Bretagne, beauty and wildness / France 6

We left the Forest of Broceliande on August 18th in the direction of Vannes, our first destination along the Brittany coast.
We were very curious to finally reach the Atlantic Ocean, because so many friends had described the coast in Bretagne as one of the most beautiful places they had ever seen. That’s why we decided to start our visit from Vannes in the South East and to drive North along the coast.
To tell you the truth in the beginning we were almost disappointed, because we had imagined to find a road along the Ocean, or at least, to arrive in front of it. But that’s not the case in a large part of Bretagne, and afterwards we thought that this is something that really helped preserve their landscape, that is still so wild. Even most of the towns and the villages are not really on the seafront, but are built in bays or creeks, so an open view of the Ocean is only in some places.
Southern Bretagne is also quite industrialized, but the territory is well preserved as industries are only limited to certain parts, without affecting the landscape or the ancient villages or towns.
We visited Vannes, Quimperlé, Pont Aven (delightful small harbour where the painter Gaugain used to stay), Port Manech, a small village on a beautiful bay and then Concarneau. This last is a very famous town, because of its medieval Ville Close, a walled town on an island, which we could have appreciated if there hadn’t been an incredible crowd of tourists that made us run away very quickly.
At a certain moment in the afternoon we realized that it was time to look for a place to sleep, as we had no reservation. Manu had the right intuition to continue driving North, trying to reach a place out of the touristic sites. We realized only afterwards that we had arrived in Cornouaille in the South-West of Brittany. The landscapes were getting so beautiful and wild and this impression was also enforced by the weather that was turning windy and cloudy.
We found a beautiful room at the charming Hotel Le Goyen, with a wonderful view on the harbour and the bay of Audierne.

After checking in, we made a walk on the peer and remained so fascinated by the force of the waves and the wildness of the ocean, really spectacular!

We went for dinner in a small fish restaurant and ordered an impressive “plateau de fruits de mer”, the typical seafood menu of Bretagne, that we enjoyed together with a bottle of Muscadet white wine.

Holiday in France