INHERITANCE – Accommodation, snacks, bicycle rental or repair… Inland, these long-abandoned houses are finding a purpose again.
After years of neglect, lock houses are coming back to life in Brittany, where they are both a source of economic development for the interior of the peninsula and a response to a citizen’s demand for tourism. “slowly”. Very dapper with its recent plantations which are beginning to climb along its facade, the lock house of Boju, in Gueltas (Morbihan), benefited from one of the calls for projects launched by the Region, in charge of some 500 km of navigable waterways of Brittany that it wanted to bring to life.
Applicants – public, private or associations – must offer services (accommodation, snacks, rental or repair of bicycles, etc.) for users of the canal and its surroundings, or even offer nautical leisure activities “new and innovative”. When the project is selected, the region takes charge of the structural work of renovating the house, leaving the restoration of the interior to the project leader with whom a temporary occupancy agreement (COT) is signed in exchange for low annual rent.
Boju’s house is managed by the municipality of Gueltas, a rural town of about 500 inhabitants. “It really is a welcoming place”, assures the mayor, Sylvette Le Strat. She gets a lot of“itinerant” who take the towpath along the Nantes-Brest canal on foot, by bike, or even on horseback. The idea was that“it feels like home” while maintaining “his soul” during the renovation. Successful bet. On the ground floor of this house with blue shutters, kitchen and living room with fireplace, separated by the staircase leading to two bedrooms upstairs, sleeping eight in all.
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As “the house alone did not provide employment, we decided to create other accommodation nearby”, continues the chosen one. This is how the “penets”placed on the water a little further and inspired by the boats that once ensured the transshipment of livestock from one bank to the other.
They respond to them under the trees with a few mini wooden dwellings with rounded shapes, like cocoons, offering only sleeping places and shelter for bicycles. All with the will that “It’s still affordable” : from 30 to 40 euros per night. And, to meet the demand of guests, a creperie, facing the canal, opened this year. In total, “we have created four jobs on the site”partly seasonal, further indicates the Mayor.
Floating lodges
A few tens of kilometers further, Eddy Pellan has set up his project in a different spirit, more aimed at fishermen: two floating lodges, real small apartments with terrace, fully equipped, including for winter. All with phytopurification. “Not only did my idea seduce the Region, but we added an electric boat activity, on the river quay of Josselin, at the foot of the castle”he rejoices.
Not far from Gueltas, the Poulhibet lock house is transformed into a showroom in the summer. But it is above all intended to serve the homeless. “Water available, dry toilets, barbecue, picnic tables”lists Monique Le Clézio, secretary of the association “Canal Guerlédan-Pontivy”which animates the place.
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These activities along the waterways, “It’s also part of this new way of consuming the holidays which is a bit slow, gentle, discoveries”analyzes Gwenola de Araujo, director of the Pontivy Community Tourist Office.
“Discovery is not just about landscapes, it’s also about being able to eat things you won’t eat elsewhere, discovering crafts you won’t find elsewhere”she points out. “Inland Brittany offers something different and meets the needs of a public concerned with calm and a different type of discovery (…). This makes it possible to enhance our territory, including our producers, and to create jobs”summarizes Sylvette Le Strat.
Last born in Gueltas: a pénette offering “wellness massage” or sophrology sessions. Comfort after a day of cycling!