Camaret-sur-Mer France
Frequently Asked Questions
By tender. Expedition ships and small vessels anchor off the cove, on the Crozon peninsula, and passengers land at the harbour, steps from the art galleries and crêperies.
A shingle spit reaching into the cove like a protective arm. The whole life of the town clings to it: at its end, a seamen's chapel, a tower turned gold by lichen and the hulks of boats lying on the shingle.
A defensive tower built between 1693 and 1696 to lock the approach to Brest, a UNESCO World Heritage site among Vauban's fortifications. Its crushed-brick render gives it that warm gold colour. It stands on the harbour itself, a few minutes' walk away.
Yes, as early as 1694: the battery repelled an Anglo-Dutch landing at the battle of Camaret. The visit, spread over four levels, covers garrison life and that founding fight.
The broken hulls of the last lobster boats, lying on the shingle near the chapel. In the early twentieth century Camaret dominated the lobster fishery and sent dozens of sailing vessels to the coasts of Portugal and Mauritania. These wooden skeletons are the most photographed sight on the peninsula.
A seventeenth-century sanctuary at the end of the spit, where crews came to seek protection before the fishing season. Model sailing ships still hang from its roof timbers.
About a hundred standing stones raised some 4,500 years ago on the plateau above the town, 25 to 30 minutes' gentle walk away. Three lines of white stones cross on the open moor, facing the sea. Astronomical observatory or solar sanctuary, the theories remain open.
Three kilometres from the harbour, about 45 minutes on foot by marked coastal paths, or a few minutes by taxi. The cliffs drop 70 metres into deep blue water, continued by the Tas de Pois, a chain of six islets pounded by the swell.
The Cross of Lorraine raised on the moor, unveiled by General de Gaulle in 1960, honouring the Bretons of Free France. In a westerly wind, waves exploding on the reefs are worth any detour.
Buckwheat galettes, lobster and langoustines as the catch allows, kouign-amann for dessert. The galleries on the quay are run by the heirs of the painters and poets who made Camaret their haunt.
