Brittany (Bretagne) is a wide peninsula located in the west of France, hugged by the English Channel at the north and the Atlantic Ocean at the west. The capital of Britanny is Rennes, a very active city of 250000 inhabitants.

The economy of Britanny is based upon two major activities: agriculture (breading cows and growing vegetables) and the fishing industry. The underground of the region is free of any metal, mineral or carbon and there are no polluting industries; you can breathe a fresh and vivifying air. Recently, Brittany has improved its economic activity towards the advanced technology industries in order to answer the demand of diversification of the newcomer young people on the job market and to comply with the crisis in the agriculture and fishing industries.

Since the beginning of time, this land resisted the furious attacks of nature and the scars of tumultuous history. Along the coasts of the English Channel, sea and land merge together in strange rules, cutting out broad fjords named Abers by the Bretons. The powerful waves of the Atlantic crush itself heavily on the long sand beaches of the southern coast.

Brittany is indeed an ocean country.

With 1200 km (715 miles) of ocean coasts featuring sand beaches and abrupt cliffs where the tide comes and goes 4 times a day to offer you four different scenes, It is probably sure that you will find yourself daydreaming, walking for miles along the white sandy beaches without seeing anybody, just following the rhythm of the seagulls songs and the drums on the ocean waves. It is part of why people love Britanny and the mystery of the communion with Mother Nature.

These exclusive 'mini paradises' and the specificity of the light have attracted many painters in Brittany who came to visit or to live and to accomplish their Art like Gaughin and Van gogh.

It is also called the 'Pen rear Bed' ('the end of the World' in Breton). La Bretagne is the most Western land of the old European continent, last rampart known against the marine monsters which reigned on the mysterious depths of the ocean and the imagination of our ancestors. It is also where the legend saw the atlantis city disappeared.

Populated by fugitives of Wales, running for their life from the Angles and the Saxon, the coasts and the forests of Brittany kept deep inside, the memories of all the legends and the tales of the imaginary Celt Era. The heart of Brittany is covered by this protective 'Brocéliande' forest, silk nest Merlin's tomb of Merlin and the legend of King Arthur.

It is a land of legends which has been preciously kept through the ages and the superstition is still, today, in every Breton (people from Britanny) families who regularly ask for help from spiritual Healers and druids to respond to their needs in their every day life and health issues.

Enriched by its particular history path imprinted by many invasions of tribes from all over Europe, Brittany is proud to hold within it borders, a unique megaliths vestige (the site of Carnac is unique in   the World with these alignments of menhirs spread on miles) which we still do not know a lot about it as it keep its mysteries. The pretty granite houses with slate roofs, the numerous medieval churches(enclos paroissiaux) and their magnificent granite medieval sculptures which punctuate the country roads, the tiny chapels in the harbors with their collection of ex-votos offered by families(like in Auray) and sailors for generations and the large majestic cathedrals on the Breton pilgrims roads make the trip to Britanny a absolute necessity.

In the heart of this country, you will find amazing untouched little villages in granite stone like Locronan in Finistere where it seems that nothing changed since the last king died centuries ago….

 Even the language they speak among them seem from an other era. They do not speak French but Breton. Everybody speaks French but they prefer to speak Breton in order to keep their traditions secret.

With their close origins to the Celts and the Irish, the Breton are different from the Latin or Germanic origins from the rest of the population of France, Plus, Brittany became part of France very late in history (in 1532 when the daughter of Anne de Bretagne , duchess of Britanny dukedom, married Francois 1er, King of France).

At first sight, they can appear cold and hard but if you take time to speak with them and to listen to them they will show you quickly that no one should trust appearances. Traditionally very welcoming, the Breton are extraordinarily open and love to meet new people. Travellers by necessity but also by taste and choice, the Breton welcome foreigners like family and friends.

Lately engaged in the Tourism economy in France, Brittany preserved the land, the nature, the architecture, the culture and the truness of the people who live there, for their pleasure as visitors.

Britanny became the destination #1 for Tourism in France, before Paris and the South of France. The hospitality industry is mostly based on small and medium familial hotels and restaurants where you will enjoy a good table with fresh homemade meals, family ambiance and quality of comfort. Those hotels welcome travelers like they are members of family they didn't know about.

Being in the country of apple cider, Galettes and Crepes (pancakes and salty crepes), fish and seafood, salted butter, fresh dairies, candies and all kinds of sweet, after a few days, your stomach will not want to live Britanny when it finally realizes what flavor and taste really mean.

With a really easy access from Paris in 2 hours by train (TGV) from gare montparnasse to Rennes, there is no reason why you should not spend at list one or 2 nights in Britanny. The TGV even stops to all the major touristic areas of Britanny and goes al away to the end of the peninsula in Brest. Some Breton commutes to Paris everyday by TGV to go to work.

It is also very easy to visit by car following the highway directly from Paris to Britanny in a 3 1/2 hours drive. Inside Britanny, free highways link all the major touristic areas to each other.

After all, all we have to say is if you really want to get a break and discover a truly natural way to spend life for a while, have a taste of Britanny !!

read also : Brittany by Region , where to stay in Brittany