Do you know the
Vauban Huts in Carolles, Champeaux and Saint-Jean-Le-Thomas?
They are not simple wooden huts, but
granite and shale guard houses dating back to the Royal Order of August 1681 on the Navy. At that time, the famous
Vauban, King Louis XIV's military architect, ensured that France was surrounded by a belt of fortresses in order to defend the country against possible attacks or invasions.
At the end of the
17th century, small fortified buildings were built in the bay of Mont St Michel, along the Channel coast. Their particularity? Built entirely of
stone, these huts, as they were then called, have only one room with a door, a fireplace and a window. At the beginning, it was the inhabitants of the various villages who occupied them and carried out "watchtowers" to survey the coasts.
During the First Empire wars, Vauban huts were also used by the
coast guard to watch enemy ships. They could correspond using optical signals (flags, smoke or fires), with posts established at Mont St Michel and Pointe du Roc in Granville.
Leaved in 1815, the Vauban huts were later used by the Telegraph administration, then as shelters for customs officers - the famous Gabelous -
watching over smugglers from the coastal path.
You can discover them near our
hotel, on the
GR 223, along the cliffs of the coastal villages of Carolles, Champeaux and Saint-Jean-le-Thomas, between Mont-Saint-Michel and Granville. In all weathers, and especially at sunset, it's sumptuous!
(photo credit:
www.tourismebaiemontstmichel.com/)
