the sunday times: brittany rules the waves

RAY WELLS finds a flavour of the West Country on the other side of the Channel

Littered with reminders of how British seaside towns used to be, and a home from home for anybody familiar with Cornwall, the coast of Brittany has survived generations of holidaymakers and remained more or less intact. Buoyantly at the upper end of the domestic holiday market and with fiercely maintained ancient traditions, the Côte de Cornouaille on Brittany’s south coast has a huge amount to offer young families who love the seaside, food and history.

Old hands know well the attractions of this area, but coming to Cornouaille for the first time, I was reminded of my West Country childhood, when the peace of the countryside was broken only briefly by influxes of what we quaintly called “visitors”.

For one thing, the French seaside is less crowded, certainly outside the intense summer period when the French descend en masse on their beautifully maintained holiday homes along the stretch of coast we explored between the lovely medieval city of Quimper and the busy port at
St Nazaire. As Paris empties for August, vast yacht marinas briefly disgorge an armada into the Atlantic and the pristine white gold sand undergoes its annual, elegant invasion.

The French take their family holidays seriously and a good choice of location is paramount. Papa and maman have to eat well, the local markets and shops must be diverting and the children must be able to entertain themselves.

These are things Brittany does well, particularly the eating. Most towns have weekly farmers’ markets and if laziness discourages you from buying fresh produce from the stalls, the prix fixe plats du jour available from the vast range of restaurants offer an easy alternative. Out of high season there are still enough restaurants and brasseries plying their trade to satisfy
most tastes, and booking is usually unnecessary.

Much is written about the importance of fresh ingredients but here it’s a simple fact of life — the fruits de mer in restaurants such as Sur Le Pont in Pont Aven (00 33 298 061 616) or L’Oceane in the village of Nevez (00 33 298 067 515) were landed just up the road at Concarneau. France’s subsidised maritime economy is suffering, like its British counterpart, although wandering around the chandlers and sail-makers in Brest and L’Orient (once the site of a German submarine base), it seems a thriving industry.

For a deeper understanding of this important element of Breton life, we visited the impressive Oceanopolis in Brest. This ocean discovery park has 50 aquariums in three zones — polar, temperate and tropical — with related films and shows. Entry is £11.60 for adults, £8 for 4-17 year olds and free for little ones, and it’s open all year (www.oceanopolis.com).

The local newspapers carry doom-laden stories about the fishing fleet and falling stock levels but the French eat a lot of fish and in this part of the world they care enormously about how it’s cooked. It’s not cheap but as everybody with gastronomically adventurous children knows, it’s sometimes worth the investment to broaden their culinary horizons. And, of course, they don’t add to the wine bill — yet.

At the age of 10, the twins could have been forgiven for turning their noses up at some of the dishes we ordered, which resembled fishy still lifes. (Pont Aven is famous for being the location of an artistic movement founded by Gauguin with Emile Bernard in the 1880s.)

But they accepted most of the sea creatures, especially son Tom who took on pretty much anything that looked as if it could inflict pain. As a result, eating en famille was mostly a joy and a revelation for children not used to the strong, dark flavours of proper fish soup. We weren’t so impressed with the crepes that are on sale everywhere but if savoury or sweet pancakes are your idea of heaven, you’ll be happy.

Bretons are a jolly bunch, particularly at lunchtimes in the brasseries, and offer conversation without too much provocation. At the canalside Cafe de l’Epée in Quimper (0033 298 952 897) the £24 menu du pecheur hit the spot and daughter Claire’s steak hache bore as much resemblance to a hamburger as snow does to dandruff. Consequently, our week proved to be more passing time between meals than vigorous exploration.

The holiday tone was set the moment we settled down to a lengthy dinner aboard the ferry from Portsmouth. The crossing to St Malo takes more than eight hours so it’s worth getting a cabin. Driving the 140 miles from St Malo to our resort in Pont Aven was also a pleasure. The roads are smooth and trouble-free apart from an apparent aversion to clear directions where large towns and cities are concerned.

On arrival at our holiday park at Domaine de Kerlann, the children went off to explore the wooded grounds while my wife and I settled in. Holidays in mobile homes aren’t for everybody — you are inevitably reliant on good weather — but here we had comfortable accommodation with a good-sized sitting/dining room. The bedrooms and kitchen area were a little cramped but the units were well designed and everything worked properly.

This is primarily a French resort with about half the homes owned by families who spend the summers here, letting them out at other times. There’s plenty to do. The children particularly liked
cycling around the grounds. Hiring bikes is straightforward, as is organising horse riding and other excursions, which the staff, a mix of French and English, are happy to arrange.

There are several age-banded clubs for children, from toddlers to tweenies, based around the park’s swimming pool complex. Water sports are big, with outdoor and indoor pools for all the family, including shallow lagoons for the tiny, all closely supervised by trained staff.

Pool discipline is strictly applied, as our children discovered, initially to Claire’s tearful chagrin after an innocent misunderstanding involving slide protocol, which was later effortlessly surpassed by Tom, shamed into competitive misdemeanour after his sister was ticked off.

The countryside site prides itself on being a safe haven for families, with security codes needed to drive in and out and wide range of organised activities such as the karaoke club, pool/video game room, arcade machine hall and all-weather football pitch/basketball court. The basic supermarket has fresh croissants and there are bars and a restaurant for those who don’t want to venture out. Many of the mobile homes have balcony extensions and, although not cheek by jowl, there’s a strong communal element to holidays at the Domaine de Kerlann, which
becomes more evident in summertime.

This type of holiday best suits people with children aged five to 12 as it is set up so that youngsters can make friends easily, leaving parents time to relax. In high season it wouldn’t suit those who seek privacy and quiet, but outside the peak weeks it’s a good base for touring a pretty part of the world whose beaches and coastline are a breath of fresh air.

I remembered my children’s teacher telling me about a scene she witnessed many years ago while en vacances with French friends. An ancient Breton farmer, surveying a large English family playing on the beach, grunted and pointed gnarled finger out to sea, saying: “A thousand years ago they went that way. Now they’re all coming back.” It’s not hard to see why.

Ray Wells travelled as a guest of Siblu Holidays (0871 911 2288, www.siblu.com). Seven nights in a holiday home at the Domaine de Kerlann holiday park in July start from £777 for two adults and up to three children. Portsmouth to St Malo ferry travel was provided by
Brittany Ferries (08709 076 103, www.brittany-ferries.co.uk). A return crossing in July, with a two-berth inside en-suite cabin, costs from £268

‘ Eating en famille was a revelation for children not used to the strong, dark flavours of proper fish soup ’

‘ The roads are trouble-free apart from an apparent aversion to clear directions ’