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Chateaubriant
Situated in the heart of the defensive marches, Chateaubriant defended one of Brittany’s frontiers from the French. The fortress, of which only the ramparts remain, still surrounds the old town. The light that plays on these walls is extremely beautiful, and there is a flower garden at the base. The old town is a nest of beautiful medieval houses, which is mainly a shopping area which nonetheless retains its old-world charm.
The horticultural market has been organised every Wednesday since 1049, and the language is quite incomprehensible, as if it hasn’t changed since then. It’s hard to understand who is buying what, and for how much!
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The countryside around Chateaubriant is farming country, with rolling valleys and little woods and forests, ideal walking country in fact. You may come across strange rusted metallic structures as you walk, they are iron mineral extractors which the grandchildren of miners keep running, in their memory.
South of Chateaubriant is a place where you can forget about the rest of the world, the Melleray Abbey. The peace and tranquillity which penetrate here are extraordinary, like the mist which covers the little lake alongside it at dawn. The middle-age buildings are of a rare and beautiful simplicity. The brothers still welcome visitors who may wish to take a quiet walk round the gardens. It’s very therapeutic
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