Day: June 28, 2024

Sitting on the north side of Brittany, the westernmost region of metropolitan France and facing the English Channel, is the department of Côtes-d’Armor. It’s an area with an interesting geography and an equally interesting history, encompassing as it does a curious mix of being both strongly Catholic and also having a long tradition of anti-clericalism.

Brittany as a whole has a lot to commend to visitors, including within the Côtes-d’Armor, containing as it does the seaside resort of Perros-Guirec, the Castle of the Roche Goyon (aka Fort la Latte), a monument historique, and – close by to the castle – the peninsula of  Cap Fréhel with its spectacular cliffs, moorland terrain, lighthouses (one dating back to the 17th century) and (now controversial, due to the wind farm location roughly 15 km off the coast) views out over the channel waters.

Côtes-d’Armor is also the location of the commune (here meaning an “administrative division” of a similar nature to something like a civic parish in the UK or a civil township in the USA, rather than a place where hippies might bliss out) of Plougrescant. Extending its thumb out into the English Channel and with the town of Plougrescant sitting at the inland end of the thumb, this area features a marvellous circular walk out and back from the town taking visitors up the eastern coastline to its northernmost tip, La Pointe du Château, and the the beginning of a fabulous rocky landscape with glowing hues, which breaks up the lowlands, with the path followed this more rugged setting back south along the western coastline. As it does so, the path by Castel Meur, a lowland peninsula with two small headlands, a lake-like body of water trapped on their landward sides.

Sitting on the more northerly of these two little headlands and overlooking the inland waters is the remarkable la Maison du Gouffre, “the house between the rocks” (and which is perhaps more widely also known by the name of the land). Remarkable, because la Maison du Gouffre is exactly what it’s name suggests: a house (cottage might be a better term nowadays) built slap bang between two outcrops of rock rising from the flatland like teeth.

Built in 1861, the house has always been in precarious position – the weather can be frequently violent  – and utilises the rocky outcrops on either side as a means of protection whilst also being built so that its back faces the open expanse of the English Channel. As such, it has survived down the years, and – remarkably – has remained largely in the hands of the descendants of the original occupiers. Such is its iconic look, that over the years, the cottage was featured in a series of tourist campaigns intended to bring visitors from around the world to Brittany.

One of these campaigns used a postcard with an image of the cottage, and was so successful, it not only brought visitors to Brittany – it brought them practically to the front door of the cottage. As a result, in 2004 the owner (and granddaughter of the original owner) successfully sued for, and won, all commercial image rights over the property, preventing its use in any commercial venture without her expression permission.

As a private residence, la Maison du Gouffre is not open to visitors, but non-commercial photographs can still be taken whilst passing by, and thanks to people posting personal images on-line, etc., its fame has potentially grown even more.

However, you don’t necessarily have to visit France to witness the marvel of la Maison du Gouffre; you can currently do so right here in Second Life, courtesy of Bella (BellaSwan Blackheart), who brings us her homestead region design A Place Between The Rocks, inspired by the house at Castel Meur.

Just like its namesake in the physical world, the setting provides a scene of a largely flat landscape broken by three large outcrops of rock, the large two of which offer some shelter to the little cottage nestled between them. The cottage is, again like its namesake, a stone-built structure with shuttered windows bracketing the front door, and squat chimneys to either end of a roof from which gabled dormer windows stare out over the land and water. This is not a furnished property within, but outside has all the indications of being occupied: potted plants are much in evidence, chickens are being kept, a bicycle with a bag of groceries is propped outside of the front door, whilst a cobbled terrace to the rear of the place shows signs of use as it sits under a wooden pergola.

No lake faces the front of the house, the general design of the setting suggesting it is an island unto itself (with a smaller one sitting just offshore as a study point for an artist), but the low wall surrounding the original has its digital sibling here. Rich in heather and wild grass, the land has the feeling of being both windswept and at times pounded by angry storms, the island-like nature of the entire setting merely adding to its sense of beauty and retreat.

A Place Between The Rocks is a part of Bella’s default group, Bella’s Lullaby, so members of that group will have rezzing rights on the land for photography, while those requiring such rights can obtain them for L$40 – just please pick up your bits after you. Caught under a very suitable EEP setting, and rich in the sounds of cats (they’re all around, keeping an eye on things!), bird and chickens and with places to sit scattered around awaiting discovery, this is another excellent region design by Bella.

SLurl Details

• A Place Between The Rocks (simply Heaven, rated Moderate)