National Geographic Traveller (UK)
Weekender: Finistère
Escaping to France’s windswept west
Brittany’s extreme west is a land of plenty, offering grand lighthouse landmarks and beachside restaurants celebrating
some of France’s finest seafood. WORDS: Carolyn Boyd
Where France hooks its Breton arm into the wild Atlantic, you’ll find Finistère, the French equivalent of Land’s End. Located on the northwestern shores of France, the waves here can be ferocious — but this coastline can also be temperate, gentle and exotic thanks to the Gulf Stream, which lends its warmer climate to golden-sand beaches, picturesque harbour towns and botanical gardens.
Off the coast there are the islands to explore. Most can be reached by footpassenger ferries and are car-free, peaceful havens for cycling. From Roscoff, the Île de Batz is just a 15-minute boat ride away. Hire a bike on the quayside and pedal past granite cottages with gardens brimming with flowers. Off the west coast, the islands of Molène and Ushant (Ouessant in French) are two of around 20 islands and islets in the Ponant archipelago, which forms the westernmost bastion of metropolitan France. Île de Molène is rich in wildlife, with grey seals, otters and seabirds basking on its beaches. On the wild and remote Ushant, meanwhile, there are six lighthouses to protect ships from its rocky coastline.
Not so long ago, you’d have heard only Breton being spoken out here in northern Finistère. A stronger Celtic tradition — all lace bonnets and Breton bagpipes — is found in the south of the department, at Quimper and Pont L’Abbé, but locals here remain fiercely proud of their Breton identity and its seafaring, land-working heritage.
The region’s proximity to Grande-Bretagne also has its influence: in Roscoff, people have a close relationship to England, made stronger by generations of onion sellers crossing the channel from Roscoff to peddle the town’s delicate pink onions door-to-door throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. Anglo-Breton friendship is maintained these days by the hundreds of Brits rolling off the overnight ferry from Plymouth — by far the easiest way to arrive. While many pass through to destinations south, those who linger a while in northern Finistère will be spoilt by region’s plentiful cuisine; there’s a bounty of fresh vegetables grown in the redhued soil and a decadent array of seafood and fish landed fresh each day. Just take a seat on the terrace of a harbour-front restaurant and tuck in.