April 30 – May 27, 2019 (Spring)
Greeting: Bonjour
Gratitude: Merci
Currency: Euro (€)
Visa: Schengen
Cost of living: Medium
Brest isn’t your typical French vacation destination. Its strategic location and maritime infrastructure made it a prime target during World War II, and unlike in Paris, neither side pulled any punches. Similarly devastated cities like Warsaw or Munich sought to recreate their former old towns, but Brest eschewed rebuilding in favor of a new, modern city plan. It has changed relatively little since then though, and today feels dated, impersonal✨, even ugly. Nothing like the narrow cobbled lanes and exposed-timber houses of Vannes, nor the glittering glass high-rises of Seattle. It’s an unabashedly working-class city, a still-vibrant port✨, and a regional hub for Brittany. But as a place to just be, it was lovely. Cool weather, nice views of the water, and a bargain cost of living (for Western Europe) made for a satisfying-enough stay.
Where we stayed
Like usual, our rental came from Airbnb. The interior space was a bit tight – just a bedroom and a kitchen/dining/living/study room. Minimal counter space hardly left room for anything past a cutting board. But at least we had a functioning oven! In the pros column, huge sliding-glass doors let in a ton of light and great views of the bay, and opened up to a spacious porch we could use to hang laundry… or to sit for a relaxing evening. The view couldn’t match our stay in Split, but any time we get a glimpse of water✨ is a plus.
As another big advantage this month was not hearing our neighbors’ every word though the walls! Our neighborhood was definitely quiet✨. And even though our apartment building was directly above the town’s train line, the well-maintained machines were barely noticeable when they crept by. If anything, the occasional illusion of distant rolling thunder was relaxing.
Our neighborhood was mostly apartment buildings and single-family homes. The closest grocery store✨ was only a ten minute walk, but it was closed for part of our stay and we mostly shopped in the city center, roughly 20-30 minutes away. Spring was cool but mostly clear, the lengthening days filled with sunshine and usually just the right temperature for strolling.
What we did
This was a pretty slow month for us in terms of experiences. As usual, our favorite activity was simply walking around the city✨, whether for errands or exploration. Most of Brest consists of blocky concrete-and-stone apartments, but a stocky medieval castle✨ still guards the the harbor✨. It remains an active military installation, in addition to housing the Maritime Museum. Most of the city is set quite high off the water✨, with the lower rim given over mostly to port duty✨ and the upper level buffered by tree-lined✨ parks overlooking the expanse. The green space is popular with joggers and families, and is dotted✨ with playgrounds as well as war memorials✨.
Food & Drink
The dining in Brest was, on the whole, nothing to write home✨ about. We tried at first to shoehorn in some of our favorite recipes, which didn’t go so well. Sure, we indulged in the occasional duck breast from Lidl, and frozen veggies✨ were above-average. But it’s pretty tough to pull off poutine or nachos without shredded cheese✨ or curds. France’s deep-seated love of cheese variety doesn’t extent to shredded – Emmental (Swiss) is basically the only option. Strangely, chicken often cost more than even beef, and came in a confusing array of options✨. We took one home to roast, but accidentally picked a tough and stringy farm-style rooster that was probably meant to be the base for some low-and-slow French delicacy like coq au vin. Despite our proximity to the ocean, good seafood was practically nonexistent. Unfortunately we didn’t realize how good we had it in Vannes!
Things improved the more we leaned into the local palette. There was no shortage of great things to try – sliced meats, soft cheeses✨, potent mustards, and all manner of pâté and terrine✨. A couple of little quails✨ make a delightful meal, and local baked goods are second to none. Danielle especially enjoyed a goat cheese and vegetable tart✨ that was simultaneously flaky and creamy. We even tried our hands at making crepes, but without a perfectly flat pan or a proper spatula we couldn’t get them thin or even enough. Much easier to buy them from a crêperie (there’s one on just about every block). The lesson: when in Brest, do as the Brestois do.
Naturally, drinking well was less of a challenge. Good wine✨ is easy to find, and the quality stays decent even on the affordable side of the spectrum. This month we even “splurged” a bit on bottles in the €10+ range. Our favorite was from Terre d’Henri; at €11, it was a great value. Practically all wine sold – with a rare Spanish or Chilean exception – is French. It wasn’t quite the quality/bargain bonanza of Portugal or Argentina, but even a couple of Euros will buy a bottle equal to something mid-shelf in the States.
Brest’s beer selection proved better than Vannes, thanks to E. Leclerc and Bière & Malt✨. We sampled a beer brewed with algae✨ (slightly salty but otherwise average) and one imbued with rum✨ (bewilderingly popular, not great). The smaller breweries like Brasserie du Baril✨ and Philomenn are the ones turning out the best brews. One brewery, Lancelot, even softens things up by producing the local Breizh Cola✨. They aim to compete with Coke or Pepsi by… tasting just like them.
We learned about cider✨ last month, but didn’t realize that France, and especially Brittany, has a thing for whiskey. Specifically Scotch whisky, and specifically not American bourbon. But a small number of producers aim to scratch the itch locally by producing Breton whisky. It’s mostly bought by tourists and isn’t held in terribly high esteem by the locals, but that’s by no means a knock on the product. The quality is actually pretty good – now they just need to wait for the reputation to catch up.
Getting around
Uber↗ is available, but we never needed it. The center of Brest is sprawly but plenty walkable. A main tram line runs through the major downtown thoroughfare (which was mostly perpendicular to our neighborhood and therefore useless to us). But a decent bus network↗ fills in the gaps. The main train and bus station was just up the street from our apartment, which made our arrival from Vannes by Flixbus a breeze. Airport access is a touch trickier – we had to take a bus downtown, ride the northbound tram to Port de Guipavas (the northern terminus), and switch to the airport shuttle bus. But all that was covered by a single one-hour transit ticket, which can be purchased from kiosks or direct from the driver for €1.60.
Stuff of interest
Our SIMs↗ from SFR carried over this month. Our initial “Carte Connect” packet (€15 and including 2 gigs of data) expired after 30 days. Recharging actually cost us more – €20 for one month or €10 for a paltry 8 days. We about just buying another set of Carte Connect kits, but there were none to be found anywhere in Brest. In the end we were happy enough to pay €5 more to top up at a Tabac. Still far cheaper than cell service in North America.
For an unknown reason, every laundry detergent and fabric softener in the country is scented. Really scented. Like bathing in cheap perfume scented. It was so overpowering that it would give us headaches if we hang-dried our clothes inside. We ended up cutting our Tide-pod-equivalents in half to keep the stink manageable. No idea why unscented was unheard of – just one of those things we guess.
May means it’s time for Danielle’s favorite piece of entertainment kitsch, Eurovision! And since we were in Europe, we didn’t even have to pull a sneaky on a VPN to watch it. This year’s acts didn’t beat the 2016 show that introduced us to the phenomenon – still her favorite – but there were a few entertaining entries. We also caught the final season of Game of Thrones, though we wish we hadn’t. Watching what used to be one of our favorite shows complete its descent into dumpster fire✨ was disappointing, but at least it made for some fun memes. Finally, we jumped at a rare trip to the theater to catch the long-anticipated (for us) Detective Pikachu. Most theaters were only showing the VF print (version française, dubbed into French), but we tracked down Brest’s only VO (version originale, or undubbed) showing. Big thanks to this blog↗ for helping us make sense of those abbreviations!
What we learned
The ongoing yellow jacket protests✨ were a fixture during our stay. To our eyes, it seemed like the people of Brest, and France in general, have it pretty good. But whatever their grievances, we respect and admire the protesters’ willingness to invest their time and energy standing up for what they want. No change comes without effort, and no progress can survive undefended.