Brittany, France: Medieval Britain in France

Look, discover, and be amazed at this Breton city in the country of France!

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LOCATION

Brittany or Bretagne is in the Northwestern part of France surrounded by the English Channel to the north, the Celtic Sea and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and the Bay of Biscay to the south. This 34,023 square kilometer of land is split into five departments: Finistèrein the west, Côtes-d’Armor in the north, Ille-et-Vilaine in the north east, Loire-Atlantique in the south east and Morbihan in the south on the Bay of Biscay.

Brittany also called Little Britain as opposed to the Great Britain; and was considered as one of the six Celtic nations by the Celtic League, as it is the traditional homeland of Breton people. It is a cultural region that was first a kingdom, and then became a duchy on its own before it united with the Kingdom of France in 1532. Since then, Brittany has become a province of France.

CLIMATE

Brittany has a moderate oceanic climate, which brings about pleasant summers and relatively cold winters. The average temperature in the summer is 17.5°C, while winter has an average of 5.6°C.

July is the hottest month in the province with an average temperature of 18.3°C and then it starts to decline with January as the lowest drop in temperature at an average of 5.1°C. High precipitation starts at October to January with an average at around 60 mm.

TRANSPORTATION

Brittany has many airports international and local. The biggest is the Nantes Atlantique Airport that serves flight from UK, Italy, Germany, Ireland, and Morocco. There are also ferry services that take passengers, vehicles, and freights to Ireland, England and Channel Islands.

Railway service also operates in Brittany. It has two major lines that link Paris to Nantes and Le Croisic and another to Rennes and Brest. Roads are developed since 1970s, so going to and fro is not a problem.

ATTRACTIONS

Pointe du Raz

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Pointe du Raz is locally known as the Beg or Raz after Raz de Sein. It is a dangerous stretch of water with crashing waves, strong winds, and rocky terrain. However, it seems that the danger accompanying this rocky isolation makes it attractive to tourists.

At the tip of Raz is a lighthouse called “La Vieille,” which provides a beautiful beacon at night when the place is enveloped in darkness. This attraction comparable to southern UK’s Land’s end is located at Plogoff, Finistère.

Fort-La-Latte

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This piece of beauty is located 4 km southeast of Cap Fréhel and about 35 km west of Saint-Malo, in the commune of Fréhel, Côtes-d’Armor,Brittany, France. It was also called Castle of La Latte built in the 13th century.

It has been famous not only for tourists, but as a shooting site as well. Various films has been shot in here such as “The Vikings” by Richard Fleischer in 1958 and the documentary film “Life in a Day” by Calum and Morgan Rhys in 2011.

Quimper, Treguier and Saint-Malo Cathedrals

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This Gothic Roman Catholic Cathedral is a match of curves and edges. It is located in the town of Quimper and a monument of the province of Brittany.

Legends are told about the site that citizens saw a green devil in flames when a fire has eaten the bell tower in 1620.

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Another Roman Catholic Cathedral is located at Brittany at Saint-Malo. It has been founded at 1108 and since then has undergone changes and territory divisions. It boasts and intricate design of rose window and pipe organ made by Koenig.

The organ was built in 1977 comprising of four keyboards and one pedal and 35 stops replacing an older one built in 1893 during the romantic era. An updated choir organ of two keyboards, one pedal and 18 stops has been installed in 2014 by the Koenig.

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This cathedral located in Treguier, Brittany is another Roman Catholic Church dedicated to Saint Tudwal and a former seat of Bishopric of Treguier.

John VI, Duke of Brittany, is buried here.

Chateau de Brest

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This is a castle is also a naval base located in Brest, Finistere, which is the oldest monument in town. The fortess’ architecture is a testament to its age of 1700 years.

It’s a mixture of different styles due to continual adaptations to the development evolving along those millenniums.

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This fortress holds high importance in defending Penfeld, a 16 kilometer French coastal river in the town of Brest, Finistere.

Chateau de Dinan

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Chateau de Dinan is also called Donjon de la duchesse Anne or “Keep of the the Duchess Anne” located , in the Côtes-d’Armor department of Brittany.

The keep was built in 1382 to 1383 and still majestically stands at 34 meters high with a union of two tall circular towers consisting of medieval moats and drawbridge, which fortifies the stronghold against outsiders and townspeople as well.

Jardin Georges Delaselle and The Conservatoire botanique National de Brest

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Jardin Georges Delaselle is a botanical garden that experienced its fair share of ups and downs. It was first established in 1981 that became a center of exotic plants, but was later sold and was renovated as a summer camp in 1957. It fell into disuse in 30 years, but was later reestablished 1007 by the nonprofit Conservatoire de l’Espace Littoral et des Rivages Lacustres.

The botanical garden is yet again the hub of different flora with a number of 2000 plant species. The garden is open daily with the exception of Tuesdays during summer. Admission fees are charged.

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Conservatoire botanique national de Brest is a remarkable 32 hectares of land in Brest, Finistere. Formerly a quarry and a rubbish dump, it was purchased to be a home for endangered species across different places in the world. It was founded in 1977 and now boasts huge collections of endangered plants at a grand total of 1700.

The garden is also comprised of greenhouses with a total area of 1000 square meters, which are divided in different sections: tropical mountains, dry tropics, humid tropical forests, and subtropical ocean islands.

Stade Francis-Le Blé

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Stade Francis-Le Blé, named after former mayor Francis-Le Blé, is another giant in Brest, Finistere. It is a multi-use stadium that can hold 15, 097 spectators.

However, it is frequently used for football matches.

Brittany American Cemetery and Memorial

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These 28 acres of cemetery is the final salute to thousands of fallen heroes during the Normandy and Britain Campaign in 1944. This cemetery of gray granite walls comprises of two chapels, embellished sculptures and other military memoires to commemorate the dead.

Along the walls of the terrace are names of missing soldiers marking those who are recovered and identified with rosettes.

Images:

(1) https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv2vNaeKSHyozVQy1pXfrTn09Sog3UDp3aejzEL08mhlrECxlG4_47v82t6LPsipy7gtM9mcSfDPlXljXAt-a-bckzfbncyRk7s0AJhY9xQfA9Ftzdubc-fn6IwNi7wtd7xJR355uOfxk/s1600/Brittany-France-1-NVSRDR4XNV-1280×800.jpg
(2) http://panneauxcols.free.fr/geocaching/praz1.jpg
(3) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Cote_Emeraude_Fort_La_Latte.jpg
(4) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/Cath%C3%A9drale_Saint-Corentin_de_Quimper_(Fa%C3%A7ade_ouest).jpg
(5) http://a137.idata.over-blog.com/600×338/3/92/21/04/Sentier-du-GR34/P1030905.JPG
(6) http://www.toimg.net/managed/images/10207841/w647/h298/image.jpg
(7) http://monpayslahauteprovence.blog50.com/tag/chateau+de+brest
(8) http://allworldtowns.com/cities/brest.html
(9) http://www.louisbourdon.com/phototheque/phototheque11ter.php
(10) http://www.jardin-georgesdelaselle.fr/site2012/01_visite_UK/visite_UK.html
(11) https://philippepeter.wordpress.com/2010/07/29/bretagne-proteger-la-diversite-vegetale/
(12) http://www.info-stades.fr/stade/9/brest-stade-francis-le-ble
(13) http://www.bensavelkoul.nl/Brittany.htm

http://laurenceourac.com/brittany-france-medieval-britain-in-france/