Hey guys :)
Haven't checked in for a few days but here I am again ;) And again with a post about France (This post series will continue for a while, the next posts will be about places in Brittany too.
Today it's about Auray, and on the way there we also made a little detour to Carnac. But first to Auray: Aurey is actually also a part of Brittany, we have arrived in my favorite region of France ;)
The pictures alone look great as I think. I am thinking of summer lol (even if the trip to the Breatgne was already long ago unfortunately).

The two shores - different architecture tells different stories

What I especially liked about the city is that not only are there great old sights here, but the houses are almost all very very old: Auray
is located on the river Loc'h and thus belongs to the southern part of the Breatgne.
To the left of the river is the "upper town", so to speak. It is still very much influenced by the style of the Middle Ages. On the right bank is an old harbor district, St. Goustan, here are houses from the 15th century.

And Auray does not only look like it is very rich in history, in fact it is: there are even two simple "major events" with which Auray is associated: Once the Breton War of Succession ended here, and in 1795 the last royalist Chouans were executed here in the course of the French Revolution.

What you should definitely see when you are in Auray is the weekly market. This always takes place on Mondays in the upper town. A little tip: If you arrive by car like us and want to visit the market, you may not find any more space in the center of Auray. In that case you can use the parking lot at the Gendarmerie on Rue de la Forêt. Just walk towards the center, in Auray you can hardly get lost because of the different heights ;)

A town hall with a prominent clock tower

And these are the most famous (and I think also the most interesting) sights in Auray: There is the triangular Place de la République in the upper town. You can see it on this picture here (admittedly, a little bit). But I took a good picture of the city hall;)

What immediately catches the eye at the city hall: Sure, the motto of today's French Republic. But not only that: The city hall has a striking high clock tower. The clock tower is accompanied by a carillon. The town hall also stands out because of its architecture and light color, which stands out very much from the rest of the rather "old-looking" marketplace (which is teeming with restored half-timbered houses) - and that, although the town hall was also "only" completed in 1882.
Behind the town hall are market halls where you can taste good food.

And of course, what must not be missing: The port district St. Goustan (which you can recognize on almost every picture I took ;).

In the harbor district of St. Goustan, you will find old alleys, some of them very steep and sometimes interrupted with stairs (exactly my taste). It can be quite exhausting due to the whole location of Auray and the steep slopes to get to the Zentrm but it's not that far and you have a great view down.
Here you can see how the streets or rather alleys in Auray look like:

Here you can see at the picture below (which unfortunately has become a bit dark) the spires of the church of St. Goustan and the chapel of St. Saveur.

I hope you liked Auray and I could possibly inspire you for a trip there if you are already in Brittany for example :)

A stopover in Carnac that was defitnively worth it - the stone fields of Carnac

Because we came by car, after visiting Auray, we also made a detour to Carnac. The drive from Auray to Carnac took about 20 minutes, you can get there really fast and I can recommend Caranc to you (it is probably even better known than Auray).

Of course we visited the stone fields of Carnac (Alignements de Carnac). More history can hardly be found in one place - the stone fields are in their own way the largest megalithic sites in the world. As you can see on the photos, they are large upright stones, also called menhirs. They were erected around 4500 B.C. About 2800 of them are still standing in several groups on the fields. And this on a huge area of unbelievable 40 hectares. The stones are now fenced and can be entered from April to September only in the context of guided tours. This is probably due to their historical relevance and also their value (although I imagine it would be difficult to carry them away ;)). It also serves to keep the stones as good as possible in their original state. During the rest of the winter and autumn months, access is free.

The stone rows of Ménec (Alignements de Ménec) have a total of 1099 stones. The stone rows are themselves divided into 11 rows. A little hint, if you want to see the largest stones directly: These are about four meters high and are located at the village Le Ménec in the west of the site.
What I found very interesting (but unfortunately I don't know what reason it may have): Towards the east the stones become smaller and smaller. Partly they are there no longer even a meter high. Maybe it has something to do with the winds?
Finally, on both sides of the site there are two stone circles (cromlechs), one heavily damaged, the other well preserved (Le Ménec)
If you are even more interested in the history behind the stones, don't be afraid to visit the visitor center in the village.
The Carnac Prehistoric Museum is also highly recommended!

What do you say ? Which city/site did you like the most in my post? Have you been there before and can you add something? I would be very happy about your feedback. See you next time!
[//]:# (!pinmapple 47.666032 lat -2.979120 long d3scr)