Again, in my beautiful Morbihan dept 56 of my lovely Bretagne in my belle France. The Morbihan rocks! I came back to this town just about 11,5 km from my house, down on the road D16. I went into the bay and saw new things, amazing always something new, see my posts, Now, let me bring you again to the small quant town with the curiosities of Locoal-Mendon !! Hope you enjoy it as I.
Locoal-Mendon is, on the banks of the Ria d’Etel,(see post), a town with a dual vocation, both rural and maritime. The landscapes reflect this duality and here we have the countryside by the sea. Farmers and oyster farmers have shaped the environment and given it its personality envied by many: a preserved agricultural bocage and around thirty kilometers of marine shores. in their original state, with their specific flora and fauna and small shellfish farming sites whose presence limits real estate pressure and preserves coastal sites.
A nice Mediathéque Le Courtil or library in the Place de l’Eglise or Church square of Locoal-Mendon shows pretty architecture decided to have me a picture of for my blog, By the way, I parked in front.
Also, across from the above same square you have a Calvary Christ on the Cross, It is lleaning against the remains of the parish church, semi-circular portal, 1st half of the 18C; circular pedestals, cast iron statues of the Virgin and Saint John; base in dressed stone apparatus, inscription: O Crux ave, spes unica , base with carved chalice on the facade, wooden cross, Christ in cast iron, The Latin inscription means “Hail, O Cross, our only hope”. The Christian greeting is frequently found inscribed on public crosses and calvaries.
The Anse de Locoal and the Anse de Goh Lenn are old cove transformed into a pond , the latter one and open bay the first one, An enchanting place whatever the weather. Wild and exotic playing with the tides. Populated by countless passing and sedentary birds. A beautiful tranquil nature environment for the whold family, picnic superbe if control the fire, a stone’s throw from the Ria d’Etel.(see post)
The Plage de Locoal is a small sandy beach where children swim, and has very calm coves a little away from the main path. At this location, many small dinghies and kayaks float on the water. And last but not least, and will order from them! The Les Huîtres de La Baie de Locoal oyster farm is located in the heart of the Ria d’Etel on the Locoal-Mendon peninsula, Pointe de Goulen,Bec Cognel. Traditional oyster farmers since 1992, Pierre-Fernand and Laurence Guyomard sell naturally caught oysters and shellfish all year round. Retail sales open Monday to Saturday, 9h to 17h non-stop. Their webpage : https://leshuitresdelabaiedelocoal-pierre-fernand-guyomard.eatbu.com/?lang=en
A bit more on the history and anecdotes of this town only 12 km (about 7 mi) from my house!
It was in 1804 that Napoleon Bonaparte decided to abolish the village of Locoal , and effective in 1806, attached to that of Mendon. He would have taken this decision to punish Locoal for having hidden and supported Georges Cadoudal and the Chouans, by trying to forget the name of Locoal by merging this village with that of Mendon. But he had not taken into account an essential element in the case of a grouping of towns: the alphabetical order prevails and the merged town was therefore called Locoal-Mendon. Forcefully merged, the two localities ignored each other for a long time: the inhabitants of Mendon, mostly favorable to the Republic, frequented those of Landaul and Ploemel, those of Locoal, of royalist tradition, rubbed shoulders with those of Sainte-Hélène. It was not until after WWII that these frictions eased. The Restoration (monarchy back 1814-15) rewarded its loyal supporters, in particular by granting pensions or assistance to former soldiers of the Royal Army of the West, among whom were men from Locoal-Mendon ,such as Jean-Marie Cougoulat, a chouan in the Cadoudal division that the Duchess of Angoulême, daughter of Louis XVI in 1823, and the Duchess of Berry, mother of the Count of Chambord came to visit in 1828. The tradition of insubordination to the authorities continues, as illustrated during the July Monarchy (1830-48) by the attack on two mounted gendarmes who were leading a refractory priest (refused the constitution as his is of God) from Locoal-Mendon to Vannes on July 1, 1837 by around twenty armed individuals.
In 1796, Georges Cadoudal (general of the Catholic and Royal Army of Morbihan) had a cache near Pointe de La Forêt on the Île du Bonheur or good fortune island and carry on to the Île de Locoal. On an embankment, large cut stones mark the entrance. Inside, there remains a small space in which we can imagine carpet chuans preparing an ambush. We also understand how this cache was undetectable and the marshes, peninsulas and islands made it easy to escape if necessary. It was the command post of his headquarters. Georges Cadoudal’s “cache” is accessible by the Chemin de Cadoudal, trail well posted.
On August 5, 1944, 10 gliders from England landed in Locoal-Mendon. They transported 10 jeeps and 30 French paratroopers from the Special Air Service, it was the motorized element of Commander Pierre Bourgoin’s 2nd parachutist regiment. These jeeps participated in the liberation of Morbihan. An English glider pilot was killed on landing,
The town of Locoal-Mendon on its heritage: https://www.locoal-mendon.fr/mairie-locoal-mendon-56/cadre-de-vie/decouvrir-1.php
The local Bay of Quiberon tourist office on Locoal-Mendon : https://www.baiedequiberon.co.uk/locoal-mendon
There you go folks, this is one of those town, you see the real France. Locoal-Mendon is not a tourist town but has wonderful nature trails and great oysters that should be worth a detour , me think. It is historical for sure locally and has nice architecture which I like. Again, hope you enjoy the post on the curiosities of Locoal-Mendon as I.
And, remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 
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