Quimper

After being underwhelmed with Brest, I decided to go south on Saturday.
The seaside tours that the Ship had arranged had fallen through due to
lack of interest and I had already decided to switch to my Normandy trip
to Sunday. I had read about the Festival de Cornouaille in a town called
Quimper in the Fodor's guidebook and it looked interesting. It was touted
as a 9 day street celebration of Celtic heritage held in a quaint Breton
town. I confirmed on Friday at the Brest tourist office that the festival
was still going on for the weekend.

Leaving the ship early on Saturday morning, I encountered a Sandy from the
Chartwell's food service crew who expressed an interest in going along.
So about 09:00 the two of us set off to Quimper, some 70 miles to the
south. Luckily, we were able to catch the first Ship's bus of the day
into downtown Brest which deposited us off right in front of the Gare SNCF
(train station). We got a noon train with a 19:00 return for only 20€,
giving us a good 6 hours to roam Quimper. The 70 minute ride was very
pleasant, traveling on the super-modern SNCF train through the Breton
countryside, making 4 stops in some of the smaller towns on the way. We
spotted about a half dozen Maritime cadets on board also getting out of
Brest for the day.

When we arrived in Quimper, there didn't seem to be much activity around
the station. It was already their 4 hour lunch break and most shops in
the vicinity were closed. Asking for directions to the fair, we hiked
toward the center of the town. After about a 6 block walk along the
lovely, florally decorated river quay, we spotted the first stalls of the
festival vendors. Luckily, it was early and the festival wasn't too
crowded yet and we were able to move through the stalls without having to
fight our way through crowds.

There was an interesting variety of locally produced goods at the stalls
along the quay: jewelry, artworks, Quimperware (locally produce pottery)
and food. We snacked at a crepe stand, bought some edible seaweed spread
and some souvenirs. Unlike the rest of the town, the shops along here
stayed open instead of closing for their mid-day siesta which was a nice
treat.

The fair led off the quay into the winding streets of the old town. There
was a central food market in the town with excellent fresh foods; fruits,
cheeses, breads, fish, pastries, etc. We got a variety of stuff there and
had lunch on the street French peasant style.

Wandering on further we came to the town square where they had a Celtic
orchestra accompanying 2 groups of native dancers having a sort of ancient
"dance off'. It was amazing to watch.

Heading back, we went to Quimper's cathedral of St Corentin, the 2nd
largest cathedral in France. It was magnificent. The festival continued
in the courtyard where they were having an "American Idol" style
competition of Celtic music. By evening, the clouds that had kept us cool
all day began to drizzle on us and it was time to return to Brest.