The Wild Coast (Côte Sauvage)

Wild Coast Tour:

The jetty of the Tréhic: Built between 1840 and 1844 under the direction of the engineer Maillard de la Gournerie, this long granite ribbon of 858 meters effectively protects the entrance to the port. A lighthouse is placed at its end in 1872. The ideal place for a good breath of sea air.
Saint Goustan Chapel: Located on a private property, the Saint-Goustan chapel is one of the oldest occupied places on the peninsula. The current chapel dates back only to the end of the 19th century, but in the 11th century the original chapel witnessed the miracle associated with the stranding of the monk Goustan on the coasts and especially the trace of his body left on the rock where he was rested. Classified as a Historic Monument in 1840, this reconstructed chapel still retains the rock.
The old Viviers de Saint-Goustan: Oyster farmer, Mr. Maillard de la Morandais buys part of the dunes of Saint-Goustan, the old chapel and develops here an activity of raising oysters whose most interesting testimony remains the fish ponds created in front of the beach. The abandoned structures evoke some ancient vestiges. Promoter of the manor of Saint-Goustan, M. De la Morandais will ruin himself with this project too ambitious.
Sea water intakes: On the Saint-Goustan beach or near the Rue des Becs Salés, two stone-built structures call on the walker on the beach. These structures correspond to the visiting wells of the sea intakes that were used to supply the salt marshes of Saint-Goustan (the current marine farm). To compensate for the silting up of the beach, due to the construction of the Tréhic pier, a second seawater intake was built further west in the mid-19th century. The oldest still works since the fifteenth century.
The coastal battery of Port la Paille: Along the coast of the coast, coastal batteries were installed, especially in the 19th century, to monitor navigation and protect the peninsula. At Port la Paille or Port Val, a summary battery consisting of a sand bar and a few small guns protected the north of the commune. Disused at the end of the 19th century, this battery was replaced a few decades later by rare houses located between road and sea.
The orientation table: This orientation table informing about coastal birds has for its base a former support of machine gun, vestiges of the coastal defenses set up all along the littoral during the Second World War. The most significant vestiges remain some blockhouses still visible a little further on the coast.
Croisic Point Fort: Moving forward in the sea, Croisic Point has always played a strategic role that justifies the presence of a military site. The modest defenses of yesteryear were replaced in the nineteenth century by a standardized strong square which soon became a pleasure villa when the English were more peaceful with France. Today it is a hotel-restaurant.
The rock of the Sleeper: Another curiosity of the rocks of the littoral where some saw the profile of a sleeping character, frozen in granite in Breton soil.
The Bear Rock: In the first half of the 20th century, the various rocks on the south coast are named after several tourist names, linked to the forms taken by these reefs. The most famous of them is the Bear Rock where each one can, more or less, see the profile of this endearing animal.
The rocks of the Aiguille: The shape of these rocks, due to marine erosion, makes them call "Les Aiguilles". They are located in one of the steepest areas of the wild coast. Caution.
La Vigie de la Romaine: This former guardhouse was built in the 18th century, on the highest point of the coastline, to monitor the coasts. The ruined building was then renovated and re-established in the 1930s by a somewhat original architect who turned it into a modern lookout, which has no name but Romaine. The current building is a reconstruction of the post-war period, the one of the 1930s being razed during the conflict.
The great altar: Another significant rock, the great altar has a large flat surface that made think of the lovers of Celtic fantasies that this mighty rock could have served as an altar for ancestral ceremonies. It was mainly the marine erosion which gave the rock this atypical form.
The Long Stone Menhir: This Neolithic megalith was initially located on the height behind the existing buildings and was a bitter (landmark) for navigation. Shot down during the Second World War and surrounded by a blockhouse, the monument was relocated and highlighted in the 1960s along the coast.
Houlometry: These still apparent superstructures testify to the attempt made by German researchers to manufacture energy with the force of the sea engulfing in the bay of Nicouse. This project was quickly aborted when the War of 1870 was declared.
The mill of Bauvran: Few ancient windmills remain in the territory of Croisic. The owner of the park of Penn Avel saved the one said of Bauvran by buying the stones and moving up the whole on the littoral a few cables of its original site. The mill now without wings became a belvedere of pleasure.
The cross "To my daughter": This cross commemorates the drowning of a young girl in the bay of Jumel in August 1845. Initially placed on the other side of the road, the small monument takes place by the sea in 1895 thanks to the initiative of the owner of the park of Penn Avel, M. Levesque.
Penn Avel Park: This vast 9ha park is an old resort property, created in the second half of the 19th century by the Levesque family. Abundant plantations of oaks and Mediterranean species have transformed this arid moorland into an original woodland where the clearings meet the shaded alleys. Purchased by the Conservatoire du Littoral, the park is open to the public all year round. For some years now, the buildings have been hosting a research laboratory at École Centrale de Nantes on wave energy (houlometry).
Pen Castel Manor: This former fortified military site was decommissioned in the 19th century and integrated into a resort property that gives birth to a manor altier. Henri Becquerel, relative of the owners, died there in 1908 during a stay. The manor marks the limit of Croisic with Batz-sur-Mer.

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The Wild Coast (Côte Sauvage)

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The Wild Coast (Côte Sauvage)

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Tourism, holidays & weekends guide in the Loire-Atlantique

Additional informationThe Wild Coast (Côte Sauvage)

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The Wild Coast (Côte Sauvage)

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The Wild Coast (Côte Sauvage)