South to the Loire
France > Brittany > Southern > South to the Loire
When you cross the Vilaine on the way south, you're not only leaving the Morbihandépartement but also technically leaving Brittany itself. The roads veer firmly east and west – to Nantes or La Baule, avoiding the marshes of the Grande-Brière. For centuries these 20,000 acres of peat bog have been deemed to be the common property of all who lived in them. The scattered population, the Brièrois, still make their living by fishing for eels in the streams, gathering reeds and – on the nine days permitted each year – cutting the peat. Tourism has arrived only recently, and is resented. The touted attraction is renting a punt to get yourself lost for a few hours with your pole tangled in the rushes.
Pages in section ‘South to the Loire’: Guérande, La Baule, Le Croisic, St-Nazaire.
|
