Lorient to Brest
Lorient
Lorient is famous for its annual Celtic music festival. Launched in 1971 it welcomes more than 600,000 visitors to the city.It is being held the 1st to the 10th August in 2008 and will have 4500 artists.The picture is courtesy of Wikipedia,
Another interesting place to visit in the area is Port Louis at the mouth of Lorient harbour.The citadel was built by the Spanish in 1590 when Philip II was backing Brittany against the French king Henry IV,a Protestant.There is a very good museum,a fort and when we visited ,there were children's rides close to the parking area.
Pictures from a
day in Pont-Aven,this is where all the artists
show their works in studios dotted all over the town.
The town is at the interface of the tidal estuary and freshwater river
just 14km east of Concarneau.
The municipal museum,many art galleries,the wooden crucifix in the fine Gothic chapel of Tremalo,which inspired Gaugin to paint the Le Christ Jaune,the Bois d'Armour(wooded gardens) and the watermills all pay tribute to the town's history.The Xavier Grall Promenade(named after the Breton poet) crisscrosses the river on landscaped walkways.
The toilette pictured below is actually suspended over the river.
Pointe du Raz
This is named after the Raz de Sein,the dangerous stretch of water between the pointe and the island of Sein. This granite spur is in constant battle with the crashing waves and strong winds.
The lighthouse of "La Vieille" can be seen behind the rocks.
Although it is not quite the westernmost extent of France, its rocky isolation makes it a popular tourist destination.
At the peninsula Crozon in the west of Brittany, lie the ruins of the monastery of Landévennec originally founded in the fifth centuryby Saint Guenole . A modern monastery was built beside the ruins in the 1950s and consecrated in 1965 and today houses Bendictine monks.The old site includes a museum which you can visit.
Port of Brest
Brest , Finistere's largest town was heavily bombed during the second world war but has since resumed its civil and military importance.It was from the port that the first French nuclear powered aircraft carrier was launched,the "Charles de Gaulle".Brest is also the home of the Prefecture Maritime,West Brittany University and the Oceanopolis world of science.
"© Michael Komm | Dreamstime.com"
Cannon-balls and a cannon in the city of Brest in Brittany. At the
background there is the lifting-bridge 'Pont de Recouvrance', one of
the largest in Europe.
