The city of Brest

Entrance of the school

Brest is the biggest town in Finistère (Brittany, France, European continent). It is a subprefecture of 150,000 inhabitants.

Recouvrance Bridge

There are several districts : La Cavale Blanche (where we live), Recouvrance, Saint-Pierre, Bellevue, Les Quatre Moulins. The people there are very friendly. It often rains but it doesn't matter, for, of course, we are used to it. The town is not polluted.

The sea, the Atlantic Ocean in which you can swim in the summer, is not very far :  it flows in Brest harbour.  On the seashore there are cliffs and beaches,  but no mountains. In the region, there are several islands (Ouessant, Molène and Sein). The river that divides the town in two is called  La Penfeld. You can cross the town via many bridges (Recouvrance, l'Harteloire, le Bougen).

 

The naval dockyard is a military base with warships and nuclear submarines.  The Charles De Gaulle, an aircraft carrier, was built in Brest. The seamen work at the naval dockyards and on boats, the workmen repair them. The harbour in Brest is very large. There is also a fishing harbour where they sell fish and crab.   At the commercial harbour, huge boats transport goods. The workmen repairing the oil tankers also build off-shore oil rigs.

The airport is located in Guipavas. In Brest there is a railway station, plus two major hospitals, several schools, secondary schools and a university. There are several woods (Kervallon, Keroual), greenspaces and parks (the Eole park for example). At IFREMER, scientists breed fish, and researchers study life under water. There are also unemployed people. At the leisure harbour, le Moulin Blanc, you can practise water sports like sailing, windsurfing, scuba-diving or rowing. You can also practise sports such as football, handball, basketball, tennis and judo, or go horse-riding,  swimming at the pool or skating at the ice-rink.

Oceanopolis is a big aquarium composed of three buildings :  temperate, tropical and polar. You can see sharks, sea lions, seals, penguins, octopuses, turtles, seaweed, seashells and multicoloured fish. There are also public libraries for both adults and youngsters.  Every four years a special event celebrating old sailing ships is organised : Brest 92, Brest 96 and this year Brest 2000.

The castle in Brest hosts a maritime museum with models of ancient boats. You can also visit the Tanguy tower. Celebrations are organised in the summer and concerts all year round. You can go for lovely strolls on the paths along the coast too.

We eat fish and seafood : crabs, shrimps, mussels, lobsters. The most famous Breton dishes are "crêpes" and "kig ha farz".

 

You can travel by car, moto, bus, bike, child's scooter, or you can just walk. Downtown, there is a lot of traffic. There are many shops, buildings and houses.  The war destroyed the town which has been rebuilt. Only a few old fortifications remain. The town hall had a blue line drawn to commemorate where the old fortifications stood.