www.auray-tourisme.com. The town centre, above the right bank of the River Loch, gathers around the triangular place de la République, in front of the 18thC Hôtel de Ville. Behind it there is a covered market, the tourist office and 17thC Eglise de Saint-Gildas. However, the town’s pride and joy lies on the opposite bank of the Loch in the overwhelmingly picturesque Quartier Saint-Goustan.

Leave the car in the upper town if you can, and make the steep descent to the waterfront on foot. Across the little bridge, Quai Benjamin-Franklin once bustled with stevedores and strange foreign cargoes. Now it just bustles with strange foreigners. Benjamin Franklin disembarked here in 1776 to parlay with the French king and drum up support for the American War of Independence; the house where he stayed (No. 8) is now a café-restaurant. Behind the waterfront, narrow cobbled streets lined with 15th-16thC houses clamber up to the church. There are views from the path along the opposite bank; or you can take a boat trip to Belle-lle (see below).

One of the most famous Breton pardons takes place at Sainte-Anne-d’Auray (6 km north-west via D7) on July 26.

Nearby, the Monument aux Morts honours the 250,000 Breton dead of the First World War.