Lac de Grand-Lieu et la ville engloutie d'Herbauges

La Chevrolière (village de Passay)

Grand-Lieu is the largest natural lowland lake in metropolitan France, a world of shallow water, reed beds and flood meadows whose surface doubles between summer and winter. Tradition has it that before the 6th century a prosperous pagan city, Herbauges (Herbadilla), occupied the site of the lake. Saint Martin of Vertou, sent to evangelise it, is said to have been beaten and left for dead there; taken in by a couple, Romain and his wife, he received from an angel the order to flee without looking back. The man and the woman looked back and were turned to stone — tradition identifies this couple with two standing stones visible near Pont-Saint-Martin. The city, for its part, was swallowed by the waters, and it is said that on Christmas night the bells of its churches can still be heard ringing beneath the surface. Other tales people the lake: a giant imprisoned in a chasm on the Île Dun, who unleashes storms when provoked, or the Cheval Mallet, a white horse that appears at nightfall and carries off the exhausted traveller who agrees to mount it. At Saint-Aignan-Grandlieu, the fountain of Saint-Rachoux was held to cure skin diseases, and mothers brought their infants to it. The lake also shelters one of the largest colonies of waterbirds in France, which explains its status as a strict nature reserve.

Lac de Grand-Lieu — contes, mythes et légendes ↗

Getting there : The lake is not freely accessible: it is a national nature reserve, with no practicable public shore around most of its perimeter. The points of discovery are the bird observatory and the Maison des Pêcheurs at the port of Passay (La Chevrolière), which overlook the water, and the Maison du Lac de Grand-Lieu at Bouaye, some ten kilometres to the north-west. The coordinates given mark the village of Passay; guided tours of the observatory from mid-May to early November, on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound