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This is a wonderful park/garden hidden from most facing the ramparts of Vannes in the upper town. Sort of an off the beaten path spot that I like to show you more in this new post with older pictures. Reading my blog you know that  Vannes is my capital city of my beautiful Morbihan dept 56 of my lovely Bretagne. I worked just outside in an old castle ruins of 1504 where our world HQ was,now retired enjoying more free time to tell you about these hidden beauties. Hope you enjoy the parc de la Garenne as I.

The Parc de la Garenne is a public park in Vannes. The garden is bounded to the north by the Jardin d’Accreditation of the Prefecture govt building (see post), to the east by the rue de Saint-Tropez, to the south by  Rue Jehan-de-Bazvalan and to the west Rue Francis-Decker. Access to the Park is done by Francis-Decker, Jehan-de-Bazvalan and Alexandre-Le-Pontois streets. This Park is considered the oldest in the city. The promenade de la Garenne or park or garden had, therefore, from 1753, the appearance and the provisions it presents today.

The grounds of the park became in the 12C the property of the Abbey of Saint-Gildas de Rhuys (see post) , which endowed the priory of Saint-Guen with it. Through an exchange of land, it became, in the 1380s, the property of the Duke John IV. After the union of Brittany with France in 1532, it becomes the property of the kings of France, who then leave its use to the captains and governors of the city. After having ceded, in 1569 a portion to the Saint-Nicolas hospital, then in 1635 the northern land (today occupied by the Prefecture and its gardens) to the Dominicans to establish a convent, only the top of the Garenne and its slopes towards the city remain in the royal domain. The garden covers an area of ​​approximately 27,000 m2. The western part is presented as a succession of terraces crossed by alleys and planted with large rows of trees. The eastern part, corresponding to the plateau, is laid out like a large circular Place d’Armes, surrounded by flower beds.

The western fence walls and monumental staircase were erected in 1749 . The work thus carried out ended on December 3, 1753 . Condemned the previous days in Auray, some of the leaders of the Quiberon landings were executed in the park on July 28, 1795;  notably among them Urbain-René de Hercé, bishop of Dol, and Charles de Sombreuil (this was part of the invasion of immigrant Bretons from England to fight the French revolution unfortunately the support from England never came) (see post).

The WWI war memorial, the work of sculptor Ladmiral, was inaugurated in the center of the park in 1923. Also, in the park, stands the city’s war memorial. It is composed of a large column surmounted by a winged victory. Four lion heads flank the corners. The tomb of an anonymous resistance fighter was dug at the foot of this column in 1945 and four stelae bearing the names of the victims of WWII were unveiled there in 1947.

The city of Vannes on the parks including the Garenne: https://www.mairie-vannes.fr/vannesdecouverte/nature-dans-la-ville/parcs-publics-jardins-familiaux/

Lovely to walk amongt history and beautiful architecture intact from as far back as the 14C! This is a must in Vannes, we go and past by just to see it every week. The Garenne whatever is a park, garden , walk or ramparts is awesome!

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

Well this is not a typical tourist destination but as I love the history and architecture of cities and no doubts Vannes has a bunch; will introduce you to a unique building here. This is on the upper level facing the harbor and with views over the Gulf of Morbihan, of the Maison Diocese of Vannes!

The Maison Diocese of Vannes is located at 55 rue Monseigneur Trehiou or at least this is how it was called.  It is not visited per se but you can inquire about renting a room at the new Montcalm association.

A bit of history on this venerable building from the link webpages cited tell us the following, The Capuchin convent of Vannes was built in 1614, with a cloister and a chapel, in the district of Calmont-Haut. Yvon Nicolazic spent a few days there in 1625, during the investigation of Keranna.(proving the voices he heard of Sainte Anne (see basilica post).

In 1806, the Ursulines bought the buildings to open a free school with a boarding school. They were evicted in 1907 by the state, which appropriated the buildings under the 1905 law (separation of State and Church). The bishop of Vannes, Monsignor Gouraud, buys back the buildings confiscated by the state. In 1909 he set up the major seminary there, In 1914, the buildings are requisitioned by the army and 500 soldiers reside there. The small seminary part becomes a hospital. The Monsignor Tréhiou rebuilt three quarters of the seminary in 1935, in order to accommodate more than 200 candidates for the priesthood. Despite the occupation and an attempted fire by the Nazis in August 1944, the premises received new generations of seminarians.

The Vannes seminary joined the interdiocesan seminary in Rennes in 1998: the seminarians are no longer trained in Vannes, but they meet there every year during Holy Week for a diocesan retreat. The building was given to the Montcalm association, which now manages the buildings and allows their sustainability by developing the activity of renting rooms, halls and meals.

Located in the former seminary of Vannes, the Maison du Diocèse hosts various Church services, movements and associations. There is notably the diocesan library, RCF Sud Bretagne, Secours Catholique or a religious bookstore, etc.

The Vannes Catholic diocese on the Maison du Diocése: https://www.vannes.catholique.fr/maison-du-diocese/

The Montcalm Association on the Maison du Diocése: https://www.montcalm-vannes.org/fr/hebergement/centre-de-sejour/

Part of the heritage, historical and architecture fabric of our capital city Vannes. I ought it to have in my blog and feel better now. Hope you find it useful, interesting, off the beaten path treasure. And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!!

Well as you know, and I have mentioned in previous posts; all great cities have a river! And yes nearby Quimperlé has a river ,call the Laïta! And we have been by it and is beautiful natural habitat right in the middle of the city. Therefore, let me take some older pictures and do new text to give credit to this wonderful dangerous river!

The Laïta is a river estuary formed by the Ellé and the Isole river after their confluence. The name Laïta does not appear for the first time in official writings until 1825, on the cadastre of Quimperlé. In the writings dating from before the French revolution, the river which flows from Quimperlé to the sea still bears the name of Ellé. The origin of the name Laita remains obscure.

The Laïta is a coastal river subject to the tide which originates in Quimperlé at the point of confluence of the Ellé and the Isole. The river flows in a valley hollowed out by the joint action of the waters of the Ellé and the Isole. The valley was invaded by the sea at the end of the last glaciation following the rise in sea level. Today, it constitutes an estuary or an aber. Laïta winds from Quimperlé in a southerly direction towards the Atlantic Ocean.

Its route partially serves as a natural border between the departments of Finistère (29) and Morbihan (56) . Its right bank is in particular partly occupied by the national forest of Carnoët for over 6 km. The entrance to the ria is made difficult to access because of a moving underwater sandbank and a pulley. Indeed, when the wind blows from the South or the West a bar forms making navigation dangerous. Laïta drains an area of ​​832 km2 at its point of departure in Quimperlé and 917 km2 at its mouth at the port of Pouldu or 922 km2 according to SANDRE (Le Service d’administration nationale des données et référentiels sur l’eau ) or the National Administration Service for Water Data and Repositories.

Laïta is responsible for frequent and serious flooding in the lower town of Quimperlé, Indeed I saw one that was back in 2013 pretty big one. For an overflow threshold of 3 meters, the floods of 1883, 1925, 1974, 1995 and December 24, 2013 reached 4.50 meters; the most important flood, in December 2000, was marked by a water height of 6 meters. The causes are multiple, the irregularity of the flows of the Ellé and especially of the Isole, the role of tides, the containment of rivers for 300 years, changes in the grove and upstream crops.

A bit of history associated with the Laïta river!

The banks of the Laïta were already frequented in prehistoric times, as evidenced by the presence of a tumulus in the forest of Carnoët. The more or less legendary Count Conomor, a true Breton Bluebeard, would have taken up residence there in the 6C. The remains of its castle, the Château de Carnoët, are still visible today. In the year 868, the Vikings went up the course of the river and destroyed the city of Quimperlé, called at the time Anaurot. Around 1170, monks from the Cistercian abbey of Langonnet, under the leadership of their abbot Maurice Duault, settled on the banks of the Laïta and founded a monastic establishment there, which would later take the name of Abbey Saint-Maurice de Carnoët.

During WWII, with the arrival of the American troops of General Patton in Brittany, the Nazis fell back on the region of Lorient to constitute a pocket of resistance there. Laïta then served as a western demarcation line for the Lorient pocket. The Nazis did not cross the estuary but did not hesitate to bombard the opposite bank, targeting the Abbey Saint-Maurice de Carnoët , the buildings of which were badly damaged.

In Quimperlé, the Ellé and Isole joint to form the Laïta by the roads D765 (Quai Surcouf) and D783 (Quai Brizeux).  You have great view points along these roads of beautiful natural habitat just in town!  Take a side step to visit the Parc Le Bel-Air and the Prairie Saint Nicolas, and then see the river goes underneath the expressway N165 to thereafter start the borders of Finistére and Morbihan departments of Bretagne! Lovely indeed!

The Vigicrues webpage on tides and more tech info on the Laïta: https://www.vigicrues.gouv.fr/niv3-station.php?CdEntVigiCru=8&CdStationHydro=J490201002&GrdSerie=H&ZoomInitial=3

The Quimperlé Terre Océane tourist office on the ria of the Laïta: https://www.quimperle-terreoceane.com/decouvrez/pays-rias/laita/

The local Lorient South Brittany tourist board on the Laïta : https://www.lorientbretagnesudtourisme.fr/fr/immanquables/guidel/guidel-la-laita-et-ses-rives/

There you go folks, I told you I like nature too, the wild one and with a body of water, sea or river even better, just wonderful for the soul to be here and stroll/walk/jog along this marvel of the Laïta river of Quimperlé. Hope you enjoy the post as I

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

We have come here often and always glad to be back. I like to update this older post of pretty old Quimperlé, not far from me and always a pleasant visit. I have done several posts on the city but feel some monuments deserves a post of their own. Therefore, let me present to you the Abbey Church of the Holy Cross (Sainte Croix). Hope you enjoy it as I!

The one you must and I won’t mind seeing again, it alone is worth the trip to Quimperlé is the Abbey Church of the Holy Cross or Eglise Abbatiale de Sainte Croix.  It’s a  jewel and in  splendid conditions. It is here that all started… It the most prestigious monument of the city of  Quimperlé, an abbey founded in the 11C by the Count de Cornouaille, Alain Canhiart following a miraculous cure. This Abbey Church along with the abbey of Lanleff, is the only church in Brittany to have a circular plan copied as the one in the Saint Sepulcre of  Jérusalem.  It forms a Greek cross, and has equally a form of a clover drawn as in the Saint-Sépulcre of Jérusalem. From the 11C it has preserved its interior a wonderful museum of works of arts. The choir of monks is a one of the best realizations of Roman art, the crypt from the 11C is still preserved, a entombment of Christ sculpture in about 1500 ,a retable from the 16C, a  Christ en robe (dressed Christ)  ,and a pulpit from the 17C are ,also, remarkable here!!! A must to see!!!

The Abbaye Sainte-Croix is in the town of Quimperlé in the Finistère Dept 29 of the lovely region of Bretagne. Founded in 1029 by Saint Gunthiern thanks to a donation from the Count of Cornouaille Alain Canhiart, it is one of the powerful abbeys of Brittany, comprising many dependencies. Its centered plan nave inspired by the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem is a quasi-unique example in Brittany. The Abbey was closed during the French revolution, of course,,. The Church of the Holy Cross is preserved for worship but the Abbey buildings are converted into public buildings such as a courthouse and gendarmerie police barracks. The steeple collapsed in 1862, leading to the destruction of the greater part of the Church. This will be largely rebuilt at the end of the 19C.

A bit of history I like

The Abbey was the origin of the creation of the city of Quimperlé thanks to the protection that the walls surrounding the Abbey, to the island artificially created of a moat joining the Ellé and Isole rivers, and Papal protection. But the Abbey was the true feudal Lord of the city whose Abbot was both the administrator, the judge and the Seer, assuring the levying of taxes. The Abbey of Sainte-Croix was founded in the year 1029 at the site of a place named Villa Anaurot giving birth to the city of Quimperlé!   The Counts dynasty of the Cornouaille, who became Counts of Nantes in 1054 and having received by marriage the Duchy of Brittany in 1066, increased the richness of the Abbey by numerous donations from Nantes to Locronan, by various privileges such as lordships, rights on the city of Quimperlé, the right of episcopal jurisdiction over all the possessions of the Abbey, etc. , and made it their Necropolis.  The Abbey became parish Church in 1802. It was rebuilt between 1864 and 1868. A steeple-comb 1880 is high above the gable of the façade.  An isolated Bell Tower was erected in 1903. It has the form of a Greek cross, consisting of a central rotunda of 26 meters in diameter, three rounded apses and a nave with a square shape. Its dome by its dimensions is the largest rotunda of France. The central dome rises 19 meters above the ground and is supported by 4 huge pillars. The aisle is covered with a barrel vault. Sainte-Croix is the first fully vaulted Breton Romanesque Church.

Inside, a jewel !!  As said, the monks ‘ choir, spared during the collapse, is a masterpiece of Romanesque art ,and rare in Brittany. It is vaulted in the cul-de-furnace and 13 meters long.  Inside, the wall of the choir is organized on two levels. The lower part presents a series of blind armatures. At the top, a row of triple-roll full-bar windows with engaged balusters. On the sides of the apse, the windows alternate with double blind single-roll arches resting in the center on a baluster.

The 11C Crypt, located under the monks ‘ choir, is very well preserved and contains two tombs, including that of Saint Gurthiern, the founder of the first Abbey. It consists of a three-nave rectangle ending in apse. The vaulted vaults are based on six columns with carved bases and capitals and twelve balusters engaged on the edge. The two columns of the apse are a bundle of four balusters connected by a central column that stops before the marquee, sparing a void. It is illuminated by seven small windows that brings light outside at the street level.  The Abbey Church of Sainte Croix (Holy Cross) presents a beautiful series of Romanesque carved capitals, notably in the Choir and the Crypt. The capitals of the Crypt and the Interior of the Choir, the oldest, are a declension of very stylized vegetal motifs of Corinth inspiration, located at the bottom of the chapel, the beautiful limestone altarpiece of the 16C is themed the Church Teacher. In the center, Christ in Majesty is surrounded by four angels in adoration. Around it are organized eight Biblical figures, the four evangelists, the twelve apostles and the seven theological and cardinal virtues, in the midst of an extremely worked architectural décor. The burial, in limestone of Saintonge, carved around 1500 is remarkable even if it totally lost its original paintings because it was inadvertently stored in a precarious way in the garden of the Abbey for several decades. It is a group of ten characters of about 2 meters high. It is considered the oldest entombment of Brittany. A beautiful 17C pulpit is also visible.

Some webpages to help you plan your visit, and you must are:

The city of Quimperlé on its heritage: https://www.quimperle.bzh/vivre-a-quimperle/culture/collection-municipale/

The Quimperlé Terre Océane tourist office on Quimperlé: https://www.quimperle-terreoceane.com/en/discover/our-towns/quimperle/

The Finistére dept 29 tourist office on Quimperlé: https://www.toutcommenceenfinistere.com/quimperle-cite-histoire-art-creativite

The Bretagne region tourist board on Quimperlé: https://www.tourismebretagne.com/destinations/les-10-destinations/quimper-cornouaille/quimperle/

There you go folks another gem of my lovely Bretagne and my belle France, and quant nice Quimperlé , a must to visit while in the area or just come on over! This is the Church of the Holy Cross you will see today, or Sainte Croix. Hope you enjoy the post as I,

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

And I come back to the Finistére in my lovely Bretagne to tell you about another gem often misplaced in bigger previous post but that deserve mention on its own. I like to tell you about the Church Notre Dame de l’Assomption or St Michel in Quimperlé. Its a fun way to update these older posts and revive wonderful memories, thanks for reading me since November 2010!!!

It takes a little courage to climb into the upper city, but the ascent is worth it. You can indeed gather in the Church Notre Dame de l’Assomption or St Michel , of Gothic origin 13C. The touching statue of Our Lady of Kergornet, who breastfeed the child Jesus, welcomes the Pilgrim. Inside, you will admire the paneled nave of wood painted with Hermine’s and lilies, and the beautiful quarry pits dating from 1430, the oldest from Brittany! The Church was begun in 1373, rebuilt in the 15C  in Flamboyant Gothic style.  It has the oldest sculpted  beams in Brittany dating from 1430! It is a nice Church of 50 meters long and 10 meters wide of nave, 16 meters  by 50 meters of the Choir. In the second half of the 18C, the Church resumed the invocation of the old church of St. Michael, which fell into ruin in 1763 and destroyed in 1792 during the French revolution.

The current Church Notre Dame de l’Assomption/St Michel comprises a five-span paneled nave, including the first four without aisles and the fifth with vaulted arches on arches.  In fact, two separate buildings were added, the first rectangular plan of the 13C, comprises the old nave of four bays and the second square plan built of the 15C and consists of a central tower supported on its four sides by four buildings, including the one, paneled, extending the nave. The Church, which dates back to its earliest parts in the last quarter of the 13C, was damaged during the war of Succession of Brittany, as is the result of a bull of indulgences of 1383. The reconstruction of its eastern part begins at the end of the 14C or at the beginning of the 15C. Two events were indeed intervened, one a Ducal donation in 1418 on the occasion of the birth of the future Duke Peter II and the construction of the façade of Saint-Corentin Cathedral in Quimper begun in 1424, which could not fail to influence the new Church. The reconstruction of the choir was undertaken around 1425 at the same time as the roof paneling of the nave, dated 1430, was redone on one of the quarry pits. The stone vaults of the choir are implemented one hundred years later, in 1520. The square tower dates from the 15C , and it is decorated with a triple flamboyant gallery with corner pinnacles and a lead arrow once crowned the bell tower, It was melted during the French revolution. The nave seems to be indicated of the 13C. The porch still has its germinal door and beautiful ogive arcade. Inside the porch, niches once contained the statues of the twelve apostles. The arms of Duke John V are still on the porch.

The statue of the Virgin to the Child dates from the second half of the 14C. The statue called Notre-Dame de Bonne Nouvelle dates from the early 16C. The painting of L’Assomption, dates from 1842. A chalice is dated 1673. The reliquary of the true Cross dates from the early 19C. The stone cowl dates from the 15C. The baptismal font dates from the 15C. The Church of Notre Dame de l’Assomption/St Michel once housed the statues of a very remarkable 16C wooden mother-in-law, Notre-Dame de Botscao, St. Catherine of Alexandria, Saint Corentin, Saint Michael, Saint Yves and Saint Cornely. In 1957, statues were brought from Lothéa to the Church such as a Virgin Mother, a Pietà, two adoring Angels, a crucifix and three statuettes, Virgin Mother, Pietà, and  Saint Yves.

Some webpages to help you plan your trip are:

The city of Quimperlé on its heritage: https://www.quimperle.bzh/vivre-a-quimperle/culture/collection-municipale/

The Quimperlé Terre Océane tourist office on Quimperlé:  https://www.quimperle-terreoceane.com/decouvrez/destination-16-communes/quimperle/

The Finistére dept 29 tourist office on Quimperlé: https://www.toutcommenceenfinistere.com/quimperle-cite-histoire-art-creativite

The Bretagne region tourist board on Quimperlé: https://www.tourismebretagne.com/destinations/les-10-destinations/quimper-cornouaille/quimperle/

There you go folks, a lovely Church of Notre Dame de l’Assomption or also call of St Michel by the locals. It is worth the detour to pretty Quimperlé , check my other posts on the city worth the visit my Brittany. Again, hope you enjoy the post as I.

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

Indeed, once again Quimper!!! this is a very nice city we love and with so much to see sometimes we take time to come back, but come back we did this week and can’t wait to be back ! This is an update of an older post, and really not much to tell as I have plenty written in my blog on various spots of the city. However, always worth it to come back!

We were riding the road warrior routine in the Finistére dept 29 of my lovely Bretagne and with time decided to stop by  Quimper before heading home in my beautiful  Morbihan  breton dept 56 !  One thing we love to do once in Quimper is to walk, indeed walk as much as you can and see more of the beautiful city. One walk that is a must repeat is the one by the Odet river and over and across its passarelle bridges lovely sublime, this is  Quimper and for that my lovely Bretagne!

The passarelles from the theater Max Jacob coming along the Odet river to the Préfecture of Finistére and along the blvd Dupleix and Blvd Amiral du Kerguelen are Passarelle Louis Pasteur, Passarelle Canet-Mallejacq (right by old gardens) ; Passarelle Bolloré, (here is the post office and the pont de la poste); Passarelle Guével, Passarelle Max Jacob (by the Bishop’s garden) ; Passarelle de la Phalange d’Arvor, (start again of old gardens) Passarelle Tanguy, Passarelle Traonouez; Passarelle Liot, here you see the Musée Départemental Breton or Breton dept museum, and the pont St Catherine. A wonderful promenade indeed we love to do each time in town!

While in this walk, even if no time to go in again (see posts) we love the Musée Départemental Breton or the Departemental Breton Museum on the local history of customs and the city lovely historical and an nice architecturally stunning bishop’s palace.  And a peek of the Cathedral St Corentin!!! (see post). There is the always wonderful passarelles, sublime, or as I said in heavens. The always wonderful Place Saint Corentin full of great ambiance, lively and great places to sip , shop , and see the world go by. Right there is the inmense Cathedral St Corentin. On the right a peek at the fine arts museum musée des beaux-arts.

The always a must Rue Kéreon right off the Place St Corentin and into old Quimper full of restos, shops, and ice cream parlors , our favorite is Georges Larnicol, also with stores in Paris but Breton! Of course, our favorite street in town for sights of architecture, history ,and just fun eating /shopping places.

In all, it is always a pleasant visit to Quimper , one of the must cities to visit in the Finistére breton and Brittany in my opinion; and these days full of tourists again , especially from UK and Germany. Don’t missed out on it come on over folks, you will love it as we do!!!

The Quimper tourist office: https://www.quimper-tourisme.bzh/

The City of Quimper on heritage : https://en.quimper.bzh/653-discover-quimper-tourism.htm

There you go folks, another dandy in my Brittany , this is Quimper , a must to visit I said ; you will be glad you did. See you around rue Kéreon !

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

There you go , a lot written on Quimper but not really a post on its public transports! I see them all the time, did tried once the train there, and always by car. However, I know many take public transports and the visitors do it a lot for some reason… Therefore, let me tell you a post on the public transports of Quimper!

Why Quimper? well is one of my favorite cities of my lovely Bretagne, right up the alley from me in Finistére dept 29 and after so many visits, feel right to do one on its public transports; at least in a general overview hoping to help those who needs it. Hope it helps.

As said , we always come by car, except once by train on a business trip. Quimper has an excellent public transport network, with a great gare or train station with TGV connection to Paris-Montparnasse and  TER regional trains all over the area, as well as a great bus terminal or gare routiére next door with buses to nearby towns and far away like Paris! on Flexbus and Ouibus who have stops here. The local bus network is QUB. The closest airports are in Lorient or Brest, however, the local little airport has begun some flights out and worth a look.  And do not forget the Celtic’Train or little train taken in front of the Cathedral. A good way to see the city in a hurry!

Ok so let’s get started on the public transports of Quimper!

The QUB network is the public transport network of the Quimper Bretagne Occidentale urban community, of which Quimper is a greater part. It consists of 10 urban lines, 34 presto lines (mainly school), 17 suburban lines (including 2 complementary), 3 Sunday lines ( including 1 on Sunday evening), and an evening service, Qub Noz, comprising 2 evening lines which serve Quimper from Monday to Saturday. A park-and-ride facility north of Quimper has been made available to travelers wishing to park their car outside the city center, to continue their journey by bus. This park and ride is linked to the city center by bus line B via the Croix des Gardiens arrêt/stop.

The 10 urban lines and the 17 suburban lines serve Briec, Ergué-Gabéric, Guengat, Locronan, Plogonnec, Plomelin, Plonéis, Pluguffan, Quéménéven, Quimper, Landudal, Langolen, Edern and Landrévarzec. 3 new features have been introduced: the Connexity circular line (C 1 and C 2 in opposite directions on the same route) connecting the major centers in the center and south of Quimper, the QUBCity electric minibus line looping around the city center and the shuttle to the airport . In September 2021 (this month), line 9 will see the light of day in order to simplify the journey of line 1. The new line 9 will be structured as follows: Place de la Tour d’Auvergne-Kerfeuteun-Cité administrative-Bécharles-Gourvily and the new Kerlic clinic which is due to open in spring 2022. The “IlliQo” lines A and B are the main axes of the network. Correspondence poles at the “Rue du Parc” and “Resistance” stops will allow travelers to access quick and easy connections with other lines.

Complementary lines 1, 2 and 3 complete the transport offer. These lines are offered with a frequency of passage every 30 minutes. Every 30 minutes during peak hours and every 60 minutes during off-peak hours, lines 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 complete the network and guarantee a network of neighborhoods and the territory.  A minibus for the peri-urban towns of Guengat, Locronan, Plogonnec and Plonéis. These lines are called 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17. Single ticket cost 1.40€ ,and the book of 10 tickets cost 10.50€.

The QUB network: http://www.qub.fr/

The Quimper Bretagne Occidentale gov webpage on bus transports: https://www.quimper-bretagne-occidentale.bzh/225-bus-et-cars.htm

The Quimper Cornouaille airport at Pluguffan is 10 minutes from the city center. It offers three daily flights from Monday to Friday, one flight on Saturday and three on Sunday between Quimper and Orly airport . The airport also serves London (London city) and Figari.  An airport shuttle from the QUB network connects Pluguffan airport and Quimper city center. Departures for Paris at 6h35, 10h55 and 18h, as well as arrivals at 10h10, 17h15 and 21h35 are guaranteed by reservation from Monday to Friday for the airport shuttle at tel +33 (0) 2 98 95 26 27 or by email: agencequb@keolis.com

The Quimper airport: https://www.quimper.aeroport.bzh/accueil

There is a very good train station and easy transport to Paris Montparnasse passing by my main stations of Auray and Vannes. This I can attest is a good ride. Several daily connections are provided between Quimper and Paris Montparnasse. The duration of a trip is 3h30. The train station, located on Place Louis Armand. The train station is well serve by the Quimpérois taxis are parked in front of the station forecourt awaiting passenger pick-up; coach buses of the BreizhGo network departing from the bus station located in the extension of the SNCF station; Buses of the QUB network of which X lines serve the SNCF station; and The QUB City shuttle, 100% electric and free.

The BreizGo network is good for all public transports in Bretagne/Brittany: https://www.breizhgo.bzh/itineraires-et-horaires/trouver-mon-itineraire

The SNCF train stations on Quimper: https://www.garesetconnexions.sncf/fr/gare/fruip/quimper

The TER Bretagne train stations on Quimper: https://www.ter.sncf.com/bretagne/gares/87474098/Quimper/prochains-departs

And the city of Quimper webpage on public transports: https://www.quimper.bzh/646-transports.htm

There you go folks, nice and easy ways to get to beautiful Quimper; worth the detour indeed. Hope the post can be useful for most, and of course any questions let me know ok.  And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!!

Well, here is another find that went thru the holes in my previous posts on Auray, which are many. One of the fun moments of updating older posts ,is to find these gems to tell all. I have visited, walked, sightseeing, you name it and darn do not know why not written a post on the Castle of Auray before; well is in ruins but you get the story and the views are awesome! Hope you enjoy it as I.

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The Château d’Auray is located in Auray , and in my beautiful Morbihan dept 56 of my lovely Bretagne. It is in a very steeply area by the Loc’h river (see post) confluent of the Auray river that ends in the Atlantic Ocean, From its ruins above you get a wonderful view over the lower town or port Saint Goustan and even more romantic at night, The best for us is to walk from upper town place de la République down on a narrow street , rue du Belvédére at the end you arrive at the top of the castle ,Another walk is down rue du Château and turn right at the end to see the castle ! Great!

The first castle of Auray whose presence is mentioned in 1096 protects a ford on the Loc’h river, and the port of Saint-Goustan. The latter is rebuilt from 1201 for Duke Arthur I of Brittany. The most important event here and in Brittany and France for that matter happened during the War of Succession of Brittany, At this time the castle was taken successively by the English and French parties. On September 29, 1364, with the Battle of Auray, Jean IV de Montfort (for Bretagne) besieged the castle and put an end to the claims to the Duchy of Brittany of his rival Charles de Blois (for France) who was killed; the place of his death, Kerblois in the town of Brec’h, is marked by a Calvary. (see post).

According to medieval chronicles, between 1,800 and 2,900 English soldiers(sided with Brittany) face 3,500 or even 4,000 French combatants. Extremely violent, the struggle turned to the advantage of the former, thanks to the ingenious use of the rear guard. During the pass of arms, the Count of Blois lost his life. His challenger, Jean de Montfort becomes Duke of Brittany. While it settled the question of succession, the Battle of Auray did not mark the end of the conflict between the French and the Bretons. The castle will change owners twice more, until 1487 and a final victorious siege of the king’s men.

The castle of Auray was then the place of stay of several dukes of Brittany. François I of Brittany married Isabelle of Scotland there on October 30, 1442. It is in the same place that Guillaume de Blois or de Bretagne was detained in 1448, as a hostage of the submission of the Counts of Penthièvre. The treaty of reconciliation between the duke and his adversaries then gave him back a freedom that he had been waiting for, for 28 years, in successive prisons. In 1477, the secret correspondence between the duke François II and the king of England having been delivered to the king of France Louis XI, the duke had the traitor arrested, who confessed his crime; he was tried in Nantes, then locked up in the castle of Auray, sewn into a bag and drowned at night in the moat!

Subsequently, the castle of Auray was no longer maintained and falls into ruin. Its moat was auctioned after 1546, following the decision of King François I to cede all the vacant lands of the Duchy of Brittany, and the demolition of the ruins was decided by King Henry II, but the king’s prosecutor imposed that the wall on the river side is preserved, and it still exists. Its stones were given in 1558 by the king to the monks of the Sainte-Croix Abbey of Quimperlé, owner of the island of Belle-Île, to build the fort Palais in order to ensure its protection against the English pirates, the rest of the materials were auctioned in 1559.

A rue Neuve or new street was created on September 6, 1560 on the northern moat. A few years later, the street is completely lined with houses and was called as today , the rue du Château or castle street. In addition to a few half-timbered houses, the street is lined with beautiful residences adopting limestone, a noble material in vogue in the 17C and 18C.  In 1633, the Sisters of Saint-François de Nantes settled in Auray to run a girls’ school. A few years later, the construction of their vast convent , known as des Cordelières , and the Chapel of the Eternal Father (see post) ended up transforming the castle. Today, there are some remains of the castle on the right bank of the Loc’h river, such as a round tower known as the “Talus tower” and three buttresses which supported the main building of the castle, as well as two ramps leading down to the Port Saint Goustan.Nice

The city of Auray on its heritage: https://www.auray.fr/Ma-ville/Patrimoine/Les-monuments-historiques

The Morbihan dept 56 tourist office on Saint Goustan district of Auray : https://www.morbihan.com/accueil/decouvrir/le-morbihan/les-incontournables/saint-goustan-port-d-auray

This is a nice sight to see in a wonderful must see area of Auray, Saint Goustan, If not for the romantic ruins of the castle , the views over the river basin are gorgeous and recommended , especially at night, Hope you enjoy the post as I

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