The Painter’s Route :
A painters’ colony grew up around Gauguin in Brittany between 1886 and 1896, bringing together around twenty artists of various nationalities who wanted to invent new forms of artistic expression. This marked the birth of Synthetism or Symbolism in painting, and grew out of the meeting between Paul Gauguin and Émile Bernard. These artists, like a mediaeval brotherhood, lived together in inns, painted together in the open air and talked about art once evening came.
Find out more: www.bretagne.com/fr/culture/peinture
PONT-AVEN: THE VILLAGE OF PAINTERS
Discovered in the 1860s by an American painter, Pont-Aven became the favourite holiday resort of a highly cosmopolitan artists’ colony. The arrival of Gauguin and his disciples, first in Pont-Aven and then in Le Pouldu, marks an important turning-point in the history of painting. Now home to a museum, municipal artists’ studios, a Contemporary Art Centre and 60 exhibition spaces, Pont-Aven has anchored itself firmly in its artistic vocation.
Find out more: www.pontaven.com , www.cornouaille.com ,
www.pontaven.com/art/web/musee.html
Nearest Relais & Châteaux:
le Château de Locguénolé in Hennebont
l’Hôtel de la Plage in Sainte-Anne la Palud
le Castel Clara in Belle-Île
CLAUDE MONET AND HENRI MATISSE IN BELLE-ILE-EN-MER
When Claude Monet discovered Belle-Île-en-Mer in 1886, he made the island famous. It became a favourite destination for a large number of artists. The master of Impressionism was fascinated by the constantly changing weather and the way the landscape altered with the tides. “I am staying in a tiny hamlet on Belle-Île and working hard. It’s a very beautiful, very wild place; the sea is incomparably beautiful and some of the rocks are fantastic. What’s more, the place is known as the wild sea." It was while he was painting inland on the island in particular that Henri Matisse reached a critical turning-point in his career as a painter: “I used to have only bistres and earth colours on my palette (...) I was seduced by the brightness of pure colour. I returned from my trip with a passion for the colours of the rainbow.”
Find out more: www.belle-ile.com/doc/patrimoine.htm
Nearest Relais & Châteaux:
le Château de Locguénolé in Hennebont
l’Hôtel de la Plage in Sainte-Anne la Palud
le Castel Clara in Belle-Île
MATHURIN MEHEUT MUSEUM IN LAMBALLE
The Méheut museum is housed in a half-timbered building and is dedicated to the painter (1882-1958), a native of Lamballe and a renowned artist, decorator, illustrator, ceramicist and sculptor, who made a name for himself in Paris. He was a man of immense curiosity and did much of his preparatory work in the field, filling his sketchbooks with drawings and trying to capture the movements and gestures of sailors, farmers and craftsmen. All his subjects are handled with a powerfully comprehensive touch.
Find out more: www.lamballe-communaute.com/index.php?page=91
perso.wanadoo.fr/damien.jullemier/sts/mathurin-meheut.htm
Nearest Relais & Châteaux:
Le Manoir de Lann-Kerellec in Trébeurden
Hôtel Brittany à Roscoff
LA MAISON D’ARTISTE DE LA GRANDE VIGNE
La Maison d’Artiste de la Grande Vigne, which overlooks the port of Dinan, was the home of Yvonne Jean-Haffen (1895-1993), a pupil and friend of Mathurin Méheut, as well as the place where she worked and a source of inspiration. She travelled around Brittany with him continuously to find out more about the particular characteristics of each Pardon, the demonstrations of collective faith that brought thousands of believers, sometimes from great distances. The processions were great occasions for painters, giving them an opportunity to discover the great beauty of the costumes of the surrounding areas.
Find out more: www.mairie-dinan.com/culture.php?page=musees.php
Nearest Relais & Châteaux:
Les Maisons de Bricourt in Cancale
Le Manoir de Lann-Kerellec in Trébeurden
Hôtel Brittany à Roscoff
VICTOR HUGO IN DINAN, FOUGÈRES AND DOL-DE-BRETAGNE
Victor Hugo produced a number of sketches in his notebooks whilst he was exploring the Breton peninsula in 1834 and 1836. He was enthusiastic about the towns of Dinan, Dol-de-Bretagne and Fougères. Like the draughtsmen who produced drawings for the illustrated travel books known as Voyages pittoresques, he was drawn to mediaeval monuments and found himself drawing chateaux, ramparts and mediaeval churches. He fell in love with Fougères and wrote: “I have seen it all in sunshine, I have seen it at twilight, I have seen it by the light of the moon and still I do not tire of it: it is remarkable.”
Find out more: www.anthologie.free.fr/anthologie/hugo/hugo.htm , www.rocbo.chez-alice.fr/Max/culture/graph/hugo.htm , www.besac.com/zoom/victor-hugo/
Nearest Relais & Châteaux:
Les Maisons de Bricourt in Cancale
PAINTERS AND THE INTELLIGENTSIA IN DINARD
Follow in the footsteps of the artists, writers and intellectuals who have left their mark on Dinard. From the writer Judith Gautier to the painter Pablo Picasso, Dinard, as you will find, has long been a meeting place for the French and international intelligentsia.
Find out more: Office de Tourisme - Tél.: 02.99.46.94.12. - Fax : 02.99.88.21.07.
Nearest Relais & Châteaux:
Les Maisons de Bricourt in Cancale
"LA COHUE" MUSEUM OF FINE ART IN VANNES
The museum’s permanent collections, enhanced by the many works left in their care, offer visitors a tour that is both familiar and refreshingly new each time. The depiction of light in painting, the holy grail of painters, is still the starting-point for an exploration of 19th and 20th century painting. Conventional figurative landscapes sit alongside abstract compositions and echo each other visually, reaffirming the continuity of inspiration that links them.
Find out more: www.mairie-vannes.fr/palaisdesarts, www.tourisme-vannes.com
Nearest Relais & Châteaux:
Le Domaine de Rochevilaine in Billiers
L’Auberge Bretonne in la Roche Bernard
Le Castel Marie Louise in la Baule
Le Fort de l’Océan au Croisic
La Bretesche in Missillac
ROCHEFORT EN TERRE
Overlooking one of the most beautiful villages in France, the chateau, built on the site of a former mediaeval fortress, was the home of two Francophile American painters, Alfred and Trafford Klots. An important centre of Breton painting since 1880, Rochefort-en-Terre pays tribute to its artistic riches with a wealth of galleries, museums and private exhibitions. The chateau has, in fact, been open to the public since it was bought by the Departmental Council of Morbihan in 1978, offering visitors the chance to admire the talent of these two American artists, who were also knowledgeable collectors and architects.
Find out more: www.rochefort-en-terre.com
Nearest Relais & Châteaux:
Le Domaine de Rochevilaine in Billiers
L’Auberge Bretonne in la Roche Bernard
Le Castel Marie Louise in la Baule
Le Fort de l’Océan au Croisic
La Bretesche in Missillac
The Painter’s Route : nearby Relais & Chateaux properties
Hôtel et Spa de la Bretesche
Hotel and restaurant on a golf course
Next to a 15th century castle, this 200-hectare property steeped in history, skilfully combines comfort and hospitality. Five truly unforgettable atmospheres are found here: a hotel in harmony with its setting, a gourmet restaurant, a brasserie with its relaxed ambience and inventive cuisine, a spa dedicated to physical and spiritual wellness and a golf course with velvety greens. This is a true haven of tranquillity where courtesy and sophistication are the order of the day. ...Read more
France, Missillac
Les Maisons de Bricourt
Restaurant and hotel on the seafront
Breathtaking views of the bay of Mont Saint Michel and, at your feet, the oyster farms and the little port of Cancale. It is to this world of illustrious seafarers that Jane and Olivier Roellinger welcome you, surrounded by their loyal team. The spirit of the restaurant “Le Coquillage” is imbued with healthy yet elegant simplicity paired with gentle hospitality. The cuisine showcasing produce from the bay of Cancale reflects the maritime adventures of this pirate country by using more than 120 spices from the East and West Indies. You will find two residences; the château “Richeux” and the cottage “Les Rimains”, as well as “Les Gîtes Marins” for families, the patisserie-tea room “Grain de Vanille”, the “Cuisine Corsaire” cookery school and the “Épices-Roellinger” boutique: all ways to share the Roellinger’s joie de vivre between heaven and sea. ...Read more
France, Saint Méloir des Ondes
Castel Clara Thalasso & Spa
Hotel and restaurant on the seafront
Belle-Île-en-Mer… “The appropriately-named” island, as the XIXth century poet Eva Jouan remarked about this “Beautiful-Island-at-Sea”. Accessible by boat, this little island has a secluded feeling about it that makes an ideal retreat for a contemplative spa break. Between indulging in the “Light legs” and “Massages of the world” body treatments, your gaze will stray over the Aiguilles de Port-Coton (amazing rocky formations that jut out in the middle of the ocean), the small pastel-coloured port of Sauzon, and your own imaginings. An occasion for absolute well-being and relaxation. ...Read more
France, Bangor
Manoir de Lan-Kerellec
Hotel and restaurant on the seafront
Surrounded by the immensity of the sea and the reefs of the Pink Granite Coast, the Manoir de LanKerellec is a jewel in Brittany’s crown. From your balcony, drink in the panoramic view of the islands of Milliau, Molène, and Losquet. Magical! Then you might want to take a walk along the coastal path to taste the sea spray, or scuba dive for a closer look at the underwater nature reserve. You might even bump into one of the crustaceans that you will find on your dinner plate that very evening… ...Read more
France, Trébeurden
Hôtel de la Plage
Hotel and restaurant on the seafront
Tartare of bass and caviar, prawn salad, carpaccio de Saint-Jacques à l’orange… These refined dishes take on a special flavor when they are served in such an ambiance:
a panoramic restaurant overlooking the ocean and, on both sides, an endless beach of fine sand. From the window of your room, you can take in the same marine beauty.
The only inconvenience: the sea makes a bit of noise at night, and you’ll have to get used to the gentle lapping of the waves… Let’s wager that you’ll easily do so! ...Read more
France, Sainte-Anne-la-Palud
Château de Locguénolé
Hotel and restaurant on the seafront
A door leads out to the ocean and to a private dock for immediate boarding. Sailing between Lorient and the island of Groix is an unforgettable experience and just one of the many pleasures in store for you at this historic castle and manor house surrounded by 120 hectares of private forest. If you aren’t much of a sailor, a helicopter flight over the cliffs of Brittany might be more your thing. Once your feet are firmly back on the ground, sample the delights of the menu of fresh seafood and Brittany’s local produce, followed by a shiatsu massage to finish off a perfect day... ...Read more
France, Kervignac
Castel Marie-Louise
Hotel and restaurant on the seafront
Its six kilometres of fine sand have made the beach at La Baule one of the most beautiful promenades on the Atlantic coast. Opposite this beach sits the Belle Époque manor where every detail is perfect. The vast lawns are immaculately kept, a tribute to the owners’ perfectionism. The delicious breakfast already hints at the other culinary delights in store such as scallops marinated in grapefruit juice and olive oil. Another great feature is the thalassotherapy centre just steps away. The ultimate chic is to go there by bike… ...Read more
France, La Baule
Domaine de Rochevilaine
Hotel and restaurant on the seafront
A vast, typically Breton area can be found in Morbihan, on the Vilaine estuary, at the tip of Pen-Lan. A site born of architectural prowess: these historic manors were taken apart stone by stone and then rebuilt by the sea. Right by the waves, spa bath therapy offers a rejuvenating, iodized therapeutic treatment. As for the restaurant, the Breton lobster does honour to its reputation. Is a lobster prepared better anywhere else in the world? This is also where you can meet Bertrand Jaquet, its owner, and also an art lover and genuine fan of Brittany. This place is the culmination of all of his passions. They might rub off on you… ...Read more
France, Billiers
Le Fort de l'Océan
Hotel and restaurant on the seafront
On the Croisic peninsula is a historical gem: for the past four centuries, this granite fort has stood guard over the moods of the sea. The ramparts, moats and drawbridges are all still there. Built to resist storms and attacks, today, despite its stern exterior, this monument welcomes guests, and exhibits all of its charms: oak panelling, scented gardens, a sheltered swimming pool… And a vegetable garden where the chef also grows the herbs that flavour his inventive cuisine that often includes fresh seafood. ...Read more
France, Le Croisic
Hôtel Brittany
Hotel and restaurant on the seafront
Formerly a smuggling port and refuge of privateers, Roscoff has remained a unique destination, with its waves of emerald, its fishing houses of granite and its manor houses nestled amongst the cliffs. Your hideaway: an ancient trader’s property with a swimming pool, spa and direct access to the beach. For cuisine, Loïc Le Bail can tell you better than anybody about the local speciality: the pink onion, tender and sweet, the only sweetener that the Roscoff pirates took with them on their sea journeys. Being less reckless, you will only need a quarter hour’s boat journey to discover the small island of Batz, a “tropical” pearl misplaced in the English Channel with its palm trees and beaches of fine sand. ...Read more
France, Roscoff
