The church was built in the shape of a Latin cross comprising an exterior bell tower with a gallery, a nave with low sides of four bays, a transept and a choir. The execution of its construction was delayed; but, the bedside of the old church becoming a public danger, required in 1872, to draw up a new project proportionate to the population of the parish which had, in the meantime, been amputated from Sainte-Anne du Cambout in 1860 and Coëtlogon in 1870. The blessing of the first stone took place on November 9, 1873. Only the bedside was to be built; but they pushed the construction to the first pile of the nave; then the nave was built, leaving fixing stones for the tower. This was only built in 1912, and blessed on May 21, 1914. Old stones from the priory of Saint-Léau and rubble from Bréhand-Loudéac. An episcopal escutcheon of 1873 adorns the pediment of the church. The church houses a statue of Blessed Grignon de Montfort, Saint Remy or Remi 16C and a statue of the Virgin and Child 18C.

There is the Bretagne Centre tourist board base in Loudéac but no mention of Plumieux... the webpage in French is here: http://www.centrebretagne.com/office-de-tourisme/cote-pratique/horaires-douverture-adresses-de-loffice-de-tourisme.html

For info and direction, the mayor’s office or Mairie is at  9 Rue du Porhoët 22210 Plumieux.

As we were passing by the St Peter’s Church was closed but anyway it was a nice church to see for its architecture and a great rest stop in a pretty village in way inland Bretagne!  Oh yes there is no webpage for the mayor’s office ,this is a village lol! Hope you enjoy the off the beaten path post on Plumieux.

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!!

So I am back in my road warrior ways around my lovely Bretagne. Not a place to spare and love it, great countryside of my belle France. The experts announce rains and wind, but as Bretons says well better not put it here…. We went out anyway and nothing, all glory on the roads of my Bretagne!

Always searching for new places and repeating some oldies but goodies, this time went into uncharted territory in the neighboring country and found La Chèze! Let Me tell you a bit more about it ok;hope you enjoy it

The small town of La Chèze is located in the Côtes-d’Armor department 22 of the region of Bretagne inhabited by 563 residents!!. La Chèze is crossed by the Lié river , and in the center of the village is a pond.

La Chèze is a dismemberment of the former primitive parish of Plumieux. La Chèze is mentioned in 1239 and comes under the deanery of Penthièvre, but belongs to the county of Porhoët. The Chèze form can be found from 1241. The town developed around the Château de la Chèze, built by Eudon II, the viscount of Porhoët from 1142 to 1180.  Following the Protestant rebellion of Duke Henri de Rohan in 1628, Louis XIII had his property seized. Richelieu ordered the dismantling to begin. In 1743, for unknown reasons, the General of the Parish of Loudéac authorized the dismantling of the castle for the benefit of the construction of the new church of Loudéac and many houses in rue de Loudéac and rue de Pontivy. From 1779 to 1820, the castle was the subject of successive sales. Around 1857 took place the almost total destruction of the remains. The castle is now in ruins. The village has tried to rebuilt first with a tower and musical festivals are held around it.

An interesting country museum call the Musée Régional des Métiers was installed in the old tannery built on the edge of the Lié river , the Allaire family in 1880, built the regional crafts museum presenting today ,the ways of living, mores, customs and habits of artisans of the time. I went int but the walk was long and instead took pictures of the outside and the picturesque library!

The main monument to see is the church and very high significance in the lives of Bretagne as we have a monastery of the order near me, (see post in Brech). Let me tell you more about it ok

The Saint André Church, formerly Notre-Dame-de-la-Croix Chapel, which became a parish church shortly after 1806. This is the Chapel, which dates from the 11C. This chapel was restored in 1707 by Louis Grignon de Montfort who established a Brotherhood of the Cross there. Around 1806, it replaced the old parish church of the Madeleine, mentioned in 1424 and destroyed during the French revolution. The granite baptismal font dates from the 15C and bears the arms of the families of Clisson, Rohan and Navarre ; it appears to be the baptismal font of the old chapel of the castle, property of the Dukes of Rohan. The pulpit dates from the 18C. An octagonal schist stone dating from the 11C can be found on the floor of the Saint-André Church, the stone is part of the original paving of the first chapel. The large arches of the transept square date from the 15C. At the entrance to the choir on the right, the altar from 1888 and the statue of Father de Montfort. At the crossroads of the transepts, seated on their clouds, the 4 evangelists with their traditional symbols: the angel for Matthew, the lion for Mark, the bull for Luke, and the eagle for John.

The Saint André Church is a place of pilgrimage in memory of the creator of the Montfortian order. Louis Grignon de Montfort was staying at La Chèze at the Manoir de la Grange. In 1418, Saint Vincent Ferrier, called by Alain VIII, viscount of Rohan, to organize a mission, discovered the ruins. He announces that a missionary will pick her up. Later, indeed a missionary named Louis Grignon de Montfort came in 1707 and ordered the reconstruction of the original chapel and established there a Brotherhood of the Cross which will remain famous until the French revolution.

There is difficult to find information on this small village and church, the info above is from panels by the church and some from this site in French , calling it the Central Brittany webpage on the St André Church: http://www.centrebretagne.com/office-de-tourisme/decouvrir/patrimoine/un-chapelet-dedifices-religieux/eglise-saint-andre-a-la-cheze.html

There you go folks, going around and things comes around. Goodies of my lovely Bretagne even in remote in land villages like La Chèze, and I am just touching the surface as the saying goes. There is architecture, history, and foodies to take me the rest of my lifetime. Thanks for joining me along, well worth it me think!

And remember, happy travels, good health,and many cheers to all!!!