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CatherineReichardt Says: St Anne was the mother of the Virgin Mary, so the fact that she's the patron saint of women in various roles (women in labour, housewives, grandmothers and unmarried women) isn't very surprising, although her link to cabinet makers and horser riders would seem a little more...
Was it really necessary to put lipstick on a Pope?
CatherineReichardt Says: St Anne d'Auray is 'big' on John Paul II, which is not surprising, as he visited here on 20 September 1996. It's not every place of pilgrimage that manages to attract a Pope during his papacy, and there has been a noticeable upswing in pilgrim numbers since his visit -...
The somewhat baffling Scala Sancta staircase
CatherineReichardt Says: This ornate set of steps stand at the opposite end of a huge lawn from the Basilica and have no visible signage. They have no obvious purpose since they lead from nowhere to nowhere over an unthreatening section of gravel, and had me bamboozled for a good while until I did...
The heartrending Breton Wall of Remembrance
CatherineReichardt Says: The Wall of Remembrance at the Breton war memorial is a place that I'll never forget for a whole host of reasons.Firstly, it's staggeringly beautiful in its pared back simplicity. The pale stone panels listing the war casualties village by village are interspersed by the...
Pause for a moment at the exquisite war memorial
CatherineReichardt Says: One million Bretons answered the call up during World War I, but a horrifying 25% never returned, about double the rate of casualties suffered by other French troops. The 250,000 Bretons died equates to one in fourteen of Brittany's entire population, leading to a whole slew...
The staggeringly massive Basilica of St Anne
CatherineReichardt Says: Before we visited Brittany, I'd not heard anything about Sainte-Anne d'Auray, and it was only a short but intriguing comment in our guidebook that persuaded us to take a detour through the town on the way back from Carnac.As soon as we turned into town, the huge tower of the...
Commemorating the dead in all wars
CatherineReichardt Says: The appalling Breton casualties in World War I are commemorated in the exquisitely moving Breton war memorial and the surrounding wall of remembrance.Sadly, humanity displays a depressing inability to learn the lessons of the past, and memorial to commemorate the "The War to...
A war memorial that's unashamedly Breton
CatherineReichardt Says: The one impression that you'll probably come away with from visiting the war memorial in Sainte-Anne d'Auray is that it commemorate Breton - rather than French - war casualties.Despite attempts to achieve national homogenisation of identity under a French banner, the Breton...
Basilique de Sainte Anne d'Auray
gwened Says: you cant missed is the center of every day life in the town of Sainte Anne d'Auray very near me. Sainte Anne is the mother of Mary, grandmother of Jesus according to the Bretons, and it is ,also, their patron saint of all Brittany.A local farmer Yvon Nicolazic, hears a woman...
L'Aubergine: traditional aubergine
gwened Says: very nice place open in 2012 by young chefs traditional food and bar à vins a great place to spent while overlooking the great basilique sainte anne.Open for lunch and dinner except wednesdays and sundaysprovides formules of 16€ for entrée/plat/dessert14€ for entrée/plat or...
Creperie Les Ajoncs: best creperies of Brittany
gwened Says: Its on the circuit as one of the best creperies of Brittany, sitting right across the basilica of St Anne, the biggest religious center in Brittany and second in France.The place is rustic, nice historical, serve with care by the family as far as small daughter serving. The...
lorgnierl Says: a very pleasant place, a good prestation (foods and waiters), all in a romantic cityDON T MISS IT so difficult to answer, all is goodmay be seafood plate and caramel pancakethe speciallity is homemade Salidou (caramel withsalted butter), i cannot resist
gwened Says: Well I live about 10 kms from here that is about 6 miles, and as the expressway is sometimes busy especially n summer months I do take this route to avoid traffic on the road D19 that goes into and connects with Auray on the D17 coming on the back.It is all country here,...
getting to Sainte Anne d'Auray
gwened Says: By auto you take the Autoroute Paris/Rennes A11, or expressway N24 Rennes/Vannes,or expressway N165, Nantes/Auray.By trainarriving at Gare d'Auray, my train station to Paris MontparnasseGare d’Auray (TGV)local trains TER Bretagnehttp://www.ter-sncf.com/regions/bretagne/fr/By...
Helpfulness
As you might expect from a town that's a magnet for pilgrims, there are a number of shops specialising in a bewildering range of religious paraphernalia. Rosaries, crucifixes, devotional books, CDs of religious music - if it's got even the most tenuous link to Catholicism, chances are that it's on sale here.
Unsurprisingly the best selling lines of merchandise relate to St Anne and to Pope John Paul II - a man who is himself hurtling towards canonisation at breakneck speed - who made a pilgrimage here during his papacy.
Updated Jul 23, 2012
Helpfulness
Compared to other more 'first division' tourist attractions in this region, Sainte-Anne d'Auray is a bit off the beaten track, especially for visitors from outside Brittany. The happy outcome of its relative obscurity for all but non-Bretons and those with a particular devotion to St Anne is that it isn't besieged by hoardes of visitors, except for a couple of notable festivals during the year.
The majority of the 600,000 pilgrims that visit St Anne d'Auray visit on her feast day, 26 July. There are also major celebrations here on Pentecost, which falls 50 days after Easter (a Sunday some time in May - check the exact date on which this will fall in the year that you're planning to visit).
I hate crowds, so I would probably go out of my way to avoid visiting on the day of St Anne's 'Grand Pardon'. However, if you'd like to experience a truly Breton religious ceremony honouring their patron saint, then this could be ideal for you: just bear in mind that the village will be packed out, so accommodation and parking will be at an absolute premium and other tourist amenities such as restaurants will likely be packed out.
Updated Jul 23, 2012
Maison natale d'Yves Nicolazic
gwened Says: Yves Nicolazic was born at Pluneret,April 3 1591,and died on May 13 1645Yves Nicolazic , is the farmer breton that told of a vision of Sainte Anne, the mother of Virgen Mary,and grandmother of Jesus. The dreamt of a vision and later found a statue in the fields of the Sainte...
gwened Says: A wonderful cupola dome monument representing all 7 parrishes of Brittany in memory of those fallen in WWIa moving place to the left facing the basilica de Sainte Anne d'Auray and seldom notice but its there big facing you, a must to see.respect to those who fell brave,and...
gwened Says: an impressive monument to the count de Chambord amongst trees on way out of town. After the discovery of the virgen Ste Anne at Auray in 1624 the royal families of France take the town in its arms from 1628.All the great nobles of the house of Bourbon came here beginning by...
Favorite thing: on the nice city, in a pleasant place, you will visit
basilique
monument for bretains soldiers of the 2nd WW
pilgrins place
some shops around; museums
Written Apr 4, 2003
A uniquely Breton place of pilgrimage
(work in progress) The village of Sainte-Anne d'Auray is a relatively obscure destination for all but non-Bretons and those with a particular devotion to St Anne. Located less than 5km outside the...
A town all of its own, Sainte Anne d'Auray
you cant missed is the center of every day life in the town of Sainte Anne d'Auray very near me. Sainte Anne is the mother of Mary, grandmother of Jesus according to the Bretons, and it is ,also,...
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