Brest, Britany, France - Photo Travel Blog II
Brest, Bretagne
Visiting the port city of Brest, France
Photo Travel Blog II
Brest - A city which claims the most westerly point in France, le Pointe de Corsen, and which has its roots set firmly in Celtic, Norman, and Roman heritage, also claims a gruesome war history - having survived some of the fiercest battles of WWII. Although not the most classically beautiful port city, Brest has much to offer in the way of art, history and uniquely Bretagne culture.
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Harriet Woodman walks up the steps toward centre ville on an overcast day in Brest. (Photos by Avery Ches, 2022)
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The scene
Brest is a wonderfully gothic town - not gothic as in the art and architectural period defined by rising spires and flying, heavenly-reaching buttresses on cathedral walls - but in the more broad, modern day sense evoking a dark, sometimes unearthly mood - reminisce of vampires, cemeteries and mysteries in the night.
Although not built in the actual gothic period, the front tower and steeple of Église Saint-Louis de Brest, certainly evokes the lofty aspirations of gothic architecture.
As I am a painter and photographer much more than a writer, I will keep the writing on history and culture to a bare minimum and focus more on the sensation of the place, the photography and its overall aesthetic. (If you have well sourced history or cultural facts you might like to add to this article, please comment below in the comments section!)
The Americans left this war monument looking out over the wester port to honor those fallen in the battles at Brest during WWII.
In the Second World War, Brest survived heavy damage and most of the old city was destroyed. Being the most western point to bring supplies and troops into Europe through France, Brest was the bloody scene of one of the fiercest battles in WWII. For this reason and others, Brest is a must stop for war history buffs, and we even saw a few war-centric tours going around the ports.
Historic photographs, maps and lithographs in the Brest museums show an old port city with astounding beauty, centuries old buildings, and typical architecture and art for a French town with roots going back thousands of years. Much of the city now displays new, soviet block-esque building style, with some gems mixed in between.
Even with much of the old city destroyed, Brest has some beautiful sites: the old fort, the port tower, a number of cathedrals (in amazing condition as they’ve been mostly rebuilt entirely in the later 20th century), a lovely walkway lined with trees and the impressive war monument dedicated and donated by the Americans after WWII, one of the most beautiful and gothic cemeteries I have ever seen.
Since we visited just for a day and night on a Sunday (I probably would not recommend this, as Sundays in France are generally very closed down), we were delighted to find the art museum in Brest to be absolutely wonderful. It was very well curated with a beautiful collection of art from across the centuries and is free on Sundays.
Finally, probably my favorite part about Brest and Britany is their fascinating ties to Celtic culture and language. It shouldn’t have surprised me then to see a lot of Celtic looking language on their signs which include the local dialect as well as more authentic Irish pubs than I could count. In fact, Brest felt in many ways more Celtic/Irish than it did France.
If you do travel to Brest, I’d recommend staying longer than one night so that you can go out to the cliffs and countryside, which is supposedly wonderful.
I personally loved the gothic aesthetic, rainy, moody scenes of grey buildings, foggy ports and dark, cozy Irish pubs. It did feel in ways like visiting the UK or Ireland but in France, which suited me just fine. Here are some final photos from our short one night stay in Brest.
My Photo Editing
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Curious about the photography from this blog or anything else about our trip to Brest? Get in touch with thoughts, questions and queries.
About the author:
Avery Ches
Avery Ches is an artist and photographer living in Aix-en-Provence, France by way of New Orleans, LA. Originally born in Kentucky, Avery found herself in France pursing a Master of Fine Art in Painting & Drawing. Her work is inspired by travel, landscapes, especially dream-like horizons, and the nude figure.
