Description
Les Grandes îsles is a walk in the heart of the Parc de Brière, covering the communes of Saint-Joachim and Saint-Malo-de-Guersac. In these communes, each island is a village and each village is organised in a concentric, typical way, almost unchanged for generations.
On this 10-kilometre urban walk, you’ll journey into the heart of the Briéron world. Depending on the season, you’ll discover an ever-changing landscape, with open sections offering views of meadows one moment and vast stretches of water the next. Elsewhere, you’ll discover, here and there, each part of the islands with their specific functions: the canal that circles the island and connects the dwellings to the marsh. The ‘levée’, which is home to vegetable gardens and (in the past) peat stores. It is divided into plots, each corresponding to a thatched cottage or dwelling. These line either side of a road that circles the island. In the centre, the ‘gagnerie’ is dedicated to the mill and to agriculture. The island of Fédrun is the epitome of these distinctive features.
