My journey in France...

The sights

The Roche-aux-Fées, June 10th 2000. This time, I went toward South. Some interesting sights Quelques points aroused my curiosity.

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A castle

First, I went towards Châteaugiron.

I hoped to find a castle, surrounded by multiple gardens, in the middle of an immense terrain.

Surprise: no gardens, nor an immense terrain. The castle is in the middle of the town. Guided tours are offered, but only on Sunday afternoons. Shall I come back one of those days...

Then, course set to Guerche-de-Bretagne. I took a country road in the hope to see a wind mill; but another surprise: no mill.

However, there is a village called Moulin (e.g. mill). It seems there are some XIIe relics. Shall I come back here also on of those days.

To go to the Roche-aux-Fées, one has to pass by the Marcillé-Robert town: there is a pond where rest the Seiche river (in French it sounds like the dry river...).

Finally I arrived at Essé, and going on my way, I arrived at the Roche-aux-Fées.

The Roche-aux-Fées

The Roche-aux-Fées is a place where were built megalithic monuments among the most important in France (and even in Europe).

The Roche-aux-Fées is a "gigantic dolmen" composed of enormous blocks, among which certain reach almost 40 tons. Like many other of those monuments, it appears that they were built for funeral and religious purposes.

It is formed of a funeral room that is accessed by a vestibule. The chamber, that makes 14m by 4m, is contains four compartments.

According to some specialists of the prehistory, this monument dates from somewhere between 4000 to 4500 years, at about the end of the néolithic period. During the course of this period, man learned to feed not only from fishing and hunting, but also from earth's fruits and seeds. This was acheived by sowing and cultivating , with the help of tools and domesticated animals.

This construction includes many sections: a portico, a lintel, a lowered vestibule, a long partitionned room.

The whole is coverred by imprerssive blocks held in equilibrium, with only three support points at some places. A true architectural plan guided this building, that was declared "technical human masterpiece". It is possible to find that kind of architecture in the vinicity of Angers and Saumur: "Dolmens Angevins à Portique".

Those blocks come from the Theil-de-Bretagne forest (about 5 km from the site). But many questions arise: How did such blocks get extracted? How were they brought here? And above all, how were they placed the way we see them today?

Difficult question to answer, even with the hypothesis of having used some kind of lever (e.g. trees), a human or animal towing mechanism, or by the mean of a natural or artificial mound (tumulus) as it is common to see some in Bretagne, in France and throughout the world.

This monument lets assume the existence, in the past milleniums, of a true civilization, like it happened elsewhere... in particular with the Egypt pyramids, about contempary with this "Roche-aux-Fées" monument.

More stones

The end of the day not being reached yet, I decided to go up North to St-Aubin-du-cormier. On the map was indicated some "stones".

Nothing to bother finally, except for the big Rotweller that did not seem to appreciate my presence through its masters.

There was some paths running around everywhere, but too chicken about the idea of crossing de croiser Molosse again, I cleared the place off without asking for my rest.

The coast is definitively more welcoming.

The pictures contained in the following web pages were realized by, and are the property of: Martin Lemieux (a.k.a. Maître Bart).
Any copy, in whole or in part, for commercial or lucrative usage must be previously approved by the author.