The Manoir des Fossés (Manor of the Moats) is by the source of the Montafilan Stream and, it would seem, on the Etrat path. Its location allows one to think to an occupation prior to Medieval times; many potteries have been found on the riding school's grounds.
It is built on a schistous outcrop which gives it a good point and it is surrounded by a moat.
It is the oldest building of Plélan-le-Petit. It dates back from the middle of the 14th century and the building visible today is only a small part of the original manor.
On the east façade, five cross shaped loopholes (rafters), two gothic windows (with blinds), a carriage entrance and a pedestrian door.
On the other side, the west façade gives out on a closed courtyard and has a great carriage entrance as well as a five metres hight door which was the only door to the first floor.
La charpente gothique est une rareté en Bretagne.
The Gothic frame is a rarity in Brittany.
Some elements were discovered by René Jouffe during excavations: moat with water, mill...
A notice with details is available inside the building.

A small chapel from the 13th century is replaced in the 19th century by the current church, still surrounded today by a enclos paroissial, (church presinct), financed by the “fabrique” (Group of religious people and clergymen who rule on the church’s goods and finances).
Some of the paving stones are marked by the coat of arms of Saint-Méloir, of Tréal; by the baptismal font, and of Du Bois-Adam.
The lateral door on the noon side is topped by a stoned Madonna with bird of the 15th century (cl. M. H. 1956).
Inside, the golden copper monstrance was given to Saint-Méloir by Napoléon III when touring Brittany in 1858.

Inside the church presinct, a yew tree can be found; a tree worshiped by the Celts for its virtues of immortality.

Welcome to the only commerce of the village.
This artisanal crêperie, certified "crêperie gourmande" distinguishes itself by an authentic cuisine, exclusively realised from fresh products by the hostess : artisan crêpier. Her original preparations, the quality of the setting and the warm welcome makes this crêperie one of the best of the area.
Two dining rooms and a south facing terrasse.
Some specialities: galette with scallops and leeks fondue, crêpes with caramelised apple, salter butter caramel and vanilla ice cream, kig-ha-farz (to order, some Sundays)
Details on : www.creperiesucrésalé.monsite.orange.fr

These four columns have been standing on the square since 1961 only.
One of them, moved from the La Barbotais village in 1825, is meant to have been a milestone on the Etrat Roman road between Corseul and Vannes (Morbihan).
Another one might have been used as an altar for sacrifices, recent research suggests, however, that it was reused as a font by the Church, a common practise to reuse pagan ruins. The last two could have belonged to a long gone Roman monument.
The taller one bears theses writings : “IMP. CAES. AVONIO-VICTORINO. P.E.P.I.S.C.O.L.E.V.C”. One of the possible translations would be: ‘To the Emperor Caesar Avonius Victorinus, pious, fortunate, invincible prince, his ambassador dedicates and consecrates this monument.’

Not far from there, you can visit with your family, in Corseul, the Centre d’Interprétation du Patrimoine CORIOSOLIS and many remnants of these Gallo-Roman times.

This church is authentic, just as this popular village during the 19th century, full of artisans and shops.

The fountain in front of you, called Ruella funtain, is the place where masons, looking for water for a building site, found, in 1621, a roofed cross statue from the 16th century, (visible in the church). Venerated for some times, it was thrown back in the water by a simple minded man. Since then odd occurrences came about. Three brave brothers looked for and found the statue, however it was broken in 3 pieces. Miracles followed and a small chapel would be built in 1644.

Dominican friars from Dinan’s Saint Jacques Convent were designated to take care of the cult and built a church and a convent from 1647 to 1679 with stones from Montafilan castle, Corseul. They were expulsed by the Revolution. The church was disused and put back to the worship in 1818 and largely changed (front wall from 1892)

A pardon still takes place there. Besides, an illustrious man would take part in said pardon in 1768. Right after his birth, the young François-René de Chateaubriand, would be taken to Plancoët, where his maternal family is from, to be placed under the Virgin of Notre Dame de Nazareth’s vow and wet nursed there.

An itinerary on Chateaubriand is available on this website.

You are still on the church square.
The fountain in front of you, called Ruellan fountain, is the place where masons, looking for water for a building site, found, in 1621, a roofed cross statue.
It depicts the Virgin Mary and the Child on one side and a crucified Christ on the other (it is visible in the church).
Venerated for some time by the locals, it was thrown back in the water by a simple minded man and therefore lost again. Since then odd occurrences came about. In 1644, three brave brothers of the Faguet family, looked and found the statue, however it was broken in 3 pieces. Miracles followed.
Dominican friars were designated to take care of worship and built, in 1647, a convent and a chapel. They were expulsed during the Revolution.
Easterly, on your right, is the old convent. The deconsecrated church was brought back to worship in 1818 and largely changed (façade in 1892).

This church is one of the reasons for the young Chateaubriand's coming to Plancoët.
His parents, having lost a newborn before him, decided, after a difficult birth; which followed him all his life, to take him to Nazareth.
"I came to this world on [4th October] in the year [1768]. (...) [The] house is situated in a small street of Saint-Malo, called Rue des Juifs. The bedroom where my mother gave birth dominates the deserted walls of the city, and look on a sea spreading as far as the eye sees, breaking amidst the reefs; I had as godfather my poor brother and as godmother Madame the Countesse of Plouër, daughter of the Marshal of Condates: I was named François, after the day I was born, and René because of my father. I was almost dead when I exited the motherly breast, and the roaring of the waves beaten by an equinox tempest stopped my cries from being heard." (extract from Memories of my Life)
"I was placed to a nanny in this lovely village of Plancoët. (...) The only brother of the mother, the Count of Bedée, had by this village a much agreeable castle he had named Mon Choix. The goods of my maternal grand-mother were nearby. My grand mother herself lived retired with her sister, Mademoiselle de Boistilleul in a hamlet that was only separated from the village of Plancoët by a bridge and which we called l'Abbaye since a Benedictine abbey was consacrated in this place to Our-Lady of Nazareth. (extract from Memories of my Life)

Once inside, you find a richly decorated choir as it was fashionable in the 18th century.
The altar on the right is consecrated to the Virgin Mary, you will see there the 14th or 15th century cross (extracted from the fountain).
The pilgrimages take place on August 15th for the Assumption and on Septembre 8th for the Nativity of the Virgin.
Chateaubriand quotes this sailors' canticle he heard in a shipwreck on the way back from America.
" I place my trust
Virgin, into your help;
Be my defence,
Take care of my days.
And when my last hour
comes to end my fate,
Allow me to die
From the saintest of death."
(extract from Memories of my Life)
Barely born, the young Chateaubriand is brought here. "The first nanny I was given ended up being sterile. It wasn't noticed at first. I felt dying. My odd destiny persisted keeping me alive; a poor woman, friend to my nanny and newly delivered, took me to her breast with her newborn. Believing I was to die, she vowed me to the patron of the hamlet or Our Lady of Nazareth, and promised if I pulled through, that I would wear blue and white until I turned seven in honour of the Holy Virgin. My mother agreed to her vow. I was saved." (Extract from Memories of my Life)
Seven years later, he was brought back to Plancoët to be lifted from this initial vow. An ex-voto recalls this event.
"The 4th of October of the year [1775] ... I went from my grand-mother with my mother, my aunt de Boistilleul, my uncle de Bedée and his children, my nanny and my foster-brother to be lifted from my nanny's vow to Our Lady of Nazareth. I had a brand new white outfit, with a blue silk scarf, shoes, white gloves and hat. It was the first time in my life I was properly dressed. The church was next to the path and was surrounded by great elm trees. The village of Plancoët and those of the area came running to this ceremony."

You are arriving, after taking a path, by a stream in front of a rock.

Imagine the young Chateaubriand coming here two centuries earlier to take a nap and let himself dream.
Facing him, the marshes werein water which the warm summer days turned into mist, favourable to dreams.
That's here that he had the vision of druidess Velléda, Romantic figure of the "martyrs".
"Soldiers warned me that for a few days a woman exited the wood at the beginning of night, went up alone in a bark and crossed the lake, got down on the opposite bank and disappeared.
Hidden amongst the rocks, I waited for a few moments without seeing anything appear. (...) I discover a skiff hanging on the top of a wave, a woman lead it; she was singing whilst fighting the storm, she looked like she was playing amongst the winds; one would have said they were under her powers, so much was she appearing to challenge them. (...) Soon she reaches the shore, soars to terra firma, goes deep into the woods. She passed by me without seeing me. She was tall of height, a black tunique, short with no leaves, barely served as a veil on her nakedness. She was carrying a golden sickle hung to a bronze belt and was crowned of a oak tree branch. The whiteness of her arms and of her skin, her blue eyes, her pink lips, her long blond hair floating freely, told of the daughter of the Gaulish, and contrasted by their softness to her proud and wilde gate. She sang with a melodious voice terrible words and her bare breast fell and rose as the waters' foam." (Extract from Martyrs)

The mowing meadows reprensent over 50% of the site's surface. The caracteristic mesophile meadows, becoming rare nowadays since they are turned over to crops (maize notably) in Western France; and the meadows said humid, often close to water streams and sometimes floodable are separated.
Theses milieux host a whole flora (houlque, buttercup, daisies, clover) and a specifique fauna of invertebrates such as butterflies, bugs, grasshoppers, locusts, pollinators (bees, bumblebees) and their predators (birds and spiders).

On the hillock 14 species of grasshoppers and locusts, 80 species of bugs, 33 species of butterflies, 130 species of moths or 145 species of spidres were counted.

The company makes light wooden packages, mostly for vegetables conditioning.

It is an integrated unity; which means it takes care of the whole fabrication process: from buying the resources (poplar wood) to the finished produce and its commercialisation.

The company is located in the Côtes d’Armor département, This rural presence is explained by the closeness of the garden markets produces, most notably cauliflowers.

More details on: www.emballages-samson.fr/

The hedges linear and density (37 hedges) remain superior to the rest of the surrounding village, 45% of theses hedges still show densely implanted trees on top of important earth bank. On this board are detailled the roles of the hedges, typically from the Breton bovage as well as the organisation of the hedges and its fauna components.

On the hillock, roe deers, foxes and badgers share food and shelter by these earth banks. From the ground stratum to the grass stratum, shrubs and trees run accross each other, avoid one another, run away or hunt a plethora of insects like the ground beetles (over 80 species of these predators were identified on the whole of the hillock), chrysomelids (over 47 species), ladybugs (18 species), weevils (118 species, nearly 51% of the total of the known species in Brittany).

This company with impressive hangars (and with no less impressive trucks) makes environemnt-friendly wooden packs, mainly meant for fruits and vegetables conditioning.
It is an integreated unit, which means it takes care of the whole cycle of production, from the buying of the materials (poplar tree) to the finished product.
More details on: www.emballages-samson.fr/

This larst board reminds one of the great principals of the water cycle.
It therefore shows how the rainfalls infiltrate the hillock, go through the geological layers, and constitute in the multiple cracks of the underground the water pumped from differents parts of the hillock. Sassay's water's cycle ends there, where the spring appears and by where the path started.
The soil which is partly from the alteration/transformation of the rocks into water, will favourise the installation of the vegetation which in turn bring on various milieux, mediums of a remarkable biodiversity and mirror to an ecosystemical balance. The fact that these parametres are found on Brandefer Hillock indicates that it is a remarkable island of ordinary biodiversity.

This board presents part of the alimentary relationships that mean life in an ecosystem, here, in this wooded area as the ones on top of the hillock. At the ground stratum level, the decomposers (snails, slugs) transform the fallen leaves to humus and will be the prey of spiders and birds such as the blackbird or the song thrush. The phytophagous insects (plant eaters) of the grassy stratum will serve as food to wood birds such as the chiffchaff or the robin which, in turn will be the preys of predator like the sparrow hawk.

Sur le tertre, 48 espèces d'oiseaux ont été observées dont 44 espèces nicheuses (valeur voisine de ce que l'on observe dans un bocage typique. Les groupements forestiers représentent un peu plus de 20% de la surface du tertre (aulnaie-frênaie, ripisylve, chênaie-châtaigneraie, chênaie acidiphile).

The path that leads to this quarry reach the centre of the hillock through the moor and groves. After having used a steep path, remnants of the quarry's exploitation path, nowadays the kingdom of enormous ferns, we suddenly come accross some water at the bottom of a phtanite (jasp) cathedral. This siliceous rock emerges at the top of the hillock, at about 80m. It is one of the rare place of Brittany where it can be observed at the surface thanks to the surrounding gneiss' erosion. Very hard, it was exploited up to the 60's to road-bed the paths.

The lake therefore formed by the meteoritic water, and as such according to seasons, becomes nowadays a favourable sport for observing Odonates, from the collared grass-snake to the aquatic insects. 14 species of odonates are identified there, 38% of the species commonly admited in Côtes d'Armor.