The korrigans of TraouïérosA valley of nature and legend

The korrigans of Traouïéro

Bright sunshine this morning! Ideal conditions for stretching your legs. My friends from Doubiens, who arrived 1 week ago, know the GR34 and our pretty beaches like the back of their hands. But there’s one place they don’t know about, a 57-hectare area that combines nature, history and legend… a combination that’s sure to please them, and that’s the magnificent Traouïero valley.

Getting there

Nature walk

I was reluctant to do this walk on my own. In the end, I opted for a guided tour, because there’s so much more to learn and discover! I consulted the guide Les espaces naturels s’animiment to find out the timetable. Just the thing: there’s one in 2 hours!
With hiking boots on, camera and bottle of water in the rucksack, we’re off. We’ll meet at one of the entrances to the Vallée des Traouïéro, between the town of Trégastel and the Ploumanac’h tide mill. We’ll have to visit that one too!

©Balade randonnée en famille|Alexandre Lamoureux

A 3-hour walk awaits us

But be warned: it’s a quiet walk! As we enter this undergrowth, it’s like arriving in another world! There’s no sound apart from birdsong and the sound of the Kerougant stream, which marks the boundary between the towns of Perros-Guirec and Trégastel. To get from one bank to the other, we passed over a gravestone dating from 1833. Surprisingly enough, but not at the time, it was common practice to give them a second life!

A protected natural site

Your sense of smell is on alert! The vegetation is lush and varied. Oaks and chestnut trees form a canopy, hiding the sky from view in places. My friend Guillaume, a flora enthusiast, is in ^7th heaven. Along the way, we come across a fern over 300 million years old, royal osmonds and a variety of lichens… I don’t really know the names of the plants myself, but I recognise some of them: heather, gorse, Venus navel, what a lovely name!

©Vallee Des Traouieros Studio Jezequel 1|Studio Jézéquel

History

Our guide is not to be outdone! 8 granite pillars testify to the presence of a rolling bridge used to transport granite blocks from the quarry to the lower part of the valley on trolleys.

A place to live and pass through

Here we are in front of the leper’s cave… which was occupied by a hermit; you can make out his trough carved out of the granite, where good people came to give him food; then comes the smugglers’ cave, where horses were hidden during the war, and where lovers also met. I do wonder about the authenticity of these revelations! You can imagine that this valley was quite busy!

Legend

What about the korrigans? Well, they too had their cave! Laurent, who had been a bit lagging behind, suddenly woke up! Legends are his hobby! But for this theme, we made an appointment for a storytelling night out in the same valley. Bring a torch, you never know! It would be frowned upon to step on a small nocturnal inhabitant!

After all, 3 hours goes by quickly!