En 1992, the very first Maritime Festivals awakened the pride of Brestois. In 2024, the eighth edition, undoubtedly the most ambitious, will, it is certain, after eight years of absence, mark the minds of the 700,000 expected visitors. And make us forget the austere architecture, the capricious climate, the geographical location of this city at the end of the world… no longer really isolated, moreover, since the TGV connects it to Paris in three and a half hours. Its motto, “Fortune favors the bold”, has taken on a new dimension thanks to those who, for several years, have given it a new direction: hoteliers, restaurateurs, artists, craftsmen, creators and organizers of cultural places… Put the sails to Brest and discover its trendy spots, what if it was the best idea for summer?
Le Conti: getting through the Roaring Twenties
A local institution, the Continental, renamed “Conti”, is a little Art Deco gem, renovated in 2023. The 76 rooms, including 5 suites, are inspired by the transatlantic cruises of the 1930s. The round shape of the bathrooms evokes that of steamship chimneys. The cabinets look like traveling trunks. The original ironwork and marble elements, wall lights and stained glass windows have regained their shine. The lobby, brick and midnight blue, is a marvel with its central staircase, its mezzanine, its velvet rotundas. In the basement, the new Sothys spa has a pretty glass-roofed swimming pool.
From €139 per night, www.oceaniahotels.com
Disorder: drinking and eating
In her drinking and dining bistro open at the end of 2023, Isabelle Portugal welcomes you as at home, with simplicity and good humor. On the menu, faultless dishes (pan-fried pollack, cauliflower in risotto, wild garlic), plates to share in the evening (sweet potato and ginger empanadas) and mainly natural and biodynamic wines. It’s healthy, local, seasonal, tasty and unpretentious.
€30 approx. the meal. On Instagram: @desordre_brest
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Les Ateliers des Capucins: a district in itself
It is the largest covered public square in Europe and is connected to the city center by France’s first urban cable car. The people of Brest have completely appropriated these former workshops of the arsenal which, over 35,000 m2concentrate around fifteen “roommates”: media library, bookstore, cinema, theater, climbing room, leather goods boutique-workshop, recycling, restaurant… The monumental spaces are in free use, 365 days a year: on the Place des Machines , near the Emperor’s canoe (the ceremonial canoe of Napoleon Iis), children skate or bike as if they were in the open air. On the mezzanines, dancers rehearse their choreography… This summer, an outdoor stage is installed overlooking the harbor to host shows, concerts and culinary events, and two exhibitions are scheduled: “Arpenter le monde”, which presents part of the contemporary art collection of Frac Bretagne, and “La Jeanne, fille de Brest 1964-2010”, dedicated to the legendary helicopter carrier built here.
FREE ENTRANCE, www.ateliersdescapucins.fr
PAM: good impression
Antoine Horellou could not bring himself to abandon the printing press created by his grandfather. So, last year, with a few friends, he made it a third place, the PAM: an exhibition and event space, food court, organic bakery, coworking, dance studio, solidarity bookstore. , artist’s studio… A real community. From the Morlaisian Armorican Stationery, there remains an impressive collection of 3,000 typographic stones and heavy machines which are part of the decor.
FREE ENTRANCE, www.lapambrest.frREAD ALSO 5 places to (re)discover New York without breaking the bank
Hinoki: Breton sushi
Trained by 3-star chefs from Tokyo, Xavier Pensec from Finistère and his Japanese wife Mika offer an exceptional experience every evening to a handful of guests seated around the counter. From the fish they selected in the morning at the auction (sea bass, sea bream, squid, mackerel, etc.), the French sushi master prepares each piece before their eyes and serves them himself, one by one: “You have to eat them in one bite and within ten seconds.” A work of craftsmanship, which he comments on with humility: “I like the aesthetics of sushi. I’m like a ceramicist with colors.”
168 €/pers. the unique Omakase menu, by reservation only, www.hinoki-sushi.com
House of Photography: the passion for images
Created at the end of 2023 by a collective led by Dominique Leroux, a former arsenal worker who became a professional reporter-photographer, this place of discovery, exchange and sharing of experiences organizes exhibitions, conferences and workshops in a friendly atmosphere. . We also come to leaf through, as in a library, one of the 1,500 books lent by Yann Le Goff, photo director of the newspaper Humanity.
FREE ENTRANCE, www.maisondelaphotographie.frREAD ALSO Milan: 10 new spots to discover during the Salone del Mobile
The swimming pool: arty diving
A stone’s throw from the Maison de la Photographie, in the decidedly very active Haut de Jaurès, Anne-Laure Maison and Michel Cam, themselves artists, opened a few months ago the multidisciplinary space that Brest lacked. Both specialized and for all audiences, it considers art as a social link with workshops, artist residencies, performances, exhibitions, concerts, projections… inside and around the (empty) pool of a swimming pool. Not trivial!
Free or paid entry (€5, €10, etc.) depending on the events, and sometimes by reservation, the place being subject to gauges. On Instagram: @lapiscine.artgallery
Nion : bijou high-tech
Éric Nion graduated from the Haute École de Joaillerie. His wife Katerina trained in Antwerp, the diamond capital. The couple receives by appointment in their showroom-workshop in Brest, but also works remotely, by video, and thanks to 3D. “We mix know-how and new technologies to focus on customization and always improve the human experience,” emphasizes Éric Nion. Like a confidant, I listen to each person’s story and I draw an idea for a jewel from it.” His latest creation, Althéa, is a ring topped with a flower that a miniature mechanism allows to open or close. A jewel composed of 34 pieces, the fruit of 600 hours of research and development.
www.ericnion.com
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Brest, passion for oceans
The Maritime Festivals take place every four years, the 2024 festival is the eighth (the 2020 edition was canceled). From July 12 to 17, it will celebrate all the oceans of the world and will welcome more than 1,000 boats of all types (racing, historic, military, etc.). On the program, parades in the bay, a lively village on the quays, musical stages, night shows…
Beyond the event, the maritime culture of Brest can be discovered at Océanopolis, the scientific culture center dedicated to the oceans which has just inaugurated an interactive and multisensory pavilion for children, as well as at the National Maritime Museum , a must.
More informations : www.brest2024.fr, www.brest-metropole-tourisme.fr, www.toutcommenceenfinistere.com
