Related Bretagne Favorites Tips

Favorite thing: Much discussed in the forums with lots of heart, I just received my first government magazine from the regional council in both French and Breton, Morbihan the Conseil General.

According to the INSEE (statiscal office of France) and the Observatoire de la langue Bretonne, in 2007 there were 200 000 folks speaking the language but 70% were age 60 years old or more!

The reason Unesco is helping to keep it alive and wont let it die. The Morbihan the only breton name department in France ,meaning petite mer or small sea, has the second highest concentration of language takers behind the other Breton area of Finistére. Also as far as cities, Vannes is the 2nd largest school language takers behind Rennes.

Today about 700 000 kids take alternative courses in Breton in Brittany at schools;where the language is taught.

There are two languages in Brittany,one is Breton a celtic language and the other is the gallo a romanise latin language. The Breton is traditional spoken in the West of the region and the Gallo on the East more or less following a line from St Brieuc in the north to pays de Guérande in the south.

Vannes is Gwened (my alias here in VT)
Auray is An Alre (where I live)
You have Lorient=An Orient
Pontivy = Pondi

Much to discontent locally, the region of Brittany was five departments until 1941 including the now outsider Loire-Atlantique (Nantes). There is a drive in parliament to bring back in to Brittany.

More info can be read at

http://www.fans-of-brittany.com/
Fans of Brittany
http://www.infobretagne.com/index.html
information touristic on Brittany
http://www.ofis-bzh.org/index.php
site of the langue Bretonne
http://www.omniglot.com/books/language/breton.htm
courses of Breton

http://www.bertaeyn-galeizz.com/bertaeyn-10.htm
Gallo language
http://www.lexilogos.com/gallo_dictionnaire.htm
courses and grammar Gallo

Fondest memory: learning a new language lol!!! kenavo

Favorite thing: If you stay in Brittany you have no need for toll booths, there aren't any!!!!! Due to an ancient law dating back to Queen Anne of Bretagne, it is forbidden to create toll roads so no paying even on the freeways. If you are coming through St Malo, you can go as far down as Nantes south and to Laval on the road to Paris w/out paying, in fact all over the 4 departements (counties) that make up the Brittany region.

What conversion are you talking about ? I've had my current card since sept. 2008 and it has not been changed. In France we have always had pin-numbers when needed, although some shops still have the old sliding-through-the-slot machines. But on motorways where we have to pay, we just put the card in, and the machine spits it back out again, w/out having to type the pin number, so I imagine your card will work. There's hundreds of Brits pass through here every day so I don't suppose they all change their C.C.

Favorite thing: Lunchtimes are taken very seriously around here. Turn up in any town between about 12 and 2pm, and the streets are likely to be totally deserted. Shops shut for at least an hour, usually two.

Basically if you want to enjoy a bustling Breton scene, go early. People will start to reappear later in the afternoon, but most markets are held in the mornings anyway!

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Fondest memory: What I remind for first, if I am thinking for that region? For the sunsets. Unique and unforgettable. To sit at beach and look for the colours, hear to the song of wind and waves and dream a while, until it get dark. Only then we went home, slowly...
What a mood.
In that tip are some beautiful pictures. I am sure you want travel soon.

Favorite thing: An enclos paroissial (above you see the plural form; the English translation is "parish enclosure") is a typical religious architecture in Bretagne.
It consists of:
1) a church;
2) a charnel house (it can also be used as a normal chapel);
3) a calvaire, the real symbol of Breton faith. Calvaires are big sculptures representing the Crucifixion and other Biblic scenes;
4) a cemetery (not obligatory).
These four elements are located within an enclosure, which explains the name.
I have visited quite a lot of them during my last trip to Bretagne: Saint-Jean-du-Doigt, Saint-Thégonnec, Guimiliau and more.

Fondest memory: SPREV stands for "Sauvegarde du Patrimoine Religieux En Vie" ("Protection of the Living Religious Heritage").
It is a non-profit organisation of students who lead you to the discovery of the Breton churches and enclos paroissiaux.
Most of them are young women and most of them are able to make the explanation very interesting, with anecdotes and questions to the visitors. Only a young man who told us about the Roscoff church was quite boring.
However, it was sad to realize that this "job" is not well rewarded, since the tourists who really want to enrich their culture are very few. In a church, my parents and I were the only people who listened to the guide.
You can find more information about SPREV here.

Favorite thing: What I discover on the Island is that it is a bit expensive to rent these Bicyles. You pay an average of 10 euros for a period of few hrs. It is more than that in some cases.
However, it is better to just walk the Island which is about 8 km by 4km.

Favorite thing: Usually, this is the first port of call for visitors setting foot on the Island. This is where you make enquiries as to where to rent bicycles or vechicle to tour the Island.
You are also given pamflets showing areas of interests.