YOUR GATEWAY TO BEAUTIFUL BRITTANY

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The peninsular of Brittany on the far north west coast of France is a region defined not only by its geography but by its people, their traditions and their ancient celtic heritage. The Breton language is still widely spoken and its origin is closer to the celtic languages of their Cornish, Welsh and Irish cousins.

Like many people living near the sea the Bretons have developed a culture rich in myth and legend, music and folk art. You can walk through the magical forest of Broceliande, home of Merlin, where King Arthur and his Knights came on their search for the Holy Grail. Or visit the forest of Huelgoat with its mysterious giant rocks, its grottos and streams and its tales of giants and goblins. Other legends include the story of Tristram and Iseult Tristan and Isolde which inspired Wagner's opera.

This Breton belief in legend combined with Christianity to produce a profound reverence for the saints and the famous pardons religious festivals with processions, mostly take place between May and September. It is during these processions that you may have the chance to see some of the great variety of richly embroidered local costumes. The pardons are celebrated with much dancing and music using traditional instruments such as the celtic harp, Breton bagpipes, drums and flutes.

The Cote d'Emeraude Emerald Coast runs west along the north coast of Brittany from Mont Saint-Michel, the vast cathedral dedicated to the Archangel Michael built on a rock that can only be reached at low tide. There are a number of harbour towns and fine beaches from St. Malo and Dinard to St.-Brieuc, all linked by a coastal road. Take time to visit Dinan a little inland from St. Malo, which lies at the mouth of the River Rance. Its old town, cobbled streets and city walls give it an old world air and there are many good restaurants.

Further along, the coves and inlets of the Cote de Granite Rose The Pink Granite Coast are formed as the name suggests by rose tinted rocks beaten by the sea into fantastic shapes.

The wild headland of Finistere looks out to where the Atlantic meets the Channel. Brest with its fine natural harbour is the beginning of the west coast of Brittany where the Atlantic is warmed by the Gulf Stream and stretches down to the Cote d'Armour at the Mouth of the Loire. Good beaches and resorts.

Inland Brittany has a very different landscape. Valleys, forest, heathland and a network of rivers and canals. There are scattered farms and villages, the fields marked out by hedgerows forming distinctive patterns, connected by a cobweb of lanes.

Food Excellent fresh fish, fruit-de-mer, coquilles St. Jacques along the coast. Savory and sweet galettes or crepes made from buckwheat flour and stuffed with a variety of fillings. Agriculture is a major industry and the markets offer an abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, fish, poultry and cheese. It is possible to buy honey, eggs and milk directly from the farms.
Food is as important to the Bretons as it is to the rest of France and all towns still retain a selection of small food shops where the emphasis is on quality.

Brittany is one of the largest producers of pork in France and is justly famous for its charcuterie – cured pork products. Most butchers produce their own charcuterie to their own family recipes, which are far superior to the products on offer in the supermarket. You can taste before you buy.

Fruit and vegetables are also an important part of the economy, particularly in the North and there is a huge selection at very reasonable prices. Buy what’s in season for the best in quality and price.

Brittany is also famous for its crêpes and galettes (pancakes). Crepes are slightly sweet, made with wheat flour, and served with a variety of sweet fillings. Galettes are the savoury version, made from buckwheat flour, and are served a similar range of savoury fillings which become more inventive each year. There is at least one crêperie in every town, and eating at one is an essential holiday experience.

Restaurants are generally very good in Brittany and reasonably priced. Most serve a selection of regional dishes as well as a more cosmopolitan selection. They range from simple ‘workers’ restaurants (don’t be put off – the more lorries parked outside, the better the quality and the price), to excellent ‘haute cuisine’. Often the smallest village has the best restaurant and simple décor doesn’t necessarily mean low quality food

Drink in Brittany
Due to an ancient decree, the production of wine was forbidden in Brittany and, although this would not now be enforced, almost no wine is produced here. Local people favour the wines from the Loire valley, and there is always a good selection in the shops. In southern Brittany the Loire valley is only a short drive away and could be a good day trip destination. Visit a wine producer or two and take in a Loire chateau while you’re there.

The ‘national’ drink of the Bretons is cider and most of the orchards that you see in the countryside are in fact cider orchards. Cider (or cidre, in French) can be bought anywhere. The best is the ‘cidre bouchée’ in champagne type bottles with a wired cork. If you have a good stomach, buy it at a local farm when you see a sign for cidre fermier. Watch out if you’re tasting though – it can be quite strong.

Cider is also distilled into eau de vie, sometimes called ‘gnôle’ or ‘la goutte’ by the Bretons and sold as calvados in supermarkets. It has a strong apple flavour and is not for the fainthearted. It is still distilled in the countryside by a mobile distillery that travels from village to village, although this is slowly disappearing as the ‘right’ to distil was frozen a few years back and the people who still have it are now very old

Shopping
The choice and variety of shopping options is huge and ranges from the excellent weekly markets in most towns, to the huge commercial centres on the edge of bigger town and cities where you can often furnish your house and stock its cupboards in the same shop.

In between there is the whole range of high street shops such as you would expect to find in any big town, as well as the smaller individual shops where you will find the perfect gift for grandma, and get it stylishly gift wrapped into the bargain.

Craft shops are plentiful in the more touristy area of Brittany and in some case, whole towns are devoted to crafts and you can often see the craftsmen in action. Quality is high, although often matched by the prices.

Markets, particularly in the summer months, are a good source of original buys and are also great fun

Fetes and Festivals
Bretons love fêtes. Instinctively sociable, they will find any excuse to celebrate and family parties often involve all ages together and continue long into the following morning, often finishing with breakfast!

Public fetes are often based on a religious event such as a saint day, or a political one such as Bastille day but, on the increase, are fêtes based on traditional Breton life, involving demonstrations of old methods. These are always held in the holiday period, but the fact that they are largely for visitors doesn’t detract from the fun. They are colourful, interesting, friendly affairs, run by local volunteers, where you will be well fed, well entertained, and will have contributed to a local good cause. Just watch that you don’t win the pig in the raffle as happened to some English visitors in one village in Morbihan.

Music festivals of various shapes and sizes take place all year and attract huge numbers of people and all levels of talent and fame. La Fête de la Musique, on midsummer’s eve is an opportunity for everyone to make music on the streets. Even banging a spoon on a saucepan will be tolerated and it lasts all night

Myth & Mystery
It was from Brittany that the name -and it is said- the people of Britain are derived. It is certainly mysterious - ancient woods where Merlin first practiced his sorcery, strange buildings created by lost communities

Its mystical qualities are an essential ingredient of Brittany. It is a very old country – the mountains were once higher than the Himalayas and have been worn down to their present gentle heights by countless years of erosion. People have lived here since earliest times and their traces can be found almost everywhere. The great standing stones, of which the most famous are at Carnac, date from prehistoric times. Come across one looming before you in a forest clearing and you can almost see the ghosts around it living their daily life of long ago.

Wayside stone crosses, chapels hidden in the woods or a fold of the hills, churches and magnificent cathedrals bear witness to the strongly Christian past, but the old religions have left their mark and many of the wayside fountains have magical properties, usually of healing, that are still strongly recommended by the Bretons

Public Holidays in France Fixed Public Holidays in France

1 January	New Year's Day
1 May	Labour Day
8 May	Fête de la Victoire 1945 (WWII Victory Day)
14 July	Bastille Day (Fête nationale)
15 August	Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Assomption)
1 November	All Saints Day (La Toussaint)
11 November	Armistice Day (Jour d'armistice)
25 December	Christmas Day (Noël)
26 December	2nd Day of Christmas (in Alsace & Lorraine-only)

Note that holidays falling at the weekend are not moved

Moveable Public Holidays in France

Feast			2007
Easter (Pâques)			8 April
Easter Monday			9 April
Ascension (l'Ascencion)			17 May
Whit Sunday (la Pentecôte)			27 May
Whit Monday			28 May

Note that when a holiday falls on a Tuesday or Thursday, many French people may take the respective Monday or Friday off as well. This is not official and does not apply to institutions such as banks or government, but can cause difficulties doing business on occasions