Brest - Quimper 7th April 2011

We made the short over night sail from Bilbao to Brest, crossing the Bay of Biscay and dropping anchor very early the following morning.

With not much to do in the Breton port of Brest we made the 1 hour journey to Quimper, a small medieval town which is dominated by its huge cathedral.

Place de Buerre

In the first instance Quimper reminded me of Amsterdam, with little bridges crossing the small river that runs through the town centre, however, as we walked further into the town it soon took on the guise of a Tudor town not to dissimilar to Stratford upon Avon. With its over hanging timber framed buildings and its winding cobbled streets, Quimper is quintessentially French. I could imagine it the time of the revolution, with the Sans Culottes in the streets bellowing their revolutionary cries.

As we headed up one of the main streets we came upon the Saint Corentin Cathedral. A truly wonderful and impressive building. The interior is very light, with pinky brick work on the ceiling and whitewashed walls, it also boasts some of the most amazing stained glass windows that could rival any great Cathedral. We had a walk around this very serene church and just happened to notice something quite peculiar. As we sat at the rear of the church looking down the aisle towards the high alter we noticed the top of the aisle bent towards left. It was purposely built like this to depict Christ's head fallen to one side whilst on the cross, I hope this comes across in the picture below, it was quite disorientating!

The aisle of the St Corentin Cathedral.

Once we emerged back outside in to the warm French air we walked across the town square, flanked by its Hotel de Ville, with its billowing tricolour flags, and an impressive looking art gallery, which unfortunately we did not have time to stop at, but is definitely a reason to return. We strolled up cobbled streets to the 'crepe quarter'. A delightful network of streets and squares full of creperies. One thing that struck me was how quiet and peaceful the town was, despite it being a Friday you could easily wander up and down without to much hustle and bustle.

Lunch was to be had sat out by the river, eating pain au chocolat and crusty baguettes. It was just wonderful.









Full of quirky shops, unique boutiques and wonderfully French bakeries Quimper is a hidden little gem tucked away in north-west Brittany that should most definitely be on any tourists itinerary, it was the pleasant surprise of my trip.

Once we were back on board ship, we set sail out of the Bay of Biscay and made the right turn home for Southampton.