Touring Guerande: Visiting
Brittany, France's Sea Salt Town with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget
Laurent
and I set out for the July 14th holiday (Bastille Day) weekend to
spend time with his parents in Brittany in Western France.
I
strapped Florence in her car seat, and we set out for Brittany. I planned to spend my time writing and
touring Brittany with my mother-in-law.
The
first town we visited was the Breton town of Guérande. This town has a wall around it and sits on
top of a hill. It is surrounded by salt
drying beds.
Salt
was and remains important to the area.
In the Middle Ages, Guérande had a monopoly on salt, which was traded
for agricultural products from other regions.
Salt marshes in the South of France diminished Guérande’s control over
salt prices.
Today
canals bring salt water into a series of square reservoirs. Each reservoir is shallower than the last one
and allows workers to scrape off salt at the end. Dry, hot weather creates the best production
results.
I
gleaned this wonderful information from my Michelin “green guide” for Brittany
as I stood outside the church called the Collégiale St. Aubin (St. Albin’s in
English).
St.
Aubin was built in the 12th and 13th centuries. The austere architecture is Romanesque and
the more flamboyant decoration is Gothic.
I enjoyed visiting the church’s interior, because there was a rehearsal
for an organ and trumpet concert going on.
My
Michelin “green guide” said the Romanesque columns inside the church were
decorated with scenes of torture, but they were so badly damaged that they
failed to conjure any fright in me.
The
columns are the only items that remained from the original church after it was
destroyed by Louis d’Espagne in 1342.
The
church decorations are definitely Gothic with three-petal flowers covering the
interior and exterior alike. The stained
glass windows are recent. Wars, ancient
and modern, probably explain the absence of older glass windows.
The
baptismal font seemed to be the oldest part of the church. I guessed it must be the oldest part of any
French church.
You
have to keep the initiates coming in, if you are financing something over a
century or two.
By
Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Click here for: Ruth Paget's Amazon Books
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