| Les monts d’Arrée |
| Portes de l’enfer (The gates of Hell) |
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Portes de l’enfer (The gates of Hell) - Descente aux enfers !
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Portes de l’enfer (The gates of Hell) - The lake
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the Regional Natural reserve of Armorique (which also includes the
Ponant islands and the Peninsula of Crozon), les Monts d'Arrée are the
highest area of Brittany. Although the highest peaks do not reach
impressive heights (384 meters for the Tuchenn Gador, le signal de
Toussaines), the reliefs are quite real and the panoramas are truly
magnificent. |
The
regions hardly shelters 40 inhabitants in the square kilometre, because
of a very rude climate. The winters are cold, windy and rainy, and it
is not rare that the peaks are even snow-covered. The summer, the area
becomes quickly a true furnace... In short, not a very welcoming area!
But the landscapes are original and often breathtaking: mounts sculpted
by erosion, rocky peaks, infinite moors, deep forests... Few places in
Brittany profit from so varied landscapes! It is undoubtedly |
the
hardness of the area which make of it one of the high places of the
Breton imaginary. Few places were that much frequented by the Devil!
The locals even say that the gates of Hell are in the peat-bogs of Yeun
Elez... Yeun Elez: Another place of legends! In the heart of the monts
d'Arrée, Yeun Elez is a peat-bogs zone, partly transformed into lake
for the needs of the power station of Brennilis. Per time of fog, the
place is magic and even distressing. It is undoubtedly for this reason
that the legends locate in the area the gates of Hell; often drowned in
the fog, the marsh was regarded as the beginning of the underground
world. The marsh is however not Hell, since it constitutes a paradise
for numerous birds (ducks, martins-fishermen, ashy curlew...) and...The
castors! Indeed, 10 beavers established in 1969 on the banks of Ellez
proliferated! Many paths permit to discover the site. |
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