In here I continue redoing my blog literally , updating and revising old posts with new text, old or new pictures when not repeated to bring these marvels to life. I have really enjoyed doing this and hope my readers too. As an introduction, will do this post in my black and white series, no pictures. I will bring you now to this is Vitré !!!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.
As often the case, when you have so much to see this town needs more visits, haute Bretagne or high Brittany sits in the marshes of medieval times that were the frontier into the dukedom. Vitré is gorgeous and has more porch houses than any other in France! The town is one of the Arts and History designation, 3 flowers towns , and best detour de France désignations 2012. It is located South east of Rennes in departément 35 Ille et Vilaine. The town is about 2 hrs from our home. We took the N157 from Rennes into the D777 to Vitré by car is easy. The day was raining at home both ways but at Vitré it was wonderful a bit cloudy but no rains at all ::) Goes to show you when people ask us about weather,,huh? do not worry just come and you will be surprise.
We came back to city center Vitré, where we hit right on the Church Saint Martin, imposing on a traffic circle that lines up with the historic center of the town. The Church was closed but it is imposing and it can be seen from many places in the city. The other nice church was that of Notre Dame Church; nice with beautiful chapels ,not much in tourist office but needs to see it as it is closer to the castle You have the wonderful laundrymat or pré lavandières by the river VIlaine where the wash clothing used to be done; the many wonderful wooden houses and porches the most of any city in France! The one thing , in fact only second to the castle ,that we love was the jardin du parc or garden of the park, right at the entrance of the historic center, and very near where we park at parking place du champ de foire. This was a noble land that was taken by the city in 1867, and it is even now considered an eco garden designation. It has pagodas, huts, kiosk of music, wonderful lawn gardens , huge wonderful curved trees, and just a pleasure to be and walk; nice in the city center. http://www.mairie-vitre.com/Jardins-et-nature,173.html
It was time for the mid day break a religion in France so we got into it as usual. We had our lunch at Le Chene Vert, 2 pl du Général de Gaulle diagonilly across the train station of Vitré, great tagliatelle with scallops mushrooms and all others with porto rouge as apéro,grimbergen beers, coffee expresso for less than 16€ per person. I have on a newer post that we came back and this resto has closed ,with a new owner/name L’Odorico. So here for the memories. We got our baguettes, pastries in double chocolat and strawberry caramels, éclairs, tarte à poires, etc at La Petite Marquise. Facebook pagehttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063723412901
We had some chocolate sticks filled with fruits in chocolaterie Le Derf which we have one closer in Vannes, but they are delicious anywhere. Webpage: https://www.brunolederf.fr/les-boutiques/
And fully loaded, we continue to concentrate on the Château de Vitré, wonderful already with a post on it but here is a brief. The Château de Vitré, this is one of the most remarkable fortress in city center in France, and it is very nice richly decorated . The whole castle is in a parvis that once belongs to a monastery. The castle is done with huge walls surrounding it, and a huge courtyard, now housing the city hall or city govt offices, and a museum up the tour Saint Laurent across the ramparts to Tour de l’Argenterie and finally the tour de l’Oratoire. Each room is name after a famous personality related to the castle. I have been to the city hall on visit not tourism, and this time took the family so we saw the whole thing,and it is a must to visit here and Worth a detour just for it. The museum is loaded and richly shown with nice clean détails of life back then. There each room has a motif related to it like the Salle des Marchands d’Outre Mer saw how the merchants of the old French post lived, then Salle Henri de la Trémouille retraces the founders, Salle Claude-Etienne Savary, with silver utensils, Chapelle Seigneuriale in the tour de l’oratoire or prayers tower with religious objects of great value, Salle Raoul David with paintings of the master with many scènes of castle life, chemin de ronde, a small cozy space for family life and heated; Salle Aimée des Nétumiéres, tapestries and uniform of French nobility. Richly wonderful, Worth the detour for it. Webpage:https://chateau.vitre.bzh/en/home/
You can continue by going along rue Pasteur at no 15 the museé Saint Nicolas with many more items than on the castle and the old building of the monastery of Saint Nicolas today a training center educational organism. We were genuingly impressed with the city layout, cleanliness and joyful ambiance. In addition, the rich historical values in the architecture and visiting places. It has a wonderful hippodrome or racecourse too, evidence of the rich horse tradition here, We knew the Château de Mme Sévigné was closed for rénovations but we went to see the outside anyway, it is about 5 kms from Vitré on the D88 direction Argentré du Plessis, and right around the golf course of des Rochers. Nice horse country road and pity the rénovations, I past by here sometimes and family was looking forward to see it but it will be next time. It traces the story of Mme Sévigné in Brittany , this is at the Château Des Rochers -Sévigné, and the property extend to include the golf course. webpage: https://bretagne-vitre.com/le-chateau-des-rochers-sevigne/
The references to Vitré are numerous in the literature. Here are some examples with sometimes great authors: Madame de Sévigné, famous epistolary, has precisely described in her famous letters, the urban life of Vitré in the 17C. Honoré de Balzac, Les Chouans, First Chapter L’embuscade, (the paperback book, pages 40 – 41). and Victor Hugo, as well as others in music literature, painting, and folklore. The Carnival of Gais Lurons, the biggest carnival in Brittany. The parade occurs every year on Palm Sunday. Every year, this great popular event attracts visitors from all over the west of France. Traditionally, the Vitré carnival is characterized by big heads of paper mache and the use of confetti.
A bit of history I like tell us that in Breton history, Vitré is part of the country Rennais (Bro-Roazhon in Breton) and the traditional cultural country of Vendelais (Gwennel in Breton). The city is located on the sunken slopes of the Vilaine valley and is cut into three parts: the northern districts, the historic city center and the southern districts. The Vitré name is attested in various forms Vitriacum in 987 and 1037, Vitrei en 1050, Ecclesia Vitriacensis in 1070, Vitreium in 1335. of Gallo-Romanesque origin, this toponym is derived from the Latin Victorius (carried by a Gaul) and the suffix of Location-Acon, (from the common Celtic -Āko ). The primitive meaning is therefore “the domain of Victorius”. This means that a Gallo-Roman farm was located on the town’s territory. Vitré is in the Middle Ages the seat of a barony, of 1008, Riwallon was the first baron between 1008 and 1040 and until 1254, when the lordship passed in the hands of the second house of Laval until 1547, then of Montfort-Laval until 1605 and finally the Trémoille-Laval until the French revolution. The Castle was built by Robert I who soon became Lord, beneficiary of a banal power, a major princely authority. He’s close to the Duke of Brittany. The castle is referenced in 1047 in the cartulary of Redon where we learn that Robert is the keeper of Vitré and not the owner. Another stone castle was built in 1047 by Robert I. The castle is built on its current location, on a rocky spur dominating the Vilaine river. Then, in the 13C, the castle was enlarged and the “Old Town” with the Notre-Dame Church developed on the eastern plateau. The place du Chateau, which was considered as a front yard, was actually urbanized. The city was surrounded by ramparts and outside ditches. It was then that the enclosed town took its present form. At the same time, “privileged villages”, i.e. suburbs born at the request of the Baron, have developed around the enclosed town. As early as the 13C, Vitré brought together all the elements of the city.
In the 15C, the castle was transformed with the progress of artillery such as the gunboats. From 30 June to 2 July 1488, the French army camped at the Pont Étrelles, a few days before the Battle of Saint-Aubin-du-Cormier, which provoked the end of Breton independence. During the wars of religion at the end of the 16C, the Protestant city was besieged for 5 months between 22 March 1589 and 14 August 1589 by the league troops under the command of the Duke of Mercœur, governor of Brittany, aided by inhabitants of 53 villages of the Barony of Vitré. The meetings of the States of Brittany were held in Vitré in 1655, 1671, 1697 and 1705 when Rennes was ravaged by the plague or insurgents. Madame de Sévigné had at that time a residence in the vicinity of Vitré, the Chateau des Rochers (of the rocks) where she stayed at least four times between 1671 and 1690, these four travels representing a total of six years of residence and she wrote almost three hundred of her letters. She attended these States of Brittany and made numerous references in these famous letters. It was during the 17C that the barons deserted the city to prefer the Court of Versailles.
There you go folks, this was the entry post to the wonderful town of Vitré. There were numerous posts afterward showcasing the different sights above. You can take a closer look of Vitré on them and do visit, worth the detour. Again, hope you enjoy this post on this is Vitré as I
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 