"Châteaulin" Châteaulin by ranger49

Châteaulin - the name sounded so pretty I was sure the town would be as attractive as it sounded.

Situated around a large loop on the banks either side of the River Aulne, which at this point is part of the Nantes-Brest canal, it has an ancient salmon fishing tradition dating from the 10th Century when the monks of Landévennec Abbey were given the rights by the Duke of Brittany.
These subsequently passed to the King who also owned all the mills in the town.
The King also granted the town judiciary powers so it became a centre of Courts and attracted many lawyers.

Châteaulin is also on the main route between Brest and Quimper, and to the west all the tourist attractions, beaches and holiday resorts of the Crozon Peninsula; so a considerable volume of traffic is to be expected but we had not anticipated so much congestion caused mainly by heavy goods vehicles.

There is a very large and dilapidated looking building on Quai Cosmau, overlooking the river and almost opposite the Tourist Information Office, which bears - in faded letters - the name Moulin Du Roy- a well-known brand of flour sold in France.

A walk along the tree lined promenade between the two bridges that cross the river - both carrying one way traffic only in an attempt to ease the congestion.- is marred by the noise and fumes…. We visited on a Tuesday in early June, I guess a Sunday would have less heavy traffic.

But all was not lost . We continued our walk beyond the second bridge - noise and pollution levels dropping as moved on - and obtained a much better impression of a charming, if busy town at a crossroads.

As we made our way back to the car we had a good view of the impressive buildings across the river including the Marie.

Then we spotted a sign leading up a back lane to the Belvédère and the Chapelle de Notre Dame - that we had earmarked as places to visit.. …The path took us behind the “derelict “ Mill” which, when seen from the back, turned out to be a fully automated modern flour mill in an externally scruffy building..

Nevertheless, the path was uneven, very steep and strewn with litter so we decided to go back to the car and make our way up in more comfort.

It turned out to a most worthwhile visit.

• Pros:A lovely river, lots of history.
• Cons:Must be choked with traffic in the season.
• In a nutshell:Worth a visit.