"Brest, the western city of France..." Top 5 Page for this destination Brest by earendil

Brest Travel Guide: 120 reviews and 309 photos

Town hall of Brest (and typical weather behind..hi

The heart of the city...

In the middle of Brest, there is a large place, called place of freedom, because Brest suffered a lot during the second world war, and all the city had been destroyed by American bombs (thank's boys...hi hi).
An architect rebuilt it following a very basic idea, square buildings, streets with perpendicular crossroads...and this man was a bit communist, it's why our town hall looks like a bit the town hall you can find in bucarest, or in some other ex-communist countries.
But this large place, made with grey granite, is very nice, and you can spend your time sat down on the large stairs of the town hall, watching the light of the sun reflecting in the far sea, between the buildings, like an invitation to take this door toward unknown destination.

The memory...

One minute of silence, please...

As i said, here you can find many monuments to the memory of people who had been killed during the war.
In the names of the street, you can read names of resistants or names of famous battles.
In the down part of "freedom place", you can see this small tower, made also in grey granite from Brittany.

The oldest building...

Castle, boats and cranes...

Near the sea, there is a big castle, which is also the "maritime prefecture".
This castle has been built by romans first (2000 years ago, around). Since then, he kept his military vocation and during the 18th century, Colbert, the ministry of Louis XIV decided to create, in Brest, the principal warship port (because near England...grrrr...).
The arsenal, down the castle, is a strange place with a lot of ships, but it's forbiden to go, so when you are a citizen of Brest, it's not easy to go on the sea side, you have to take your car and move....
So, you feel on the sea-side, but you can't go because of army quays...bouhhh....stupid...
We also have one part of the quays for pubs and restaurants, hopefully...

Pros and Cons

Pros:a lot of pubs..."one for each day of the year" some says.
Cons:alcoholism...of course...
In a nutshell:A city of talkative people, direct and helpfull

Intro Written Sep 25, 2005
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Reviews (2)

Painted walls Off The Beaten Path (1)

Just walk and find some painted walls to make this grey city more colorfull... more travel advice

Every end of September, a typical big... Things to Do (1)

During three days, for the Saint Michel (29th september), a big fair is organized in the city and the streets are closed... more travel advice

Comments (2)

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ChapinFamily Mar 29, 2007 at 9:33 PM

Enjoyed your comments on Brest France.
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irishgalmtl Oct 4, 2006 at 11:45 AM

Hi there Chris, You are welcome hope you are enjoying your day. Thank you for the tips...Donna!;o)