I am sure have several posts about Vannes in my post and for good reason. One is the capital city of the beautiful Morbihan dept 56 of my lovely Bretagne. Second, it has a huge concentration of medieval buildings in good conditions, ,and third, plenty of sights/attraction to keep you busy for a few days. For us, it has a lot more, the shopping,eating, outing place to be and only 27 km from my house! I was there again,and let me tell you a bit more of it. Hope you enjoy my Vannes revisited as I.
Let me put the city in perspective first. Vannes in the local Breton language is Gwened, Morbihan is the only department in France whose name is not French but Breton, in French would be petite mer but Morbihan is mor=sea bihan=small. Brittany which in French is Bretagne, in Breton is Breizh. Ok now lets go on with the visit.
The main reason, we were there is to get our sea rations, wonderful fish and seafood from the canned experts of La Belle Iloise.
In Quiberon, in Morbihan, the cannery created by the Hilliet family has been defending craftsmanship and local riches since 1932. Born in the heyday of sardine fishing, it has endured, outside the mass distribution circuit, with great blows of astonishing recipes and colorful boxes. They bets on direct sales and opens their first store within the factory, by the sea, in 1967.This is La Belle Iloise and we love to go to the stores at Place du Poids Public and Place des Lices in Vannes,as well as the original in Quiberon. The first store in Vannes, opened on Place Lucien-Laroche in 2000. It was small only 36 m2 (about 387 sq ft) , and they were aware this will outgrow soon as it did. Freeing up a commercial space on the ground floor of the Hôtel Minier (formerly Francheville see post) is an opportunity that they seized. Until February 2014, before the launch of the renovation of the building, this location had been occupied since 2000 by the Marionnaud perfumery, which moved to rue Saint-Vincent. This new store has 75 m2 (about 807 sq ft).
The official La Belle Iloise store on Vannes : https://www.labelleiloise.fr/fr/nos-boutiques/vannes-place-poids-public?id_shop_type=1
The building where the store is located is historical (Hôtel Minier) and was built during the period of extension of the city following the arrival of the Parliament of Brittany in 1675. It is estimated that the building was built on an older building of which we find , in the lower part, certain elements: ogival bay, 15C fireplace, etc. It is built on land on the edge of the rocky hillside corresponding to the old town, just on the edge of the marsh area reclaimed from the old port land. The rocky hillside drops steeply to the level of the staircase. Surveys have allowed to verify this,according to architects. The foundations on soft ground have undergone settling over the years, resulting in the disorders that can currently be read on the facades. You have floor archeological sediments kept for history sake inside the La Belle Iloise store !!
The Place du Poids Public ou roi is irregular in shape, it was, in the Middle Ages, only built on its western and northern sides, the southern and eastern sides being occupied by the Lices mill and its weir. Some of its half-timbered houses have been preserved, the others having been rebuilt in the 17C and 18C and at the end of the 19C. The Hôtel de Francheville, built in the 17C,(see post) strongly marks the transition between this square and that of Les Lices with its corner watchtower on a squinch.
The City of Vannes on the place du poids public : https://www.mairie-vannes.fr/place-du-poids-public
The Place des Lices is of medieval origin. It is linked to the extension of the enclosure which took place at the end of the 14C when Vannes became the place where ducal power was exercised and the favorite place of residence of Dukes Jean IV and Jean V. Located north of this extension adjoins to the east the outbuildings of the ducal mansion (the Chancellery, the Chamber of Accounts and the Mint workshop) which take place in the lower courtyard of the Château de l’Hermine (see post). The square takes its name from the many tournaments that took place there in the Middle Ages.
The City of Vannes on the place des lices : https://www.mairie-vannes.fr/place-des-lices
The Rue Saint Vincent was created on land returned to the inhabitants of Vannes by the Duke of Vendôme in 1610. The first buildings were built at the end of the 16C, but most of the hotels were built in the 2nd half of the 17C for or by parliamentarians during the exile of the Parliament in Vannes between 1675 and January 1690. The opening of the Porte Saint-Vincent gate (see post) in 1624 allows an outlet from the street to the port. A major breakthrough in the intra-muros, Rue Saint-Vincent can be considered the first attempt at urban development in the city, the first real link between the city and its port, via the very demonstrative Porte Saint-Vincent.
The City of Vannes on the Rue Saint Vincent: https://www.mairie-vannes.fr/rue-saint-vincent
There you go folks, a dandy of a city that needs to be visited more by all. We love it and you can always found us there Wednesdays for the market and on the weekends. Again, hope you enjoy the post on my Vannes revisited as I
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 
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