The Pointe du Grouin in Cancale welcomes around 600,000 visitors each year.

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J. Gicquel / 20 Minutes

  • With 600,000 visitors on average each year, the Pointe du Grouin is the second most visited natural site in Brittany after the Pointe du Raz.

  • Tourists who discover the rocky promontory do not, however, stay long on the site, to the chagrin of elected officials.

  • A site development project will start at the beginning of April in order to better welcome the public while preserving the environment.

On a clear day, the site offers a magnificent panorama over the bay of Mont-Saint-Michel and the coast of the Emerald Coast to Cap Fréhel.

With 600,000 visitors on average each year, the Pointe du Grouin in Cancale is the second most visited natural site in Brittany after the Pointe du Raz (Finistère).

The rocky promontory therefore attracts people, and even more so when the Route du Rhum starts every four years, but not long enough.

In any case, this is the report drawn up by the elected officials of the Ille-et-Vilaine department who commissioned a study a few years ago on site traffic.

“People stay on average for less than half an hour, enough time to walk around and take a few photos,” underlines Marc Hervé, departmental advisor in charge of sensitive natural areas.

To extend the visit a little, the elected officials therefore worked on a scenario to facilitate the reception of the public while preserving the environment.

This requires a redevelopment of the site with a construction site, estimated at 4.6 million euros, which will begin in early April.

Avoid anarchic parking

If free access will be maintained, unlike other natural sites which have opted for paid parking, parking will be completely reorganized.

The small car park located at the foot of the semaphore will thus be eliminated while the main car park located at the entrance to the site will be moved back a little further to the south.

"There will be 220 places for cars and 36 places for motorhomes which sometimes tended to park in an anarchic manner", specifies Marc Hervé.

A space will also be set up for cyclists, with lockers at their disposal, as well as a roundabout to facilitate traffic and allow coaches to drop off their stream of tourists.

From there, visitors will be able to take a ridge path that will offer a comprehensive view of the natural gem.

"The current car park being on the east facade, tourists often stay only on this slope which overlooks the bay of Mont-Saint-Michel and do not necessarily go around the site", continues the elected.

Lookouts to enjoy the view

To make the most of the view, a belvedere will be built on the roof of the blockhouse.

A second will also be built even further north to mark the end of the footpath.

"We must secure the site because there have already been accidents and also to preserve it by trying to limit the trampling of the flora", concludes Marc Hervé.

Scheduled to last until 2024, the site will take a break each summer so as not to hinder visitors to the site.

Nice

In Monaco, crowded terraces but deserted souvenir shops

Planet

"The question of setting access quotas could arise as early as next summer", warns the director of the Calanques national park.

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