Visited 26th October 2013
We had a rough crossing on the overnight ferry to St. Malo, so landing in Brittany in a somewhat sleep deprived state, only the excitement of finally being back was keeping us going. So in need of a burst of energy we head off for the second tallest standing stone in Brittany, near the town of Dol de Bretagne, only about 15 miles away from the port.
Dol de Bretagne boasts an impressive cathedral and a maze like road system, so we headed south through the town and hoped for the best before fortunately finding a handy signpost. Soon our first Breton menhir of the trip hove into view, the top half of it standing proud above a field of yellowing corn, and for an anxious few seconds I feared the stone might be surrounded by crops. I needn’t have worried, a nicely manicured area, complete with picnic tables and parking spot gives easy access to the stone, and although surrounded on three sides by corn fields the crops were kept a respectful distance away from the stone, and what a stone it is! Standing a mind boggling 32’ tall, as you stand at the bottom of it and the stone towers above you it amazes how anyone could have erected this without the use of modern machines. Shaped and worked into a tapering top, as Postie says, it’s like some megalithic rocket ship ready for take-off, this really is a superlative menhir.
The stone is smooth to the touch, I hug its huge girth, and I feel revitalised instantly. A nice smoothed boulder rests at the foot of the menhir, and provides a surprisingly comfortable spot to sit on to write some fieldnotes. A nearby information board relates the legends associated with the stone, and although only in French, is illustrated with cartoony pictures depicting the tales, so even with my shaky grasp of the language I’m able to catch the gist.
Probably the best standing stone I’ve ever seen, and an amazing way to start off the holiday in Brittany.
"Probably the best standing stone I’ve ever seen"
If size matters I'd agree totally, not big on views though is it ? but then the stone is the view, shoot look at the size of that.
I'd agree Postie, the views are not the best, particularly with the current cornfields limiting the vista, and generally I do love stones in a much wilder landscape. What got me about this one though was the way the stone of the menhir had been worked, the top smoothed and rounded, and just the monumental (pardon the pun) effort it must have taken to erect it here, giving it a presence beyond that of the average standing stone.
We went at the end of May, over ten years ago now, and still crops closed us in.
It really is a stonker of a stone though, presence far far beyond the average, rivaled only by Kerloas menhir and that one had a few feet lopped off the top, but ive yet to have that pleasure, the stone, not lopping.