Just got back from Brest. One of my very favourite places in France. The city and port is in the farthest tip of the “Finistère” in Brittany, France; “Finistère” comes from old French, “Fin des Terres” or “Ends of the Earth”. And so it is.
One of the biggest ports in Europe, it is also home to one of the biggest Naval bases. This means boats galore. You don’t go to Brest for sun, tanning and swimming. You go for the sailing. And you’d better be an excellent sailor. At Brest, the Atlantic meets the estuary of the Penfeld river, at a sea called the “Mer d’Iroise”. “Iroise” comes from the Celtic word meaning “narrow and dangerous”. I can fully confirm that. The water is almost always at a cold 14° in the hottest summer and the waves are always high.
The furthest most Western tip of Europe is where you will find a lot of water, water, rain, rain, music and of course, good food. I feel very much at home here: I am alive when I am by the ocean and I absolutely love the cold water, the freezing rain, the terrible weather, the violent waves and the very tough sailing. Sailing on the Mer d’Iroise always reminds me that we are nothing and that the best place to be, is at one with nature. Mother Ocean is a hard task master, and the God Neptune is abundant but demanding. Once you’ve learned to navigate out through to the High Atlantic, you meet seals and cold-water dolphins. I am always so sad to come back to Earth. One day though, I won’t. And that day, you’d all better be happy for me. Because that’s exactly where I want to be.
