We didn’t spend all our time in Lorient: the surrounding area offered too many tempting distractions. We visited the fortified walled city of Concarneau and strolled round the imposing granite ramparts. We explored the crooked streets of mediaeval Vannes, a glorious hotchpotch of timbered buildings with pointed gables and overhanging facades. We spent an afternoon in Pont-Aven, where Gauguin and his friends were inspired to found their school of painting and still enchanting today with its water mills, flower-bedecked riverside walks and numerous art galleries.

Brittany throngs with tourists during the summer but it is easy to escape the crowds. On a rocky perch near Guidel Plages we dabbled our feet in the water and watched brightly-coloured windsurfers brave the Atlantic waves. At the little port of Doëlan we had the place to ourselves apart from a scattering of artists, deep in concentration as they tried to capture the tranquil scene. Until midday. On the stroke of twelve there was a flurry of activity as they deserted their easels and gathered on the quayside for lunch.

We may have smiled at their quintessentially French behaviour, but food featured prominently among our own daily pleasures. We ate crêpes and galettes, drank sparkling cider and apple juice from local orchards. We indulged our love of seafood with a mighty platter of prawns, whelks, oysters and crab which took two hours to consume with the help of an array of forks, pins and nutcrackers.

For our last evening we opted for simpler fare and settled down to a pizza on the terrace of L’Abri Côtier at the Pointe d’Arradon on the Morbihan Gulf. Before us, assorted boats bobbed on the water backed by some of the gulf’s many islands. Keen to establish which ones, we turned to the waiter, who reeled off a string of names, concluding with a smile, “et le tout forme le paradis (and together they make paradise).” We could only agree as the sky turned gently pink and the moon peeped out from behind a gossamer cloud.

Stalls at Lorient

Where you can stay

Breton Country Cottages has more than 30 self-catering holiday properties in the Morbihan region of southern Brittany. Hand-picked by the company’s British owner, Marion Wilkinson, they range from small cottages for two to large gites for 22.

Tel 0033 297 398 742
E-mail wilkinson.bcc@wanadoo.fr

Brittany online

www.festival-interceltique.com
www.festival-cornouaille.com
www.brittanytourism.com
www.quimper-tourisme.com
www.tourisme-vannes.com