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The salt-marshes of Guérande are based close to its mediaeval town of and its salt is harvested since the iron age. In 945, the monks from Landévennec Abbey studied the tides, sun and wind, and mapped out of a plan of the salt works. A titanic project. Over the years, the salt workers have built up a huge landscape of clay and water that is one of the most striking 'ecological' creations made by man. The current exploitation technique remains the same one used on the 9th century. The salt is still harvested manually and each year, some 200 salt-farmers produce 10,000 tons of natural, high-quality sea-salt that enjoys a high worldwide reputation. Since 1996, the Guérande salt- marshes have been protected by stringent French legislation, which guarantees the protection of the landscape through eternity. The grey lines are created by the salt worker with the mud harvested in the "oeillet". On one of my aerial photos, we can see a salt worker removing the mud and putting it on the lines. This will help him, during the summer, to walk safely on these lines and to collect the salt around each "oeillets". This is the "pontage".