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A holiday in Brittany isn’t complete
without a visit to its highlights, be they
natural like Huelgoat Forest and Armorique
National Park, or man-made like the Carnac
Stones. We hope that you enjoy our Top Ten
Visits in Brittany and that they entice you to
consider a holiday in Brittany. For ideas on
holiday cottages in Brittany, click on the
links which take you through to Holiday France
Direct™’s selection of holiday
rentals in Brittany.
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Brittany holiday accommodation near
Huelgoat Forest »
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Huelgoat Forest is located halfway
between Morlaix and Carhaix. The forest
covers 10 sqkms and can be accessed from
Huelgoat village. Its enchanted
atmosphere comes from its caves,
moss-covered boulders and amazing rock
formations, such as ‘the
mushroom’ and ‘the trembling
rock’ which can be rocked by one
person – if you know where to apply
pressure. It is also steeped in Arthurian
legend – explore Arthur’s
camp and visit Arthur’s cave.
There are marked trails and circuits.
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Brittany holiday accommodation near
Foret de Paimpont »
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Head west from
Rennes and you reach the Foret
de Paimpont, also known by its ancient
name, Broceliande. According to song and
legend, Broceliande is the forest of
Merlin from Arthurian legend.
The Foret de Paimpont is located in a
tranquil part of Brittany with few
tourists - an ideal location for a ramble
away from it all.
To discover the depths of the Foret de
Paimpont, head to the town of Mauron.
Just south is the hamlet of Folle Pensee
from where
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you can enjoy a walk to La Fontaine de
Barenton or ‘Merlins Spring’
as it is sometimes known. The Fountain of
Eternal Youth is hidden away nearby and
is said in legend to be only accessible
to those pure of heart.
Why not talk a walk into ‘The
Valley of No Return’ (thankfully
not true) and discover a steep valley
from which exits are barred by thickets
of gorse and furze on the rocks above
you.
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Brittany holiday accommodation near
the Carnac Stones »
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The town of Carnac is home to around 2000
standing stones which stretch for over
4km to the north of the village. The
Carnac Stones (or alignments, as they are
known) make up the most important
pre-historic site in Europe. They even
pre-date the Pyramids, Stonehenge and the
great Egyptian temples of the same name
at Karnak. Over the centuries, the sea
has withdrawn, leaving the Carnac Stones
a few kilometres inland, which means you
can combine a visit to the stone
alignments with a stay in the seaside
resort of
Carnac-Plage.
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The Carnac Stones are said to have been
an observatory for the motions of the
moon – a sort of three-dimensional
graph paper, used for plotting the
movements of heavenly bodies. History has
seen them used as quarried stone, and dug
up and removed by farmers to protect
their precious crops from academics
visiting the alignments when pre-historic
archaeology became popular.
Unfortunately, due to visitor numbers,
the principal Carnac alignments have now
been fenced off, and visitors are no
longer free to wander at will amongst
them.
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Brittany holiday accommodation near
Pointe du Raz »
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The Pointe du Raz, known as the
Land’s End of both Finistere and
France, has been designated a
“Grande Site Nationale” It is
a dramatic visit, especially the deep
fissures which fill and drain with a
deafening surf-roar.
Alternatively, you may care to take a
stroll to the Baie des Trepasses (the Bay
of the Dead) situated 30km west of
Douarnenez, which gets its name from the
shipwrecks there
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and is a possible site of the lost
city of Ys. It is a very attractive spot
and has some of the best surfing
conditions in Brittany. It is sometimes
possible to make out the harbourside
white-painted houses on the Ile de Sein
across the waves, while the rocks in
between sport an array of picturesque
Brittany lighthouses.
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Brittany holiday accommodation near
Armorique National Park »
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There are 38 Regional Natural Reserves in
France and 7 National Parks.
Armorique National Park was created in
1969 and covers an area of 172,000
hectares, including 60,000 hectares of
marine land.
It includes a large variety of landscapes
and activities which represent the
ecological, economic and cultural
diversity of Brittany and is well worth a
visit.
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Brittany holiday accommodation near
Finistere »
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For a visit to the parishes of Finistere,
Morlaix makes an excellent base. Parish
closes, or enclose paroissiaux are
walled churchyards incorporating
cemetery, calvary and ossuary, and
celebrate the distinctive character of
Breton Catholicism in elaborately
sculpted scenes. Stone calvaries are
often covered in detailed scenes of the
Crucifixion above a collection of saints,
gospel stories and legends. In richer
Brittany parishes, a high stone arch
leads into the churchyard and there may
be an adjoining ossuary.
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This is where bones would be taken when
the tiny cemeteries filled up.
The Parishes of Finistere hold annual
Pardons to show devotion to a
particular Saint, from whom a pardon is
requested. Mass is followed by a
procession of banners, relics, statues
and crosses carried by a cortege singing
the canticles. Locronon is home to one of
the largest yearly pardons.
The most famous enclos are in the
neighbouring parishes of Morlaix and
Landivisiau on a clearly signposted
route. At St-Thegonnec, the entire east
wall of the church is a carved and
painted frame, with saints in niches and
a hundred scenes depicted. The pulpit and
the painted oak entombment in the crypt
beneath the ossuary are acknowledged
masterpieces.
Further impressive closes can be found at
La Roche, La Martyre and its adjoining
parish Ploudiry.
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Brittany holiday accommodation near
Dol de Bretagne »
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Dol-de-Bretagne, 30km west of Mont St
Michel, was an important bishopric during
the Middle Ages. Dol-de-Bretagne no
longer has a bishop, though it still has
its granite cathedral complete with
ornate tiled towers. Cathedraloscope in
Dol-de-Bretagne’s central square
explains how medieval cathedrals were
constructed. Also located in the square
is the Musee Historique de Dol that has 2
two rooms of wooden artefacts from Breton
churches.
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Dol-de-Bretagne has picturesque streets,
most notably the pretty Grande-Rue, where
an assortment of 500-year old
half-timbered houses look over the
shoppers below.
The former island of Mont Dol, now
located 8km inland from the sea, is a
granite outcrop and the legendary site of
a battle between Archangel Michael and
the Devil. Various indentations in the
rock such as “Devils Claw”
show the savagery of the battle, which
saw the Devil defeated. The site has been
occupied since pre-historic times, with
remains of mammoths and sabre tooth
tigers found there. Later on, Mont Dol
became an island monastery like Mont St
Michel although all traces of this have
long vanished. Why not head to the small
chapel on top of Mont Dol and enjoy a
pleasant climb winding among the chestnut
and beech trees.
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Brittany holiday accommodation near
Cancale »
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Cancale is a delightful seaside resort
renowned for its delicious fresh oysters.
Found in the camps of Julius Caesar and
taken to Versailles for Louis XIV,
Cancale’s oysters are without doubt
something special, even accompanying
Napoleon on the march to Moscow.
At low tide, it is possible to see where
the oysters are grown; the prime location
is next to the jetty on rue des Parcs
where the beach is covered with
generations of empty shells.
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Cancale’s port area is very pretty
with a number of glass-fronted
restaurants, many offering
oyster-tasting.
Enjoy a coffee in town and stroll among
the stalls selling shellfish and fish, or
take a walk along the coastal path which
leads to the Pointe de Grouin and offers
stunning views of Mont St
Michel.
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Brittany holiday accommodation near
Fougeres »
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The town of Fougeres is built on a huge
granite ledge and was a heavily fortified
strategic site in medieval times. Today,
Fougeres is a town of art and history.
The topography of Fougeres is
particularly interesting. Streets that
look just a few metres long on a map turn
out to be long plunges down several
levels of this split-level site; and
lanes turn into flights of steps.
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The dominant feature of Fougere is the
Chateau which was built below the level
of the main part of town, on a low spit
of land that is towered over by, 2 huge
rock faces. Although protected by a moat
full of weirs and waterfalls, the site
was a defence failure and was repeatedly
captured by medieval adventurers
including du Guesclin, Constable of
France from 1370 to 1380.
Approach Fougere’s castle from
Place des Arbres beside
St-Leonard’s church for a scenic
entrance. Footpaths, ramps and stairways
drop down through successive tiers of
pretty public gardens. The walk offers
fantastic views of the ramparts and
towers and eventually reaches the water
meadows of the River Nancon, which are
crossable beside a pretty little cluster
of medieval houses on the riverbank.
Why not pay a visit to the Foret de
Fougeres, towards Vire. The beech tree
woods are beautiful, with various stone
structures and long forgotten trails of
old stones scattered amongst the spruce,
plus a number of dolmens (burial
chambers.
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Brittany holiday accommodation near
Pont-Aven »
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The pretty town of Pont-Aven is situated
just east of
Concarneau inland from the tip
of the Aven estuary. It is a picturesque
port popular with tourists due in part to
its art galleries. The artist Gauguin
came to Pont-Aven in the 1880s to paint
before leaving for Tahiti. Gauguin
produced some of his best works in
Pont-Aven, and his influence was such
that the Pont-Aven School of fellow
artists was founded here – the best
known of these artists was Emile Bernar.
It is unfortunate however that the town
has no
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permanent collection of Gauguin’s
work.
The promenade Xavier-Grall criss-crosses
the tiny river in the heart of Pont-Aven
and offers glimpses of fashionable
mansions, draped in red ivy. Enjoy a
longer walk into the Bois d’Amour,
pretty wooded gardens, which have long
provided inspiration to painters, poets
and musicians.
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Copyright: Holiday France Direct 2008
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