Bretagne General Tips by bzh

Favorite Thing: Is this Barbados? No, it is Brittany. To be precise, this picture was taken in the Crozon peninsula, not far from the town of Camaret. Beaches in Brittany are usually of the finest and whitest sand, formed from the break up of granite cliffs. Occasionaly, the sand will glitter with mica. It is ideal to drop a beach towel on and for sand castles.


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Favorite Thing: Cliffs, boulders, rocks, the coastline of Brittany can be very dramatic. Most of the bedrock is granite, which is produces the most amazing perspective and scenery.


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Favorite Thing: You cannot miss the black and white Breton flag, called Gwen Ha Du in Breton, which literally means "black and white". The flag is a comparatively recent creation. It first appeared in 1923, created by Morvan Marchal, the founder of the Breiz Atao (Free Brittany) movement. It was originally meant to provide a unifying symbol to all Bretons who wanted independance from France. Nowadays, it is the emblem of a Brittany that is comfortable with being part of France while being proud of its unique cultural heritage.


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Favorite Thing: Seagulls can be found everywhere in Brittany, especially around towns and harbours. They are very opportunistic birds that feed on any garbage thrown by man. Their cry is very distinctive and is a permanent fixture of the coastal areas. It can be very annoying if you are not used to it. However, the opposite is true. The first time I moved away from Brittany to the East of France, it took me a few months to realise that what I was finding so strange in my new town was the silence.


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Favorite Thing: During World War II, the Germans, who had invaded France, fortified the coast of Brittany to fight off a potential allied attack. The remanants of this chapter of history can still be found along the coast in the form of concrete bunkers. They are only shells nowadays but they give you a good idea of what it was like to live in them. Winters in those small concrete boxes must have been horrendous.


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Favorite Thing: The Société Nationale de Sauvetage en Mer (SNSM), i.e., the French sea rescue organisation is a non-profit organisation. They are partly financed by the state and regions but also rely heavilly on donations. They are all volunteers and will get you out of trouble for free. So, when you are in a restaurant or a bar and you see a small money box in the shape of a rescue boat with the letters SNSM on it, drop a few coins.

For more information: http://www.snsm.eu.org/fr/


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Favorite Thing: This flower is called genęt in French but I don't know its name in English.

Anyway, you will find it all along the Breton coast in summer, sometimes up to such an extent that it turns the moors yellow. Beware though, it is armed with big pointed thorns that will easily embed themselves in unwary fingers.


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Favorite Thing: The typical Breton house is built of granite with a slate roof. Granite being expensive, modern houses tend to reduce the actual stone to door and window frames but the older ones are completely built of stone. Granite and slate are exacavated locally. The granite can be of a variety of hues, typically light grey, yellow-brown or pink. The latter one comes from the cliffs of pink granite in the North of the region and is very particular. Its colour comes from the pink feldspath part of the stone is made of. The slate can go from deep black to grey or yellow.


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