Belle-Ile

Off the south-west coast of Brittany, 16km/10mi south of Quiberon, is the largest of the Breton islands Belle-Ile (17km/10-1/2mi long, 10km/ 6mi wide), with a population of 4,500. There are boat services from Quiberon; the crossing takes an hour.

The island was frequently attacked by the British and Dutch, and between 1573 and 1761 it was held by Britain.

The chief place on the island is Le Palais. Above the harbor is a citadel originally built in 1549 and strengthened in the following century by Vauban. For many years it was a prison and later, until 1961, a barracks. It now houses a museum on the history of the island. From Le Palais the route runs southwest across the island to the rugged Côte Sauvage, passing a large lighthouse, and comes to the Aiguilles (rock pinnacles) de Port-Coton. It then continues to the north of the island, where a visit must be paid to the Grotte de l'Apothicairerie (so called because the cormorants' nests in its walls resemble the compartments for bottles in an old- fashioned pharmacy). Southeast of Le Palais is the Plage des Grands Sables, the island's most beautiful beach.