Welcome to the kingdom of ‘Les Paludiers’!

In the heart of the salt workers’ villages of Batz-sur-Mer, Guérande, Mesquer or Saint-Molf, the history of the salt trade has also had its hand in fashioning the houses. The landscape of the salt marshes of Guérande is liberally dotted with ‘salorges’, the large granite warehouses used for stocking the salt.

The 'Paludiers' villages

The paludiers’ traditional houses with their coloured woodwork and slate roofs are indeed a characteristic feature of the landscape. Be sure to stop-off and visit some of the villages to see for yourselves:

Saillé, Clis, Quéniquen, Careil near Guérande
Kervalet, Roffiat, Trégaté near Batz-sur-Mer
Trescalan near La Turballe
Boulais, Pendhué near Saint-Molf
Kervarin, Kercabellec, Rostu, Penlô near Mesquer
Kergéraud, Trélogo, Berzibérin and Pont d'Armes near Assérac

The 'Salorges'

Just around the corner from the salt marshes the former salt warehouses, with their unique shape form an imposing feature of the local landscape. These salt storehouses known as ‘les salorges’, became more common in the second half of the XIXth century springing up near to the railway lines and farms. These imposing granite buildings with their large buttresses and slate or tiled roofs are still very much present today. A prime example being the massive monumental salorge in Batz sur Mer. The ‘Musée des Marais Salants’ is in fact in part located in the former salt warehouse belonging to the Bertrand family.

See the 3 pictures