Set on the mouth of the River Penfeld and overlooking the Rade de Brest – an enormous pure bay offering sufficient protected anchorage to accommodate a complete fleet – Brest is each the capital of Brittany’s Finistère area, and the second largest naval base in France, after Toulon. Rudolf Abraham explores what to see and do in Brest.
Brest just isn’t your typical Breton city, brimming with fairly half-timbered homes (head to close by Quimper for a suitably splendid dose of those). Apart from the stupendously spectacular fortress, Brest is sort of completely trendy – having been roughly fully levelled by Allied bombing in WW2. But it surely’s a city with stacks of character, and loads of tradition – assume an sudden mixture of naval heritage, city regeneration and a sprinkling of surfy aesthetics – and there’s greater than sufficient in and round Brest to fill just a few days of exploring, with loads of scrumptious native seafood and different good Breton fare, from avenue meals to Michelin-starred superb eating.
It may be set in the direction of the far-flung western tip of Brittany, however Brest is a nonetheless a doddle to succeed in from the UK, simply 4 hours from Paris by prepare, or 12km from Brest Bretagne Airport. Extra enjoyably, I took the ferry, travelling in a single day to Saint-Malo with Brittany Ferries, and persevering with by prepare by way of Rennes – arriving in Brest simply in time for lunch.
What to see and do in Brest
The Château de Brest sprawls above the left financial institution of the River Penfeld – enormously imposing, it’s going to most likely go away you questioning why you haven’t seen images of it plastered in all places. One purpose is that on the centre of the large fortress partitions, stand the somewhat good-looking buildings of the Maritime Prefecture of the French Navy – so images pointing in that route are prohibited. By no means thoughts, there are many different elements of the fortress to snap at.
The Romans constructed a fort on the positioning of the current Château – a bit of Roman partitions can nonetheless be seen on the base of the medieval partitions. It handed forwards and backwards between France and England throughout the Hundred Years Struggle, turned a key fortress of the Dukes of Brittany from the fifteenth century, earlier than Vauban was commissioned to bolster and elaborate its stupendous defences when Brest turned a naval port within the seventeenth century. The Château additionally homes the superb Musée Nationwide de la Marine. One of many highlights of the massive assortment is a bunch of genuinely spectacular wood statues which as soon as embellished ships, the work of native 18th century sculptor Yves Etienne Collet.
From the ramparts you get a hen’s eye view of the mouth of the River Penfeld and the bridge which spans it, the Pont de Recouvrance. And it’s the bridge, not the fortress, which is definitely probably the most iconic sight in Brest.
The Pont de Recouvrance is a vertical-lift bridge, its central part capable of be raised by 4 large motors to permit tall ships to move beneath, and permitting entry to the massive naval dry docks simply upstream from the bridge. Constructed to exchange the previous nineteenth century bridge which was destroyed within the Allied bombings of 1944, it was designed to make an impression, acceptable for a city rising from the ashes of battle. And it’s fairly a sight. With its 70m-high concrete pylons, it was on the time of its opening in 1954 the tallest vertical-lift bridge in Europe (that title now goes to the Pont Gustave-Flaubert in Rouen, accomplished in 2008). ‘It at all times jogs my memory of a guillotine,’ an area stated to me, and I’ve to confess the comparability is a really acceptable one.
On the close to finish of the bridge, you’ll discover L’arbre Empathique, a 12m-high metallic sculpture of a tree by Spanish architect Enric Ruiz Geli. Or somewhat, it’s solely a shell – look nearer and also you’ll see residing vegetation rising inside and sprouting by means of the lattice-like floor. And on the far finish of the bridge, you possibly can’t miss the somewhat enjoyable sculpture of Fanny de Laninon and Jean Quéméneur, characters from two standard previous sailor’s songs that are right here mixed in a single second, with Fanny grabbing Jean’s shirt-front to cease him from toppling backwards over the wall. Close by and dominating the proper financial institution of the Penfeld at this level is the Tour Tanguy, a 14th century tower, house to the Musée du Vieux Brest.
Simply upriver from the bridge on the proper financial institution, stands Les Ateliers des Capucins – a former Vauban-built convent website, later a naval barracks after which ship restore workshops, now remodeled right into a vibrant cultural centre with galleries, workshops, a cinema, bars and eateries. The terrace alongside the aspect, the place tables spill out into the sunshine, is maybe the al fresco consuming spot within the metropolis. On my first night in Brest, I settled myself in at Fabrik 1801, ordered some avenue meals, and made the a lot of the intensive listing of Breton craft beers (by no means, ever miss a possibility to attempt a glass of Duchesse Anne Triple).
Attending to the Atelier des Capucins is half the enjoyable. The cable automobile or Téléphérique de Brest crosses the Penfeld between the Ateliers des Capucins and the left financial institution, passing excessive above the river – opened in 2016, it was France’s first city cable automobile, and the views are implausible.
I discussed that aside from the fortress little or no of Brest survived the bombings of WW2. That ‘little or no’ is Rue Saint-Malo, a slim, cobbled avenue hidden away down some steps close to the Atelier des Capucins, with outsized potted vegetation, artist’s ateliers just a few contented-looking cats.
From the Château it’s additionally price heading alongside the tree-lined Cours d’Ajot to the imposing WW1 Naval Monument, which overlooks the Port de Commerce – the latter revealing one other fully completely different face of Brest, the place you’ll discover avenue artwork and bustling cafés dealing with the port space throughout Quai de la Douane.
The city’s full of life Sunday market, the Marché Saint-Louis, is certainly price a morning stroll. Stalls fill the streets across the Église Saint-Louis (whence, clearly, the identify) – bask in some hearty native sausages and potatoes, or cease at Coquillages Salomé for contemporary oysters and a crisp glass of Muscadet. I like to recommend you convey a bag to hold off some contemporary produce for a picnic!
Lastly, Brest is the gateway to an extremely lovely stretch of shoreline – and in case you fancy a swim, bounce on the quantity 2 bus and head out to the favored Plage de Sainte-Anne. From right here I adopted a bit of the well-known Brittany Coast Path, strolling above cliffs and previous forts, to the enduring Petit Minou lighthouse, subsequent to a preferred browsing seashore the place waves curled in under rugged cliffs. Then it was again to Plage de Sainte-Anne, the place the Du Bois made for a welcome watering gap at one finish of the seashore, with a pleasant, sun-soaked terrace.
Brest sees far fewer guests than better-known cities like Saint-Malo or Rennes – nevertheless it’s a splendidly rewarding nook of Brittany which is effectively price exploring.
Data image brest-metropole-tourisme.fr
Rudolf Abraham is an award-winning journey author, photographer, creator of over a dozen books and has contributed to many extra, and his articles and pictures are printed broadly in magazines. rudolfabraham.com
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