Returning to Belz, we stopped at the old eponymous fishing town straddling both banks of the river Auray—conversely the namesake likely being from Aula Régina applied to an older settlement from the Latin for royal court after the important shipping channel fell under the seigneurship of English king Henry II (confirmed by the Breton designation of An Alre—or simply Loc’h where the river can be raised to make it navigable to the sea.
The trade centre established in the older quarter is centred on the port of Saint-Goustan whose actuarial records extend back to the fourteenth century and document commerce in foodstuffs, cloth and Biscay steel. Expanded in the mid-1600s due to a more sophisticated commerce network, the new wharf was named later in honour of diplomat Benjamin Franklin who landed here on 3. December 1776to entreat France for support in their war of independence. Today the habour has been rehabilitated as a marina and a quasi estuary for water fowl and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the region.
