Eleanor
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This trip report covers a week we spent in Plumelec in Southern Brittany in September 2011. It was originally written for Slow Travel and Pauline has asked me to enter it on Slow Europe.
This is week two of the trip. Week 1 covering southern Finistere (Guengat) is here. week 3 covering northern Finistere (St Thegonnec) is here.
There is general information about Brittany here.
Plumelec and the surrounding area
Plumelec is a thriving small town with the C19th church at its centre. It has two bakers, two butchers and a small supermarket. Although it doesn’t feature in the guide books and there is little information on the web, we found it was an excellent base for exploring Morbihan.
The Church of Sacré-Cœur is a large grey stone building with typical Neo-Gothic style church.
Inside it is a very simple and rather dour building, with rather a nice pulpit.
As well as the recognised tourist attractions of Josselin nearby we found there were many places within a few minutes drive of Plumelec which repaid stopping to visit.
CALLAC is signed off the Plumelec to Tredion road. I had seen a grotto marked on the Michelin map and was intrigued. There is no mention of it in the guide books or on the web. We dropped down through the tree lined road into the valley bottom to find a huge car park set among the trees. A large cliff face had been turned into a grotto in 1947 by the parish priest as a money making venture to attract pilgrims. He added three crosses on top of the hill and restored the ruined chapel of St Joseph, where he is now buried.
The grotto is across the road from the car park. There is a statue of the Virgin Mary, similar to that at Lourdes, which is surrounded by Christmas fairy lights. There is a small altar below with flowers and lit candles (available at the desk to the right). There were a lot of stone plates attached to the walls saying ‘Merci’. A steep footpath leads to the three crosses on top of the hill with the 14 stations of the cross.
St Joseph’s Chapel is a lovely old stone building set on top of the hill, surrounded by trees and at the edge of fields. Don’t worry, you don’t have to walk there as the road runs past it. It has been beautifully restored. It is a very simple building still with old stone altar. The crosses can be seen from the chapel and there is access to them.
Below the grotto on the road to the village, a few stone houses clustered round the church, is a C16th fountain surrounded by a carved stone wall. Water trickles into a small bowl and then into a rectangular basin below.
It was certainly different. We are glad we went out of our way to find this.
Between Tredion and Elven to the south of Plumelec, DOLMEN DE LOGE DE LOUP is signed off the road. There is a small parking area off the road and it is a 5 minute walk along a track through the forest. An encouraging sign part way along the track says dolmen 80m. It’s probably double that. The earth covering has been lost so it is easy to see the structure of the stones. It is unusual as it is a gallery grave made up of two rows of supports on each side which lean against each other and support the capstone. It repaid the 30 minutes we took to visit.
ELVEN is a workaday small town with a good range of shops and quite a bit of new development.
The church was rebuilt in 1879, although the C16th chancel survives. It is massive. It is very plain inside with bare stone walls, no side altars or pulpit and few statues of saints.
The modern stained glass windows had abstract designs rather than pictures. There were different colours for different windows in themes of blue, red etc.
A new electric clock was installed in 1970. The clock mechanism of the 1925 clock has been beautifully restored and is now in a display case in the church.
FORTRESSE OF LARGOËT is just beyond Elven and is reached down a side turn off the main road to Vannes. There is parking by the gatehouse. This is a splendid structure with carvings of rabbits on the roof. Each is different and all have character. There is no entry to the gatehouse.
The castle ruins are 10-15 minutes walk along a forest track. We hadn’t realised this dropped gently until we started to walk back. There are tracks off but these are private.
Rounding a bend, the fortress comes into view, with the remains of the gateway, massive donjon tower and smaller tower with a pointed roof and lake beyond.
It is a pretty setting among the trees and surrounded by grass. The fortress was constructed in stages from the C13th. It is surrounded by a dry moat. A wooden bridge replaces the drawbridge. Above the doorway is the family crest of the Rieux family.
The fortress is surrounded by a curtain wall and bumps in the soil show there were several buildings inside. The donjon tower is a massive hexagonal structure. It is now a roofless shell. There are the remains of the guard rooms on either side of the doorway. There are dire warnings about using the spiral staircase.
The smaller tower was restored early in the C20th and according to the leaflet given to us ‘once inside four floors can be reached by a spiral staircase which ends with a rampart walk ‘. The tower was locked and judging by the cobwebs had been locked a long time.
It is a romantic ruin and pleasant place to drop out, however, we did not feel it was worth the €5 entry or the walk.
This is week two of the trip. Week 1 covering southern Finistere (Guengat) is here. week 3 covering northern Finistere (St Thegonnec) is here.
There is general information about Brittany here.
Plumelec and the surrounding area
Plumelec is a thriving small town with the C19th church at its centre. It has two bakers, two butchers and a small supermarket. Although it doesn’t feature in the guide books and there is little information on the web, we found it was an excellent base for exploring Morbihan.
The Church of Sacré-Cœur is a large grey stone building with typical Neo-Gothic style church.
Inside it is a very simple and rather dour building, with rather a nice pulpit.
As well as the recognised tourist attractions of Josselin nearby we found there were many places within a few minutes drive of Plumelec which repaid stopping to visit.
CALLAC is signed off the Plumelec to Tredion road. I had seen a grotto marked on the Michelin map and was intrigued. There is no mention of it in the guide books or on the web. We dropped down through the tree lined road into the valley bottom to find a huge car park set among the trees. A large cliff face had been turned into a grotto in 1947 by the parish priest as a money making venture to attract pilgrims. He added three crosses on top of the hill and restored the ruined chapel of St Joseph, where he is now buried.
The grotto is across the road from the car park. There is a statue of the Virgin Mary, similar to that at Lourdes, which is surrounded by Christmas fairy lights. There is a small altar below with flowers and lit candles (available at the desk to the right). There were a lot of stone plates attached to the walls saying ‘Merci’. A steep footpath leads to the three crosses on top of the hill with the 14 stations of the cross.
St Joseph’s Chapel is a lovely old stone building set on top of the hill, surrounded by trees and at the edge of fields. Don’t worry, you don’t have to walk there as the road runs past it. It has been beautifully restored. It is a very simple building still with old stone altar. The crosses can be seen from the chapel and there is access to them.
Below the grotto on the road to the village, a few stone houses clustered round the church, is a C16th fountain surrounded by a carved stone wall. Water trickles into a small bowl and then into a rectangular basin below.
It was certainly different. We are glad we went out of our way to find this.
Between Tredion and Elven to the south of Plumelec, DOLMEN DE LOGE DE LOUP is signed off the road. There is a small parking area off the road and it is a 5 minute walk along a track through the forest. An encouraging sign part way along the track says dolmen 80m. It’s probably double that. The earth covering has been lost so it is easy to see the structure of the stones. It is unusual as it is a gallery grave made up of two rows of supports on each side which lean against each other and support the capstone. It repaid the 30 minutes we took to visit.
ELVEN is a workaday small town with a good range of shops and quite a bit of new development.
The church was rebuilt in 1879, although the C16th chancel survives. It is massive. It is very plain inside with bare stone walls, no side altars or pulpit and few statues of saints.
The modern stained glass windows had abstract designs rather than pictures. There were different colours for different windows in themes of blue, red etc.
A new electric clock was installed in 1970. The clock mechanism of the 1925 clock has been beautifully restored and is now in a display case in the church.
FORTRESSE OF LARGOËT is just beyond Elven and is reached down a side turn off the main road to Vannes. There is parking by the gatehouse. This is a splendid structure with carvings of rabbits on the roof. Each is different and all have character. There is no entry to the gatehouse.
The castle ruins are 10-15 minutes walk along a forest track. We hadn’t realised this dropped gently until we started to walk back. There are tracks off but these are private.
Rounding a bend, the fortress comes into view, with the remains of the gateway, massive donjon tower and smaller tower with a pointed roof and lake beyond.
It is a pretty setting among the trees and surrounded by grass. The fortress was constructed in stages from the C13th. It is surrounded by a dry moat. A wooden bridge replaces the drawbridge. Above the doorway is the family crest of the Rieux family.
The fortress is surrounded by a curtain wall and bumps in the soil show there were several buildings inside. The donjon tower is a massive hexagonal structure. It is now a roofless shell. There are the remains of the guard rooms on either side of the doorway. There are dire warnings about using the spiral staircase.
The smaller tower was restored early in the C20th and according to the leaflet given to us ‘once inside four floors can be reached by a spiral staircase which ends with a rampart walk ‘. The tower was locked and judging by the cobwebs had been locked a long time.
It is a romantic ruin and pleasant place to drop out, however, we did not feel it was worth the €5 entry or the walk.
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