Paris1972-Versailles2003

This time I am taking you to another off the beaten path of my lovely Bretagne. So much to see; this is an area of great  historical and architectural beauty where a car is king and maybe why still in off the beaten path . However, it is worth the detour. We love it. Let me tell you a bit about the quant nice town of Gouézec.

The town of  Gouézec is located in the Finistère Dept 29 of the region of Bretagne. It is on the left bank of  the Aulne river; and extends  to the Trois Fontaines brook, a tributary of the Aulne, which separates it from Edern,Briec and Lothey, rivers and to the east is bounded by the brook of Pont ar Ch’laon, another tributary of the Aulne, which separates it from Saint-Thois. The territory includes part of the western part of the Montagne Noirs ( black mountains), one of the highlights, the Roche du Feu (Karreg an Tan in Breton), 279 meters high; as the Aulne flows at 28 meters above sea level in Pont-Coblant, this induces a large elevation, of about 250 meters, between the highest point and the lowest point of the town (the town itself is around 90 meters above sea level, on the north slope of the Roche du Feu) , rather strong slopes and valleys, both that of Aulne, and those of its tributaries, both those already mentioned and that of the Kerguelen brook, called in its downstream part of Rozvéguen brook, which flows completely into the town.

A bit of history I like as briefly as possible.

A Roman route from Morlaix to Civitas Aquilonia (today Quimper) passed through Pleyben, the Chapel of the Three Fountains in Gouézec and the Penity en Briec, where it joined the one from Vorgium (today Carhaix).

Fast forward tell us that in in 1902, the Municipal Council of Gouézec voted unanimously to protest against the closure of the congrégation schools and the population of Gouézec strongly opposed the anti-clerical measures of the Government , and the application of the law on congregations (sep state and church).  Due to their attitude during these events, the Mayor, and vicar were suspended from their duties. The population of Gouézec was at that time very attached to its nuns

The Countess Cecilia Rita Monteiro de Barros, wife of Henri Louis de Legge , built the Château de Kerriou in 1904 and lived there during the interwar period. Yves Fitamant, author of a book “Kerriou, history of a lordship”, speaks of “a construction of all beauty that has received an admirable decoration”. The estate was sold in 1935 after the death of the Countess. It was later occupied by the Nazi marine in 1940 and the FFI (interior French Forces) thereafter , and now in private hands not open to the public.

The must see in Gouézec are in my opinion;   the Chapelle Notre-Dame des Trois-Fontaines.  The Chapel  was built in granite and covered in slate, the chapel consists of a nave, an aisle, a transept and a polygonal apse. The façade, opened by a 16C gate, is topped by a steeple of the 18C. The nave is flanked, by a gable porch of the 16C, of oblong plane. The stained glass windows are from the 16C decorating some of the windows  of the transept and the apse. The Calvary dates from 1554 and presents three crosses and a group of characters of which there is only one thief and Ste. Magdalene. The fountain consists of a warhead arch partially covering a source. A statuette of the Virgin is placed in the background.

The Chapelle Notre Dame des Trois-Fontaines or Chapel of Our Lady of the Three Fountains was built from the 16C  to the 18C, former property of the Abbey of Coat Malouen. The chapel comprises a nave with a low  five bays, a transept separated from the nave by a diaphragm arch and a polygonal heart with multiple knots. The bell tower, finished in an octagonal dome, is depreciated in a lantern and accosted staircase turret and was rebuilt at the end of the 17C or at the beginning of the 18C. The carved wooden grandstand dates from 1671. Mural painting dates from the 18C. The canopy of the Transfiguration dates from the 16C,  it also sees the remains of stained glass dedicated to the passion and the life of the Blessed Virgin. Among the statues are those of the Virgin Mother, Saint Herbot, Saint Diboan, Saint Hervé, Saint Michael, San Sebastian, Santa Barbara, St. Mark and a Pietà. To be noted also in the paving, the weapons of Guyon de Quellenec and his wife Jeanne de Rostrenen. Near the chapel lies the three fountains that gave it the name.

There is an informative Fountains of France webpage on the 3 Fountains in French here: https://www.fontainesdefrance.info/fontaines/les-fontaines-de-notre-dame-des-trois-fontaines/

The Ministry of Culture of France has some info on the Chapelle ND des Trois Fontaines in French: https://www.pop.culture.gouv.fr/notice/merimee/PA00089974

As we walked a bit in Gouézec we saw other things that might be worth stopping by in future trips.

St. Peter’s Church, 16C. Done in a Latin cross-shaped building with a slightly overflowing choir, it includes, in addition to the span of the built-in bell tower, a nave with six-span aisles terminated by a right bedside. Two wing chapels form false transept to the right of the last span. The sacristy dates from 1724. The Choir dates from 1899. The bell tower with two galleries dates from 1747. The pulpit dates from the 18C.

La Roche du Feu (Karreg an Tan in Breton or rock of fire in English) on the heights of Gouézec, at 281 meters, this magnificent site offers an extraordinary viewpoint on the Valley of the Aulne, the Monts D’arrée ,and the Bay of Douarnenez. During the Norman invasions and to warn off the arrival of the Vikings, a lookout (alerted by another fire lit at the top of the Menez-Hom) lit a fire that could see the whole region of the Châteaulin basin.

The old port of Pont-Coblant, between Pleyben (see post) and Gouézec, has developed a nautical base and a campsite (located on the Pleyben side). The former Office of the underground quarry of Parc-ar-Pont, transformed into a chapel of Sainte-Barbe in 1951, which was enlarged in 1957 was decommissioned in the year 2000. It now serves as a venue for exhibitions.

The Chapel of Notre-Dame-de-Tréguron 16-17C, of the seigneurial foundation was rebuilt in large part in the 17C. Several other chapels, cavalries and fountains.

Some webpages to help you plan your trip are:

The Menezhom-Atlantique local tourist office on Gouézec:  https://www.menezhom-atlantique.bzh/decouvrir/actualites/gouezec-47970

An information techie aide windows webpage with historical and pictures on the Chapelle ND de Tros Fontaines and other sites in Gouézec in French: https://tourisme.aidewindows.net/bretagne/gouezec.htm#chapelle-trois-fontaines

There is little information on the town of about 1000 folks and no mayor’s office webpage. This is rural Finistére dept 29 of my lovely Bretagne.  And off the beaten path and nice places to go by car and then walk the town awesome. Gouézec is just before entering the magical National Regional park of the Armorique! Just past Quimper on the N165 expressway and get off on the road D785 and then the D41 you will pass the Trois Fontaines before getting to the town, it is in a forest!!. Hope you enjoy it as I.

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

Ok so I am daring to go into public transport again! I do passed by here several times in my working world, connections here and visit by car in my road warrior trip. The town of Redon is a waterways dandy in my beautiful Morbihan and like to tell you a bit more on the public transports of Redon! Hope you enjoy as I.

The closest airport to Redon is at Rennes-Saint Jacques, tiny and taken, and a bigger one and better at Nantes Atlantique , I have come by the road in my road warrior trip and as they said only 4 hrs from Paris, and less than an hour from Nantes, Rennes or Vannes which indeed is pretty much my time, Also, Redon located at the confluence of the rivers Oust and Vilaine is only at about 60 km from Rennes, 50 km from Vannes ,and 60 km from Nantes. I take it most often getting on the N165 road (Brest – Nantes) and getting off by Vannes on the N166, then get off the D775 direction Questembert/ Redon, Coming from Paris once get to Rennes take the rocade sud N136 to exit 8 Porte de St Nazaire direction St Jacques airport on the D177 to Redon.

I have taken the train station here on connection trips to Paris and Nantes , and of course passed by it many times on direct trips. The train station is small convenient modern nice and at less than 3 hrs via Rennes to Paris as well as Lyon, and Toulouse, via Nantes, I have taken it Vannes Redon onwards to Paris or Vannes Redon to Nantes, The gare or train station was put into service and inaugurated on September 21, 1862. Between 2014 and 2016, the station was redeveloped, in particular with the creation of an underground tunnel under the tracks, as part of the more general creation of an interchange multimodal hub.

The Redon SNCF train station has a passenger building with a ticket office open every day (ticket office closed on Sundays). It is equipped for accessibility for people with reduced mobility and with various equipment, in particular automatic TER ticket machines and parking spaces for bicycles and road vehicles. It is served by the TGV Atlantique and regional express trains of the TER Pays de la Loire and Bretagne networks. It is a junction station for two major railway lines in southern Bretagne, it is located approximately: 1 hour 35 minutes from Quimper, 55 minutes from Lorient and 25 minutes from Vannes and allows you to reach Nantes in 40 minutes, Rennes in 35 minutes and Redon train station from Paris-Montparnasse in 2h12.Yes ! Below the Hôtel de Ville of Redon (see post) passing on TGV train to Rennes/Paris!

The TER Bretagne gare or train station of Redon: https://www.ter.sncf.com/bretagne/gares/87471300/Redon/prochains-departs

The Redon SNCF gare or train station: https://www.garesetconnexions.sncf/fr/gare/frxrn/redon

The bus lines serving the Morbihan sector of the agglomeration, making it possible to reach La Gacilly and Redon mainly, and Rennes for the towns of Pipriac and Lieuron. These are bus line 10 “Pays de Redon”, bus line 12 “La Gacilly / Redon”, and bus line 10 “Pipriac / Guichen / Rennes”

The bus lines of Redon on the Breizhgo network webpage : https://www.breizhgo.bzh/se-deplacer-en-bretagne/se-deplacer-en-car/ille-et-vilaine

The bus lines serving the Loire-Atlantique sector of the agglomeration, from Redon to Nantes are bus line 11 and the variant 71 “Plessé / Blain / Nantes” and bus line T5 “Saint-Nicolas-de-Redon / Saint-Nazaire”

The bus lines of Redon on the Aleop bus network of the Pays de la Loire webpage: https://plan.aleop.paysdelaloire.fr/

I have to say ,the bus network is for information only as I have never taken it. I like to include a couple of webpage on tourist themes to help you further visit this nice little town of Redon

The city of Redon on its heritage: https://www.redon.fr/tourisme/p26-patrimoine-architectural.htm

The Redon tourist office on its heritage: https://www.tourisme-pays-redon.com/villes-et-villages-0/PCUBRE035V51CVP6/detail/redon/redon?NomOffre_68=&Commune_68=redon

There you go folks, another dandy nice little town of my beautiful Morbihan, a great weekend getaway for many including us. Hope you enjoy the post and use it to get around wonderful Redon!

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

So looking over my blog now with plenty of time… I have found sometimes places traveled and not on my blog; this is a pity. Therefore, it is time to catch up. I have been to Vitré several times and many posts, however, I like to tell you about its train station or gare and the tourist office !!! Hope you enjoy it as I; and thanks for reading me since November 2010!

Well location, Vitré is in the Ille et Vilaine dept 35 of my lovely Bretagne. It occupies the Marche region in upper Bretagne. It is label City of Art and History and the inscription to the list of the most beautiful detours of France. Vitré is the 37th French town with the most historical monuments and  comprised  14% of the historical monuments of the department. The city was promoted to flower town or “Ville Fleurie”, on 3 flowers label and has two stars in the green Michelin Guide. There what are you waiting for?

The town is about 2 hrs from our home. We took the N157 from Rennes into the D777 to Vitré by car is easy. Vitré is located 275 km from Paris, 132 km from Caen, 104 km from Nantes, 62 km from Mont-Saint-Michel and 35 km from Rennes. The Paris-Brest Expressway N157-E50, which extends the A11 expressway to Vitré.

It, also a railway node, line to Vitré was opened in 1857 on the Paris-Brest line. Then, a second line in the direction of Fougréres was opened in 1867  a viaduc spanning the valley of the Vilaine was built to the west of the city, and finally in 1874, a third line to the La Guerche-de-Bretagne. The construction of the train station was carried out in 1855 in the form of a small Gothic Castle in brick and Tufa, in the city center, just south of the walled city.

The gare de Vitré or train station is at 15, place du Général de Gaulle, It’s construction began in 1855 and ended in 1857. Victor Lenoir was the architect of the Vitré train station but also that of the old station Montparnasse in Paris. The installation of the station in the immediate vicinity of the historic center resulted in the destruction of the southern ramparts and a Haussmannisation of the inner city districts by the opening of north / south oriented boulevards such as rue Garengeot, rue Bertrand-d’Argentré, and rue Duguesclin. A medieval suburb dating from the Middle Ages has disappeared. It occupied the current parking lot north of the station and went as far as the Sainte-Croix Church; the rue de la Fontaine served this district as well as a tennis court.

The SNCF train station of Vitré has a passenger building with a ticket office, open every day. It is equipped with machines for the purchase of TER transport tickets The station is served by TGVs running between Paris-Montparnasse and the Breton stations of Rennes and Saint-Malo, and by regional trains from the TER Bretagne and TER Pays networks de la Loire, circulating between Rennes, Laval and Le Mans. Since the commissioning of the Virgule de Sablé line , the station has also been linked to Nantes, via Angers.

The Vitré – Fougéres section of the Vitré – Pontorson line closed on March 5, 1972, The Vitré – La Guerche-de-Bretagne section of the Martigné-Ferchaud – Vitré line was closed the same year. The railway line was transformed into a hiking trail in the 1990s.

The SNCF train station of Vitré webpage: https://www.garesetconnexions.sncf/fr/gare/frxvt/vitre

The TER lines of Bretagne on Vitré: https://www.ter.sncf.com/bretagne/gares/87471508/Vitr%C3%A9/pratique

The Vitré tourist office is located at Place du Général de Gaulle right across the train station. This as always is the starting point for a visit anywhere you are not familiar with and even if are me think. We always get updates here and at Vitré there is a world of information to know the city well, I like to add it here as across the street from the gare.

The Vitré tourist office on its history/heritage : https://en.bretagne-vitre.com/art-et-histoire/

There you go folks a nice side step to see nice useful information for any visit to any town or region and the ever present train stations of my belle France; oh yes have ridden in them but not at Vitré just for the show and information. Hope you enjoy the post as I!

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

So moving right along in my beautiful Bretagne , and an off the beaten path destination of Douarnenez. Even thus, it is the third most visited region by the French for vacation, the foreign visitors seems content with going back to the popular places. Brittany has a huge inventory of wonders with historically and architecturally gems such as the one showcase here. Again this one is an updated older post, and again added couple more pictures found!  I like to tell you a bit more on the Church Saint Herlé of Douarnenez.

The Church Saint-Herlé, or Saint Erlé, is located in the Ploaré district of Douarnenez, Finistére Dept 29 of the region of Bretagne. This church is recognized as the most beautiful church in Douarnenez, according to many folks in the region. What strikes above all in the Church St Herlé is its superb bell tower, one of the most remarkable in the Cornish region. Situated on a height, in the center of the town, it dominates the whole country from its slender arrow, whose end rises more than 65 meters above the ground level.

The construction of the Church St Herlé began around 1548 as evidenced by an inscription visible at the base of the Tower; the Spire was built in several stages during the 17C. The whole thing is of the Cornish Gothic style. But the tower and its spire were rebuilt several times, probably after partial destruction due to lightning, especially in 1751, hence their composite character. The sacristy dates from the 18C.

The high altar, from the 17C, is adorned with a double Tabernacle and a Retable with turrets. At the door of the lower Tabernacle, the lamb is lying on the Cross. At the upper Tabernacle we see a carved monstrance framed by two virtues. At the top appears the risen Christ. To the left and to the right of the Tabernacle you can see the statues of St Peter and St Paul. Two beautiful carved oak chandeliers decorate the entrance of the choir; on the left, the figure Saint Herlé, in deacon; on the right, a beautiful group of the Trinity, where the dove overcomes the tiara of the Eternal Father. At the top of the north side is the altar of Ste. Anne, with twisted columns, with the Eternal Father on top. There are, also, modern statues of St. Anthony and St. Isidore.

The pulpit to preach seems from the 18C. It is equipped with five sculpted side panels, representing the four evangelists, with Saint Herlé at the central panel. At the bottom of the south collateral, you will notice a fireplace with the baptismal font. At the north side, in an already ancient tomb, was buried Marguerite Le Nobletz, sister of DOM Michel. Several mothers lay down their slow little children to walk, after having carried them processionally along the naves.

The Church Saint-Herlé has hosted numerous sermons by the famous preacher DOM Michel Le Nobletz. A stained-glass window dating from 1902 depicts him leaving Douarnenez in front of his crying followers.  A bas-relief of the Church dating from the 16C represents sardines on which a gull is eaten them; it is a lasting testimony of the ancient importance of the sardine fishing industry in Brittany. And still big as the best is from there today and we buy them!

Some webpages to help you plan your trip are:

The city of Douarnenez and its heritage: https://www.mairie-douarnenez.fr/decouvrir/patrimoine-religieux/les-eglises-de-la-ville-de-douarnenez.html

The Douarnenez tourist office on the church: https://douarnenez-tourisme.co.uk/decouvrir/patrimoine-et-culture/eglises-et-chapelles/eglise-de-saint-herle/

A private webpage on the Friends of Saint Herlé Church: https://amisdesaintherle.jimdo.com/

There you go folks, another historically and architecturally nice monument in the Finistére breton of Brittany or Bretagne or Breizh. This is the Church Saint Herlé! Hope you have enjoy the small tour.

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