And back on my local road warrior mode, this time going south to old Brittany in the Loire Atlantique dept 44 of the new Pays de la Loire region. A wonderful coastal trip of my belle France just south of me with plenty of architecture, history, and beaches, Let me tell you about the Pointe de Saint Gildas and the lighthouse of Préfailles !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.
The town of Préfailles is part of historic Brittany, in the traditional country of the country of Retz and in the historic Nantes country. The town is located on the southern part of the Jade coast, 25 km from Saint-Nazaire ,55 km from Nantes, and 144 km from my house. The Pays de Retz or country of Retz extends to the department of Loire-Atlantique 44. It is one of the traditional countries of Brittany of the Ancien Régime (monarchy), erected as barony then as a duchy. The country of Retz was the stronghold of the different families of the lords of Retz, most of whom were not Breton, and who have followed families since the 11C, The Pays de Retz was one of the main fiefs of Gilles Retz, companion in arms of Jeanne d’Arc and Maréchal de France. It was also the stronghold of the Gondi family, of Italian origin, located in France under the regency of Catherine de Médicis in the 16C, and for whom it became duchy. It was still one of the main places of deployment of the Vendée wars during the French revolution. The country of Retz is currently made up of 40 towns, therefore, Villeneuve-en-Retz, composed of the old town of Bourgneuf-en-Retz, itself encompassing the ancient village of Saint-Cyr-en-Retz, and the old town of Fresnay-en-Retz, Also, La Bernerie en Retz, Pornic and Préfailles,(see posts).
The Pointe Saint Gildas or tip owes its current name to Saint Gildas which would have landed there in the 6C. There is here a port housing fishing and pleasure boats; a municipal sailing school; a nautical base of motorcycle; A museum space sheltered in the old semaphore transformed into a lighthouse in the middle of the 20C, today automated; Hotels, campsites, and restaurants.
The Pointe Saint-Gildas lighthouse and its semaphore-museum , A semaphore was built at Pointe Saint-Gildas in 1861. In 1941, a first lighting was installed on a concrete pylon ,and the optics comes from Cape Gris-Nez lighthouse. In 1949, the navy put an end to the activities of the Sémaphore, In 1958, the semaphore was made available to the service of the headlights and beacons, the lighting was moved inside it, in the old standby room. Guarding accommodation is fitted out: the lighting will be kept from 1959 to 1986, the date of its automation. In 1993, the concrete structure overcoming the old semaphore was dismantled and replaced by a pylon bearing current beacon. The semaphore was entrusted by the navy to the town of Préfailles. Today, it is a museographic space managed by Pornic Agglo Pays de Retz where it is possible to discover the history of maritime communications, the life of the lighthouse guards, as well as the various shipwrecks that marked the Pointe Saint-Gildas . The presence of blockhouse also marks another era, that of WWII. At the reserve edge, there is a memorial relating to the sinking of the Lancastria (June 17, 1940). It was a cruise liner requisitioned to evacuate the English troops based in Saint-Nazaire. Bombed 4 times by Nazis aviation, only 2477 people out of the 6000 to 9000 present survived, 3 times more dead than the Titanic. This event was hidden at the time by Churchill himself so as not to undermine the morale of the troops.
A bit of history I like tell us that Préfailles is one of the oldest seaside resorts on the Atlantic coast. Integrated with the plain, of which it constituted a town, it was proclaimed in 1908 with the territories of the towns of the Plaine sur Mer and Préfailles form the peninsula of Saint-Gildas which separates the estuary of the Loire from the Bay of Bourgneuf . At its end, Pointe Saint-Gildas, a tourist high place (the second most visited site in Loire-Atlantique), wild and preserved coast, offers an exceptional view of the ocean. The lands that make up the current territory of prefails were once one of the ancient fiefs of La Guerche and Theillac. In the 6C, Saint-Gildas would have landed at the tip which now bears his name to evangelize the pagans. Under the old-regime (monarchy) , Préfailles, and the Plaine sur Mer, its parish, which was a bishopric of Nantes was one of the fiefs of Théhillac and La Guerche. Charette (hero of the war of the west vs the French revolution) , made the Plaine sur Mer one of its bases of operations against Nantes and the “Blues”. These having prevailed, the plain and its hamlets suffered the consequences of this situation.
Natural Reserves of France on the Pointe Saint Gildas : https://www.reserves-naturelles.org/pointe-saint-gildas
The Pornic tourist office on the regional nature reserve of Préfailles : https://en.pornic.com/regional-nature-reserve.html
The town of Préfailles on its history : https://www.prefailles.fr/histoire/
There you go folks, a short but pleasant trip to the beautiful old Bretagne, that is Loire Atlantique dept 44. The sea at its best, nice monuments, and pleasant road warrior driving were all that was needed, we have been back !!!! Again, hope you enjoy the post on the Pointe de Saint Gildas and the lighthouse of Préfailles !!! as I.
And remember happy travels, good health,and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 