The summers of Sarah Bernhardt at Les Poulains | Belle-Île-en-Mer Tourist Office

The fort

A wild place

for a fierce artist!

©Histoire Musée Sarah Bernhardt Sauzon 4 Saisons La Maison De Sites ©karine Piquet 2020

In the summer of 1894, Sarah Bernhardt, the beautiful and fierce 50-year-old international star, had already traveled the world. Tired of her numerous and recent tours, she was convinced by her friend, painter Georges Clairin, with whom she was staying in Concarneau, to discover Belle-Île.

A love affair with the Pointe des Poulains!

At the close of the 19th century, Belle-Île was far from an unknown or deserted island. Quite the opposite! Renowned artists such as Maxime du Camp, Gustave Flaubert, Claude Monet, Octave Mirbeau, and John-Peter Russell had already explored its moors. The arrival of the railway in Quiberon (1882), the Union Belliloise Company ferry, and horse-drawn carriage excursions to the wild coast with its caves and breathtaking landscapes attracted an increasing number of tourists.

While this excursion may not seem extraordinary in itself, Sarah Bernhardt’s love at first sight for the small fort at the la Pointe des Poulains defies all reason! Built in 1846, its original purpose was to defend the northern tip of the island, which had long been coveted by France’s rival powers. However, by 1894, France had already changed significantly… Advances in artillery and shifts in international relations had made this small, two-level fort obsolete. Surrounded by the ocean and nestled among rocks sculpted by erosion—like the famous “Rock of the Dog”—the fort stands in a wild, untamed nature… A nature that Sarah finds enchanting and undaunting, with the rugged character of the place drawing her in completely!

Histoire - Patrimoine bâti, Belle île en mer, île de Bretagne, Bretagne sud, au large du Golfe du Morbihan — ©A côté de la pointe des Poulains, le fortin de Sarah Bernhardt est ouvert au public toute l'année. La visite vous plongera dans l'univers de la Belle Epoque. |Karine Piquet

I love coming every year to this picturesque island, savoring all the charm of its wild and grand beauty. Under its invigorating and peaceful sky, I draw new artistic strength.

Sarah Bernhardt (1905)

©Histoire Sarah Bernhardt Sauzon 4 Saisons La Maison De Sites ©karine Piquet 2020 (2)

La pointe des Poulains

Theater of Operations of the Great Sarah

On November 11, 1894, Sarah Bernhardt took possession of the small fort at Pointe des Poulains, which would become her summer retreat for nearly 30 years, far from the bustle of Parisian life… Well, not entirely! It was never in the nature of the star to live in seclusion. Every summer, a whole entourage of relatives, friends, and artists would descend upon the Pointe.

Naturally, the small fort was soon too cramped to house the entire troupe. In 1897, she had a long white building constructed opposite the fort: the Villa des Cinq Parties du Monde (now the Sarah Bernhardt Museographic Space), featuring five rooms, each named after a continent, to accommodate her family. Other constructions soon followed, including the Villa Lysiane (now the Maison du Littoral) and Villa Simone at the entrance to Sauzon. In 1907, she acquired the Penhoët manor, later destroyed by the Germans in 1944.

From mid-July to mid-September

in the splendor of the Bell summers

Little by little, Pointe des Poulains thus became the stage for the eccentric activities of our Divine Sarah, her family, and friends. These happy holidays were lovingly documented by her granddaughter, Lysiane, and you can explore them via an audio-guided tour at the Sarah Bernhardt Museum.

Everything is now in place for vacations to unfold under the watchful shade of the Phare des Poulains, in the precious company of a mother, grandmother, and friend known to all as “Great.” Among the regulars is, of course, Georges Clairin, her dear friend “Jeojotte”—a slightly mad, very amusing painter of the Orientalist movement, who had traveled to Egypt with Camille Saint-Saëns, as well as Reynaldo Hahn, a Venezuelan-born French composer, conductor, singer, and music critic, who was a close companion of Marcel Proust.

The days pass without a dull moment for this eclectic group of artists and friends. Seaweed baths, naps at the “Sarahtorium” before an excursion, picnics at the Calastrène farm—complete with furniture and servants!—tennis matches that must have one victor (Sarah Bernhardt, of course), and lively dinners full of conversations where Sarah showcases her oratorical talents…

©Histoire Sarah Bernhardt Sauzon 4 Saisons La Maison De Sites ©karine Piquet 2020 (3)

Sarah Bernhardt, the (great) Lady of Penhöet

Although Sarah Bernhardt initially faced the ire of the fishermen in Sauzon—her move to the Poulains had indeed deprived them of one of their favorite fishing spots—she quickly won over the hearts of the “Bellilois”…
Demonstrating great solidarity, even after returning to Paris, she never forgot her fellow islanders. In the winter of 1911, when famine loomed over Belle-Île and the fishermen could not leave port due to successive storms, Sarah organized a gala matinée at her theater (the Théâtre de la Ville, which she had acquired in 1898) to support a local cooperative bakery initiative: “The Winter Bread for the Fishermen of Belle-Île-en-Mer.” She was both an ambassador and a protector.

When she passed away in 1923, Belle-Île paid a heartfelt tribute to their “Great”. A mass was held in the church of Palais, and all 4 local municipalities had bouquets of camellias sent to cover the drawbridge of the Poulains fort. Although Sarah Bernhardt had hoped to make the rock of Poulains her final resting place, she was buried in Paris, at Père-Lachaise Cemetery (division 44).

If you visit Belle-Île, at the Pointe des Poulains, listen closely: here, the voice of Sarah Bernhardt still echoes… here, her presence is still felt. She remains a unique and generous woman, a 20th-century trailblazer who lived by a single motto throughout her life: “Quand Même!”

Lose yourself