BRETAGNE

In this irresistible handbook, Brittany is brought to life with glorious colour photos and captions in five languages. The region has everything a visitor could ask for: sea, harbours, moorland, attractive small towns, prehistoric sites, castles, rivers and nature reserves. The world-famous coastline includes rugged headlands, granite cliffs and sheltered beaches, with the rocky Cap de Fréhel particularly celebrated for its wild beauty. The book starts with a spectacular aerial photo of the lighthouse of Petit Minou, surrounded by cliffs and a raging green sea. Brittany's ports include historic Rennes with its impressive architecture and authentic half-timbered façades. The forest of Brocéliande has long been associated with Arthurian legend and its tightly packed tree-trunks, half-visible in the mist, exude an eerie atmosphere. The Norman Chateau of Fougères is nowadays a celebrated tourist attraction, boasting a literary connection with Victor Hugo. The harbour of Saint Malo is a forest of masts with the city bastions rising above, and there is a wonderful photo of Mont St Michel silhouetted in mist with a flock of birds flying across the sunrise. Dinard is pictured with stripy blue and white tents on the beach, the fishing port Paimpol is captured in a sepia study, the Baie de Saint Brieuc is lonely and bleak, the Finisterre area includes the harbour of Morlaix into which two rivers flow under an imposing high viaduct, and the port of Roscoff has a long modern bridge to the isle of Batz. A spectacular photo shows the sea washing over a house on the island Ile de Sein, a one-hour crossing from the mainland. Brittany is home to 40,000 birds of 112 species, and the area is rich in folklore and tradition, featuring 66 different hairstyles and costumes. 320pp, softback, gorgeous colour photos on every page.