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After the marvellous Belle-Ile adventure, let's go ashore again and continue to TREGUIER what can be considered as the largest town of the "Granit Rose" coast and a splendid one. Maybe one of the most beautiful of Bretagne, but also very bourgeois, conservative and clerical. Its cathedral is one of the finest in Brittany and its half-timbered houses are brightly painted.. Take a bridge over a wide, deep estuary, called "ria" in the North of Brittany and "aber " in the south. The cathedral of Treguier, ST.TUGDUAL, one of the most remarkable of Brittany religious architecture, houses the tomb of Saint-Yves, the patron of the …..lawyers! Yes, sir!! They have an It's a remarkable view, each years, to see this phenomenon of crawling counsellors, to ask forgiveness (a pardon) to the saint. Forgiveness for what? You may guess:-). Let's just have a brief resume of his life.
Saint-Yves lived in the 13th century as a lawyer and priest in the bishopric of Rennes, and was known for his honesty. He defended the poor and outcasts and died around 1303. He was canonised in 1347.
The "pardon " I mentioned is attended by lawyers coming from all over the world. They go to MINIHY-TREGUIER. There, a vaulted chapel was built in 1418 and the Calvary of the cemetery is a remarkable monument erected to Saint-Yves. It's there that you can see the lawyers crawling to the Calvary. The cathedral of Saint-Tugdual has a remarkable interior and is worth the visit. First impression you can get is like being in the cathedral of Chartres. The eye catches immediately the top of the ceiling, a 40-meter high arched roof. Despite grotesque sculpted figures, the arches show an almost perfect harmony. A copy of the mausoleum dedicated to Saint-Yves (original destroyed in the 15th century), stands in the middle of the central nave. A clumsy and overloaded construction. Everything cannot be perfect!
The French pholiosopher ERNEST RENAN lived here in a picturesque house until he was 15 years old, son of an "épicière" and a father who was a captain , long times away from home.Treguier is a little brisk town, with remains of medieval fortifications including two fine towers by the port. Treguier is also the birthplace of a world known philosopher Ernest Renan, of which you can see a statue on the place du Martray.
You don't have to be a lawyer to be pleased in Treguier, this pretty little town on the Jaudy river. It's quite a steep climb from the harbour to the market place but the splendid ateliers and old porches on your way will ease the fatigue easily.
LANNION, 16 km west of Treguier, lies inland from the sea at the end of along estuary of the river Leguer. Considered as the second town of the Cotes-d'Armor, it's a large town by local standards (15,000), and certainly worth visiting for the many fine houses in the centre, especially around the Place General Leclerc (dating 15-16th). Today's wealth of Lannion lies in its know how of plants of high tech industries. This big centre the third largest research in the West and employees 3,000 searchers and engineers.
Place to visit are the Church of Brelevenez, built by the Knights Templar in the 12th century. You can reach it by a leg-testing flight of 142 granite steps, passing beautiful flowered houses and at the top you rewarded by a magnificent panorama over town.
The Place du General Leclerc is the old centre, modern and old houses next to each other. The rue Saint-Malon, descending to the river is also very picturesque.
Next article we return to the coastline with PERROS-GUIREC.

Bibliography

La Bretagne face á l'Europe et á l'Ile-de-France , by Pierre-Yves Le Rhun, Pecheur d'Islande by Pierre Loti-Bretagne et pays celtiques, langues, histoire, civilisation by Morwenna Jenkin-The Bretons, by P. Galliou and N. Jones (1991)-The pardon of St Yves at Treguier by Rowse (1969)-La Providence de Dieu sur les Iustes, en l`histoire admirable de Saint Budoc Archevesque de Dol, et de la Princesse Azenor de Leon sa Mere, Comtesse de Treguier et de Goëlo Paris by Jean Durand.

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