Events & Festivals in Brittany in December

A delicious market display.

Honfleur's traditional market is a positive delight for anyone who appreciates the best fresh fruit and vegetables or fish, as well as for lovers of fine food looking for the best local produce (milk jam, honey, marmalade, garden vegetables, orchard fruit, chicken, rabbit, cheese, farmhouse butter, foie gras, oysters, etc.)

A history of names.

Between 1224 and 1428, the commune was known variously as: Trévenech, Trévenoc, Trévenec and finally Trévéneuc.
It takes its name from Saint-Guthénoc, otherwise spelt as: Guezenec, Guennec, Venec, Veneuc, Venoc.
This name in turn comes from the jeu du crapaud, the toad in the hole game, no doubt made from wood and painted red.
The game involved pitching a two-sou coin into a slot, the mouth of the toad. The first player to succeed would win all the other coins that missed the target. The inhabitants of Tréveneuc were apparently much given to playing this game, hence their nickname of the "red toads".

Main places of interest to visit:
church of Saint-Colomban: traces of an original 14th century building remain in the south wall of the present church;
Château de Pommorio: dating from the 18th century, aligned with the church of Saint-Colomban, surrounded by gardens gradually recovering from the ravages of the great storm of 1987 ;
Le Palus: the "Palus" foreshore takes its name from the Breton word "Palud", meaning marsh". The line of pebbles washed up by the sea prevents the stream from flowing normally, creating a marshy area where reeds grow;
Port-Goret: the name is Breton in origin: Gored means "a fishery with a dam". The remains of the dam can still be seen on the foreshore now known as "Port-Goret".

History and heritage at your feet.

Take the Sentier des Douaniers footpath to begin the circuit along Casino beach, la Grève noire, la Grève de l'Isnain, until you come to Rue de la Source, which you follow up to the Saint-Quay fountain.
Take a right along the Boulevard du Littoral, then left along the Rue des Grèves.
At the roundabout, take a right along Rue Pierre-Loti, then immediately left into Rue Théodore Botrel; continue until you reach Rue des Landes.
Turning right, you will come upon the chapel of Notre-Dame de la Garde then double back down the Rue des Landes to the D 786 road (be very careful when crossing) and follow Rue de la Garenne to the crossroads: turn left and you will reach the Moulin Saint-Michel, with a magnificent view over Saint-Quay Portrieux and the whole of the bay.
From Rue du Tertre-Breton, after a few steps, go down Rue de la Fontaine and turn right into Rue des Banches. Take a left onto the GR 34 footpath: continue to the Château de Calan (now the KerMoor Hotel) and its oriental style, and the "Viking" memorial stone.

Chateau overlooking the Loire.

The chateau overlooking the Loire, made famous by Alexandre Dumas, was built in the 15th century.

Half residence and half fortress, the building was originally four-sided, flanked by four square towers and surrounded by deep moats fed from the Loire.

After major restoration work, a tour of the chateau now includes an audio-visual tour on the theme of the Loire.

A World Heritage site.

The area of some 253,000 hectares that makes up the Parc Loire-Anjou-Touraine is above all a land of confluences along its many rivers. A landscape shaped by man, the Loire is designated a UNESCO World Heritage "cultural landscape", a title awarded to an area in which aspects of cultural heritage blend harmoniously with a natural landscape of significant quality.
The architecture of the Park is characterised by the distinctive pale tufa stone which reflects sunlight and forms a stark contract to the blue slates of the roofs. The natural heritage reflects the image of the Loire landscape: a landscape made up of vines, hillsides, troglodyte caves, forests, pastureland and valleys, but also a host of wild birds (over 200 species identified), the European beaver, salmon and shad that are also part of the history of the Loire.
The Parc Loire-Anjou-Touraine covers 136 communes, all committed to an innovative, dynamic policy based on the preservation and presentation of their natural, historical and cultural heritage, on economic and social development and on enhancing environmental awareness and education. The Park is working to establish innovative experimental projects in the field of sustainable development.