Tourist information -
Brest
Set in a magnificent natural harbour, known as
the Rade de Brest, the city of Brest is doubly sheltered from the
ocean storms by the bulk of Léon to the north and by the
Crozon peninsula to the south. It has always played an important
role in war, and in trade whenever peace allowed. Today it is the
base of the French Atlantic Fleet with a dry dock that can accommodate
ships of up to 500,000 tonnes; the town, as a ship repair centre,
ranks sixth in the world.
During World War II, Brest was continually bombed to prevent the
Germans from using it as a submarine base. When the Americans liberated
it on September 18, 1944, after a six-week siege, they found the
town devastated beyond recognition. The architecture of the postwar
town is raw and bleak. There have been attempts, as in Caen, to
green the city, but despite the heaviest rainfall in France the
site has proved too windswept to respond
As a tourist centre, Brest has little to offer, and few relics
of the past remain. The fifteenth-century castle looks impressive
on its headland and offers a superb panorama of the city, but once
inside it is not especially interesting. Three of its towers house
part of the collection of the Musée National de la Marine
(April-Sept Mon & Wed-Sun 10am-6.30pm, Tues 2-6.30pm; rest of
year Mon & Wed-Sun 10am-noon & 2-6pm, Tues 2-6pm; 30F/?4.57).
The fourteenth-century Tour Tanguy on the opposite bank of the River
Penfeld, with its conical slate roof, serves as the Musée
de Vieux Brest (June-Sept daily 10am-noon & 2-7pm; rest of year
Wed & Thurs 2-5pm, Sat & Sun 2-6pm; free). Dioramas convey
a vivid impression of just how attractive the city used to be.
Brest's most up-to-the-minute attraction is Océanopolis
, a couple of kilometres east of the city centre beside the Port
de Plaisance du Moulin-Blanc (daily: June-Sept 9am-7pm; rest of
year 9am-6pm; 90F/?13.72). This futuristic complex currently consists
of three distinct aquariums and a 3-D cinema. The aquarium in the
main white dome, known as the Temperate Pavilion, focuses on the
Breton littoral and Finistère's fishing industry, holding
all kinds of fish, seals, molluscs, seaweed and sea anemones. The
emphasis is very much on the edible, with the displays on the life-cycle
of a scallop, for example, culminating in a detailed recipe. To
that has recently been added a Tropical Pavilion, with a tankful
of ferocious-looking sharks plus a myriad of rainbow-hued smaller
fish that populate a highly convincing coral reef, and a Polar Pavilion,
complete with polar bears and penguins. Everything's very high-tech,
and perhaps a little too earnest for some visitors' tastes, but
it's quite possible to spend an entertaining day on site - especially
if you take the assorted restaurants, snack bars and gift stores
into consideration.
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