Bretagne
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Bretagne (English: Brittany, Breton: Breizh, Gallo: Bertègn) is a region of in the north-west of France. It's the only region where the motorways are free as a result there are no toll station in Bretagne (even in the region of Nantes, the historic Brittany). It is one of the best regions of France for hitchhiking - you'll probably wait less on average than in the rest of France.
Bretagne is still very attached to its celtic culture, as you'll no doubt notice on road signs, which are bilingual in French and Breton (Brezhoneg). To wait even less, it can be a good idea, if you're using a sign, to write the city name in Breton instead of French (Roazhon instead of Rennes, Naoned instead of Nantes, Kemper instead of Quimper, etc.).
If you're having trouble hitching, the intercity buses within Brittany are really cheap (I can't find the prices online, but in 2011, it was only 2€ to go from Quimper to Roscoff and similar distances - approximately 100km).
For information on the local busses, trains and boats, check the website breizhgo.bzh. Note that if you are under 26 years old and travelling in the summer, the region Brittany have sometimes campaigns during which if you make a reservation the day before you can have a free bus, boat or train ticket, on the Breizh Go website or app.
Culture Most Bretons do not feel French but Breton, they are very attatched to their culture and most dislike Paris and the Parisians because many come to Brittany to buy second homes, thus contributing to gentrification and empty littorals in the winter. AirBnb is also very disliked, so if you are in one, do not mention it.
If you come to Brittany, please don't mock the culture, especially the dances, making fun of it is considered very disrespectful, but if you wish to learn it you are very welcomed, the best way to do so is if you are in Lorient during the Festival Interceltique de Lorient.
Maybe due to the celtic culture, the Bretons also have a very strong relationship with legends. Please make sure you do not make fun of those legends or disrespect them (for example climbing a menhir or dolmen, as we can often see the tourists do, is very disrespectful) even if you don't understand them.
The Bretons are very proud people, but also very welcoming. you will find that people (with maybe the exception of big cities but even then) will eagerly talk to you, and if you are walking on quite deserted paths it is custom to say hello to the people you meet.
Brittany is constituted of four official parts we call "départements" in France (often refered to as the historical "pays" in Brittany) : Côtes d'Armor, Finistère, Ille-et-Vilaine and Morbihan. However, there was a fifth historical one, the Loire-Atlantique, but is since the 1940s not officially in Brittany anymore, even if it stays in historical Brittany. The point of view of whether it should be added back to Brittany or not changes from person to person.
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name of the departement | ID | main city | other important cities |
---|---|---|---|
Côtes-d'Armor | 22 | Saint Brieuc | Dinan, Guingamp, Lannion |
Finistère | 29 | Quimper | Brest, Châteaulin, Concarneau, Morlaix |
Ille-et-Vilaine | 35 | Rennes | Dol de Bretagne, Fougères, Redon, Saint-Malo |
Morbihan | 56 | Vannes | Lanester, Lorient, Pontivy |
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Regions: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes • Bourgogne-Franche-Comté • Bretagne • Centre-Val de Loire • Corsica • Grand Est • Hauts-de-France • Île-de-France • Nouvelle-Aquitaine • Occitanie • Normandie • Pays de la Loire • Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
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