Legend has it that the Fountain of Youth right in the heart of the Brocéliande Forest, holds the key to eternal youth…

How to stay young forever…

The Fontaine de Jouvencein the Brocéliande Forest, is close to a small quarry where walkers traditionally mark their visit by adding a stone to one of the many piles (unless this is the work of Breton pixies !). So if you’d like to live forever, follow me ! By drinking some water from the fountain, adding a few secret ingredients and carrying out special rituals, you can stay eternally youthful !

I’m afraid I don’t know the secret recipe, so we can’t try out this experiment today !

My video of La Fontaine de Jouvence :

La Fontaine de Jouvence a Broceliande en Ille-et-Vilaine (Bretagne) from Hautebretagne on Vimeo.

Grow one year younger…

The Fontaine de Jouvence (fountain of youth) is so called because in days gone by, newborn babies were baptised there on Midsummer’s Day (21^st June). However, if for any reason, a baby couldn’t be baptised that year, it was brought the following year for baptism by the high priests, so in fact it gained an extra year of life ! Hence the legend that we can grow one year younger by bathing in the waters of the fountain – not something to be sniffed at !

To mark my visit to Brocéliande Forest, I’ve added a stone to one of the piles already there.

In my next blog posting, I’ll tell you all about daily life on board Le Renard, a Saint-Malo cutter which was the last ship owned by the famous Corsair, Surcouf.

See you !
Philippe

Today I’ve decided to visit the ‘Valley of no return’ (Val sans retour) in the Brocéliande Forest in the company of Mathieu, who lives nearby and knows a lot about the legends surrounding this mythical place.

Such cruel fairies !

At the entrance to the Val sans retour, Mathieu and I find ourselves beside a pool known as the « Miroir aux Fées » (Fairies’ Mirror). Mathieu tells me that it is said that it was once the home of seven fairies who used to only come out at night to observe the stars and do magic. However, the youngest, and least experienced, fairy was very curious by nature and regularly ventured out of the pool during the day. In doing so she met and fell in love with a knight, which made her sisters very jealous and also fearful that their younger sibling would reveal all their secrets. So they killed the knight and imprisoned their sister who, in desperation took her revenge by cutting the throats of her six sisters. She took a love potion to regain the knight’s love and after bringing him back to life, she went off to live with him, leaving her sisters to bleed to death in agony, which is why the pool is red. So be careful when making friends with fairies !

Here’s my video :

Val sans retour en Broceliande en Ille-et-Vilaine (Bretagne) from Hautebretagne on Vimeo.

Unfaithful lovers beware !

In the Valley of no return, Mathieu tells me that it is said that Morgane the Fairy used to live here. Her lover Guyomar was unfaithful to her, so she cast a spell over the valley so that any unsuspecting, unfaithful men who went there could not leave again and were destined to spend the rest of their lives in this place populated by monsters.

Only a knight with a pure heart could break the spell ! And so it was that Sir Lancelot, desperately in love with Queen Guinevere lifted the spell and successfully rescued all the men imprisoned in the valley.

For once, a story with a happy ending for the ‘baddies’ !

My mouth is watering already at the thought of my next blog spot – the Marché des Lices Market in Rennes …

See you !
Philippe