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Introduction

Climate

Bretons

Music

Cuisine

History

Brittany-About the climate

Back to Brittany main page

Saint Malo

Dinard

Cancale

Dinan

Cote Emeraude to St.Brieuc

St Brieux to Paimpol

Paimpol and the island Brehat

Belle-Ile intro

Belle-Ile-a bicycle tour

Treguier, lawyers pilgrimage and Lannion


Rennes

Lorient-St.Louis

Carnac-Trinite sur Mer

Auray, St.Goustan and the Quiberon peninsula. 

Vannes

Gulf of Morbihan, its fisher ports and more

Guerande and  salt, and La Baule, beautiful beach resort 

St.Nazaire to Nantes (1)

Nantes, visit of this elegant city, shopping,churches, museums(2)

Brest - Douarnenez - Pointe du Raz

Quimper-Concarneau

Pont Aven -Quimperlé

Let's say a few words about the climate. Very special, that climate in Bretagne. I know only one other country in Europe having the same one: Ireland. The greatest euphemism is to say that it rains sometimes, and adequate oilskin suits, boots or waterproof shoes are the best way to dress most of the time. After the rain the sun comes out. What a beauty!! But after the rain, without having time to say "hello", it rains again! Between drizzle, fog, mist, rainbows and even sunshine while it rains, projecting your shadow on the clouds. And all this, often in less than an hour! Let's hope they have good wine, beer or cider in the meteorological stations. 
Paul Gauguin and his art companions of the school of Pont-Aven were fascinated by these quick weather conditions. 
To say it seriously, it rains often between showers. Which is quite unpractical to dry your linen outside. A friend mine of Rennes said once: "In Bretagne it rains every day, but on Sunday it rains twice." He likes a good joke but this was not so far from the truth. 
The Bretons, have a special word for it: "amzer" A feminine genre. Coincidence, malevolence? J Anyway, you got the picture: take a good raincoat with you if you go on vacation in this beautiful region, because splendour it is, that's what my next articles will try to explain and demonstrate. 
Of course, the sun shines sometimes, and it can be very agreeable, if the wind blows from the good direction. Believe it or not, it rains more in Toulouse as in Rennes, more in Nice as in Carnac and more in Biarritz as in Brest!! But the rain storms are of course much more compact and spread over a short time in the south when in Brittany it is spread all along the year.
Why all this? Because Brittany has a tempered sea climate, with little differences between winter and summer. Bretagne has mild winters with averages between 6 and 9 Celsius, and warm summers with averages of 18 to 21 Celsius. But you can travel more south, the south coast of Morbihan, where the temperature increases considerably from June up, sometimes until mid October. But the Finistere, with its long, long coastline can be very windy and wet.