Grand site naturel de Ploumanac'h → Forêt de Paimpont

01 Viewpoint

Grand site naturel de Ploumanac'h

02 Village

Île-de-Bréhat

A ten-minute crossing from L'Arcouest is all it takes to reach Bréhat, the first natural site in France to be protected, in 1907. Cross the causeway bridge that since the 18th century has linked the North Island, covered in heath, to the more flowery South Island. On the beach of Le Guerzido, the pink sand curves between granite rocks.

03 Coast

Anse des Sévignés

04 Island

Mont Saint-Michel

You can see the abbey rising from afar, set on a granite islet 92 metres high in the middle of a vast sandy plain. Here the tides reach a range of nearly thirteen metres, and the sea draws back some ten kilometres before rushing in again. Around 708, Saint Aubert built an oratory here, whose remains survive beneath the terrace of the abbey church.

05 Forest

Paimpont forest

Forêt de Paimpont

Often identified with the Brocéliande of the Arthurian romances, this forest mixes oak, beech and holly with heather moorland. Its ponds, such as the Étang des Forges, served an ironworking industry that long devoured its wood. You may go in search of the Barenton spring or the Val sans Retour, along paths that pass from sandstone to red schist.