Page 85 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Brittany

ILLE-E T-VILAINE  83

a Cancale
Île des Landes Bird Sanctuary
Road map E1. * 5,350. g n 44
Rue du Port; (02) 99 89 63 72. _ Fêtes Declared a bird sanctuary in 1961, the Île des Landes is separated
des Reposoirs (15 Aug); Les Bordées from the Pointe du Grouin by a narrow channel, the Chenal de la
de Cancale: music festival with a Vieille Rivière. The island attracts the largest colony of cormorants in
maritime theme (1st weekend Oct). Brittany. Other species include the crested cormorant, various species
( Sun. ∑ cancale-tourisme.fr of gull, and pied oystercatchers as well as the Belon sheldrake, the
only sea duck native to Brittany. From
This centre of oyster-farming August through to October, puffins,
has kept its distinctive identity. gannets and other sea birds flock here.
The island is inaccessible to the general
The flat oysters (belons) that are public, but visitors can observe the
farmed here today are famed birds with binoculars from the Pointe
for their large size. Along du Grouin, or join one of the interesting
the harbour at La Houle, nature walks on the Pointe organized Pied oystercatchers on the Île
fishermen’s houses have been by Bretagne Vivante (Living Brittany). des Landes
converted into restaurants,
cafés and shops.
When the cod-fishing g La Cancalaise protection. Soil erosion, the
industry collapsed in the 19th Boat trips. Tel (02) 99 89 77 87. degradation of the chalky
century, Cancale’s fishermen Open Apr–Oct: call for times. & grassland and damage to
turned to oyster-farming, using ∑ lacancalaise.org protected species of plants
their boats – the bisquines – to by walkers have led the local
harvest the oysters in the bay. council to lay out official paths
Visitors can take a trip out to sea and close off areas in order to
in one of them, La Cancalaise. allow grasses and wildflowers
The Musée des Arts et to recover. This plan of action
Traditions Populaires de has borne fruit, although the
Cancale et sa région, laid out area is still vulnerable.
in a deconsecrated church, the During World War II, German
18th-century Église St-Méen, forces built blockhausen
describes the history of oyster- (blockhouses, or fortified
farming. It also looks at the gun positions) here to defend
lives of the seamen who once the strategically important
sailed to Newfoundland to fish headland. Most have survived
Île des
Rimains for cod and those of their intact, and one has been
wives, whose legendary converted into a visitor centre.
outspokenness goes back to Pointe du Grouin, halfway along the Sentier The greater horseshoe bat,
the time when they would des Douaniers one of the most endangered
Le Chatellier hawk fish on the quayside. animals in France, nests in
Port-Mer, Cancale’s residential s Pointe du Grouin the abandoned blockhouses.
quarter, has an excellent sailing Road map E1. n (02) 99 89 63 72 The lighthouse west of the
school. The terraces above the (Cancale); (02) 98 49 07 18 (Bretagne promontory, built in 1861 and
beach are an inviting place to Vivante). modernized in 1972, was
stop and rest before walking decommissioned in 1999.
around the Pointe du Grouin on The longest promontory
the coast path, the Sentier in the Ille-et-Vilaine, Pointe Environs
des Douaniers. du Grouin is covered with The Chapelle du Verger, which
heath and coastal grassland has been rebuilt on several
E Musée des Arts et Traditions that are typical of Brittany’s occasions, nestles in an inlet
Populaires de Cancale et rocky coast. known as the Cul-du-Chien
sa région Having suffered degradation (Dog’s Bottom Cove). The
Place St-Méen. Tel (02) 99 89 79 32. caused by excessive numbers belfry, at the foot of which
Open mid-Jun–Sep daily. & of visitors, the area, which many votive offerings have
covers 21 ha (52 acres), is been laid, overlooks Cancale’s
now under environmental largest sandy beach.

Flat-bottomed boats are used to harvest the oysters in the bay at Cancale
For hotels and restaurants see pp224–5 and pp234–5

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