The salt marshes in facts and figures
An area of 2000 hectares divided in two zones, the largest is around the Traict du Croisic and extends over the villages of Batz-sur-Mer, Guérande, and La Turballe. The second is located beyond the “coteau” guérandais and covers an area of 350 hectares which includes Mesquer, Saint-Molf and Assérac.
Classified since 1996.
Today in the salt marshes, around 250 “paludiers” i.e. salt workers harvest approximately 12000 mt of salt a year.
Interested to know more ?
- Crédit photo : Studio Michael
Situated between the Loire and the Vilaine rivers, Guérande’s salt marshes represent a great and unique heritage.
They form a natural paradise; home to many migratory birds.
For more than 1000 years the paludiers have worked this fragile mosaic of clay and water.
History
Sea salt has been produced here for many years.
It could have been the Romans who introduced the technique of allowing sea water to evaporate from open salt pans (prior to this salt had been produced by heating vats of brine over wood fires).
During the early Middle Ages Brittany was the main salt-producing area of Northern Europe, with salt being exported to Scandinavia, England, Holland…Thus the peninsula became very rich.
However by the mid 1800s salt production on the Atlantic coast had slumped, mainly due to competition from the salt producers on the Mediterranean coast.
After some difficult years (1950-1970), the salt marshes are now enjoying a true renaissance thanks to a better economic organisation of their activity.
How does it work?
- Crédit photo : Pascal François
Sea salt is still produced in the salt marshes around Guérande in the same way today as it was a thousand years ago, i.e. hand-harvested, using wooden tools.
Sea-water is allowed through the dyke at high tide and flows through a network of pools.
Salt workers are able to draw off water from the reservoir and direct it along ditches.
Then the process of evaporation begins thanks to the drying action of wind and sun.
The brine gradually becomes more and more concentrated until it arrives into the last salt pan, called the “oeillet” where salt crystals start to form.
The the paludier are able to harvest the “coarse grey salt” at the bottom of the pan, and the finer, delicate “fleur de sel” at the surface of the pan.
Two types of sea salt are produced:
- The grey salt which is collected daily from the bottom of the pools. It is "moist" and unrefined. It remains a light grey colour, because of the clay from the salt flats where it is collected. It is used in cooking, including the locally renowned meat and fish cooked in “croûte de sel”- salt crust. Unwashed, unrefined and additive-free, it adds flavour to traditional family cooking.
- The finer “fleur de sel”, is skimmed from the surface of the salt ponds. It enhances the subtle flavours bringing out the taste of even the finest dishes.
Today
- Récolte du sel à Guérande
Guérande’s sea salt is one of the finest harvested in the world, and consequently is used by great chefs such as Paul Bocuse.
Awarded the national “site remarquable du gout” in 1996, Guérande’s salt marshes represent an undeniable contribution to the area’s heritage and economy in terms of agriculture, culture, and gastronomy.
