Holidays Brittany - Travelogue

In the beginning of September 1994 my friend Mike and I decided to go to Brittany for holidays. We wanted to see something new, different to the Mediterranean coast. It was a pity, recognising that there were no people over there at this season. No tourists, few inhabitants, and all the region was really dead. We had a house in Lilia (department Finistère), the most dead place in the Brittany. Only two or three times a day some people passed by. A French poet once said "All the noise in the world comes to the Finistère to die there". This surely is true.

Some trees shaped by the wind near our house

Boats in the bay of Lilia at low tide

The only real attraction of Lilia; the Phare de l'île Vierge (photo made at high tide), with it's 82,5 m the highest lighthouse in Europe. Situated only a few meters from the shore but only reachable by boat.

But that's not all you can see or experience in Lilia. At low tide little islands grow up to large and high islands which could even be reached by foot. Walking in the shallows could be very interesting.

Lilia in the evening

Beautiful house in Lilia

Close to the bay in front of our house flows the Aber Wrac'h. The end of an river flowing into the sea in a bay.

Holidays Brittany: Trips to the South and to the West

Being bored of Lilia really soon, we made a lot of trips. We went to the partner-towns of Küps and Kronach, Plouay and Hennebont, searched the forest (Forêt de Paimpont) for the grotto of King Arthus of Camelot and climbed the highest "mountain" of the Bretagne, the 384 m high Roc Trévezel.

View from Brittanies highest mountain

In the West we went to Brest and visited the Sea-museum Océanopolis. But we didn't really enjoy it, because there have been only French and English informations. More interesting was the port of the navy and the museum of the marine.

Much more interesting is the wild coast in the south of Brest. At the Pointe du Raz you can enjoy the beautifulness of this coast.

Coast on the Pointe du Raz

...even more of the Pointe du Raz

On our way down the coast, we visited the peninsula of Quiberon, where's a nice tourist-village with a beautiful beach.

Beach of Quiberon

Nearby in Carnac there are more then 3,000 mystic menhires from the stone-age staying around. These stones weight some ton's each and til now, nobody really knows why they are staying there.

Menhir, some miles from the main menhir-field near Carnac
>>> with Lemon

... and this time with Mike

Trips along the north coast

Roscoff is a nice little old town with a port. From there you can go by ship to the 3 miles away lying
Ile de Batz every hour.

Lane in Roscoff

Only a few miles away lies the little town Morlaix, famous above all because of it's impressing railway-viaduct,
over crossing the town like a high bridge. The old town is full of pretty framework-houses.

Between Roscoff and Morlaix the land is full of fields with artichokes stamping the typical imagination of the green Brittany.

Another trip brought us to the Cap Fréhel. There we could see the Brittany from it's wild side. The wind was so strong, that I had big problem to hold my camera. Because of this I've only got one picture from the nearby Fort la Latte.

Côte de Granit Rose

Also in the North is the Côte de Granit Rose, which is called so because of it's pink shining rocks.
I'm not sure in which places I made my photos; may be Trébeurden or Tréguier. So just take a look at this photos.

Napoleons hat???

Might be an Oyster?

What a face!!!

Where was this???

... I know, above of this coast,

... and next to this bay!

and somewhere I saw these houses

That's all from the Brittany. If you want to meet many people there, you have only a chance in July or August. Who wants to see much of the Brittany should go on a tour and sleep every one or two days in another place, because it's all to far away to keep on staying in only one place all the time. I recommend to start near the Mont St.Michel (Normandy), go to St. Malo, follow the coast to the Côte de Granit Rose, to finally reach Brest. Than down the coast until you reach Carnac or even La Baule and Nantes.

The End!!! Translated 2001.04.12

Many useful informations fpr Brittany Holidays on Brittany-Bretagne.com

Holidays Brittany - Travelogue

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Holidays Brittany: Trips to the South and to the West

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