What a wonderful and fantastic menhir this is, easily found to the north of Brignogan-Plage village by following plentiful signs. Men-Marz (the Miracle Stone in Breton) or Men-Bras (Grand Stone) is now set in a nice little area, a previously close built house having been bought and demolished by the state, and has a good information centre across the road with lots of informative boards.
At between 8.2 and 8.5 metres high, depending upon where it is measured on the sloping ground, it is said to be the fourth largest menhir still standing in France. It is a strange shaped beast, as are the natural rocks around here, and looks to be a thin and straight beast when seen from front and back, but is a sort of triangular shape when seen from the sides, with multiple cavities and ledges in the sides.
The stone has suffered from Christianising vandalism on at least two occasions, as it not only has a granite cross mounted on the top, but there is also an engraved cross on the south-eastern corner about 1.5 metres from the ground.
This stone has many legends attached to it, which seem to get a bit mixed up and confused. There is a fairly flat ledge high up on the south side, with several loose stones sitting on it. There seems to be two stories attached to this, and the habit of throwing up pebbles onto it. One of the stories has it that young girls wanting to get married go to the stone and throw up a pebble. If the stone lands on the ledge, and doesn’t fall down, then she will be married within the year. This story is also told in a slightly different form, in that young newly wed couples go to the stone, and throw up a pebble, and if the pebble lands and stays on the ledge, then they will have an heir before the year is out. One throw only, obviously. To this day, newly wed couples come to this stone straight after the service.
Something is not right. This message is just to keep things from messing up down the road