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A lonesome, bent figure looking for mussels, colourful fishing boats anchored in picturesque small ports, sea birds flying like acrobats between the capricious rocks, ladies all dressed up in black, sitting on a bench to hear and tell the latest gossips. This is the image we all have of Brittany, "Bretagne " in French and that's how I will name it in the rest of my series about this region.
In fact it is a land of contrasts, the "unmanageable" element of France, like the historian Jules Michelet wrote once. This is the land that has seen a terrible fight of man against nature and against the whims of history. It can satisfy the most hackneyed demand of travel writers and I will certainly not deprive myself!
What do we really know about this outraveled country, making a fist towards the Ocean? About the wild seas that buffet its jagged coastlines, reshaping the ancient granite. And what about the surprising contacts of land and sea like the "abers", how some estuaries are called (in the Cote des Legendes, Aber-Wrac'h, Aber-Benoît, Aber-Ildut). Celtic names given to rivers, which spectacle is unforgettable at high tide.
Inland, the quiet villages and eerie forests seem not to obey the laws of time. On the northern coastline, cities like Saint-Malo, old corsair's town, Dinard, self-proclaimed Queen of the Emerald Coast. To the west the "Granit Rose "coast offers great seascapes wit its attractive pink boulders, unspoilt sandy beaches and quiet little resorts. Then comes the more rugged Finistère with its steep, rocky cliffs, the port of Brest, its "parish-clos" villages preserving the old tongue and the old ways, and the southern Morbihan, its superb beaches, the industrial port of Lorient, medieval towns and the sophisticated resort of La Baule. Next, Nantes, Brittany's old capital is a bustling city with wide boulevards and elegant shops.
The more east you travel, the more history deepens the once very violent relations of Brittany with France. Often ignored is central Bretagne, but an ideal area for those who love to walk and wander. Much history was made here, legends of the forest of Paimpont, and Merlin is still said to conjure up rain and thunder.
The Bretons (inhabitants of Bretagne) managed to earn their living during the past centuries by fishing, smuggling, expeditions and piracy. Today, some pirates (but not all off course), got into the hotel and restaurant business, so be careful not to be robbed or ripped off like we say today. But Brittany didn't learn yet all the tricks of the game and is rather unspoilt, when they are without any gas oil supertanker breaking in two in front of their coastline (see the Erika).
Another Bretagne mystery and uniqueness is their spiritual union with stones. Yes, stones! Or what do you call "menhirs"? Like the famous in Carnac on the south coast of Bretagne or the stone carved "calvaires" (calvaries) in the Leon region (north). The Bretons like and are proud of their traditions as strong as the granite of which many a farm was built.
Finally, Rennes, as the capital of Bretagne, looks more as and is a market town, mixing medieval past with modern times.

Bibliography

Early Brittany by Chadwick (Cardiff: University of Wales Press.(1969)
The Bretons Blackwell's Peoples of Europe Series by Galliou, Patrick and Michael Jones. (1991)-Walking Through Brittany (Footpaths of Europe) (September 1991)-Legends and Romances of Brittany by Lewis Spence ( 1997)

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