Brest, France

Brest is a city in the Bretagne région, north-west France, sous-préfecture of the Finistère département. Located on the western tip of the Brittany peninsula, the city is an important port and naval base. Population of the city: 146,000 inhabitants as of 2004 estimates; population of the metropolitan area: 303,484 inhabitants as of 1999 census.

History

The military harbor was fortified by Vauban (1633-1707). During World War II, the Germans held a large submarine base in Brest. Destroyed at the end of the war, the city has since been rebuilt. The rebuilt city consists primarily of utilitarian gray granite and concrete buildings.

Geography

Brest is located amidst dramatic landscape near the entrance of the natural Rade de Brest, at the west end of the Brittany peninsula.

Economy

Due to its location, Brest is regarded as the first French port that can be accessed from the Americas, and hence shipping is big business, although Nantes and Saint-Nazaire offer much larger docks and attract more of the larger vessels. Its protected location means that it is ideal to receive any type of ship, from the smallest dinghy to the biggest airplane carrier (the USS Nimitz has visited a few times).

The Charles De Gaulle aircraft carrier was built by DCN in Brest.

Tourist attractions

The Musée de la Tour Tanguy houses a collection of dioramas that depict the city of Brest on the eve of World War II. The Musée de la Marine de Brest contains exhibits which outline Brest's maritime tradition. There is also an aquarium, the Océanopolis marine centre.

The town of Brest itself is not very attractive, apart from a few select monuments such as the Castle and the Tour Tanguy. This is due to the British and American pilots who bombed the town during World War II, in an attempt to destroy the submarine base the Germans had built in the harbour. The town was hastily rebuilt in the 1950s using a large amount of concrete.

A few kilometres out of town, there are more impressive landscapes, from sandy beaches to grottos to tall granite cliffs. Sunbathing, windsurfing, yachting and fishing are practiced in the area. However, even in the middle of summer, Brittany can be stormy, due to its location in the far northwest of France.

Administration

Mayors of Brest

• 1959-1973: Georges Lombard
• 1973-1977: Eugènée Berest
• 1977-1982: Francis Le Blé
• 1982-1983: Pierre Maille
• 1983-1985: Jacques Berthelot
• 1985-1989: Georges Kerbrat
• 1989-2001: Pierre Maille (2nd term)
• since 2001: François Cuillandre

Miscellaneous

Culture

Brest is located at the heart of Brittany, and the local people are extremely proud of this. Breton is spoken here, albeit not as an official language (in the same vein as other French minority languages).

The city is host to several events to celebrate its long maritime history, the largest of which happens every four years, when the town organises a tall ship meeting. The last occurrence of that event was "Brest 2004".

Brest also hosts a yearly Short Film Festival called "Festival Européen du Film Court de Brest"

The city was also the setting for the 1982 art film Querelle.

Food in Brest

Restaurants in Brest have a wide variety of seafood. Fresh fish is featured on practically every menu and you can even find a few fish only restaurants. Local markets and supermarkets also offer lots of seafood.

Brittany's most famous local delicacy, the Breton crêpe, is another culinary feature. There are many crêpe restaurants (called crêperies) and Breton cider may also be drunk.

Traditional biscuits include Traou Mad which is a full fat butter biscuit, somewhat similar to Scottish shortbreads.

Sports

Since 1901 Brest has served as the midpoint for the epic 1200 km bicycle endurance event, Paris-Brest-Paris.

Education

• Brest has a university: Université de Bretagne Occidentale (UBO)
• Brest has several grandes écoles:
  • École nationale d'ingénieurs de Brest (ENIB)
  • École nationale supérieure des télécommunications de Bretagne (ENST Bretagne)
  • École nationale supérieure des ingénieurs des études et techniques d'armement (ENSIETA)
  • Institut supérieur de l'électronique et du numérique de Brest (ISEN Brest)
  • École supérieure de commerce de Bretagne
  • École Navale

Births

Brest was the birthplace of:

• Charles-Alexandre Léon Durand Linois (1761-1848), admiral during the time of Napoleon Bonaparte
• Prosper Garnot (1794-1838), surgeon and naturalist
• Victor Segalen (1878-1919), naval doctor, ethnographer, archeologist, writer and poet
• Georges Thierry d'Argenlieu (1889-1964), priest, diplomat and French Navy officer and admiral
• Alain Robbe-Grillet (born 1922), writer and filmmaker
• Pierre Brice (born 1929), actor
• Béatrice Dalle (born 1964), actress
• Yann Tiersen (born 1970), minimalist multi instrumentalist

Twin towns

Brest is twinned with:

• Cádiz, Spain
• Constan?a, Romania
• Denver, Colorado, United States
• Dún Laoghaire, Ireland
• Kiel, Germany
• Plymouth, United Kingdom
• Saponé, Burkina Faso
• Taranto, Italy
• Yokosuka, Japan

This article is licenced under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Brest, France".