Paris_ The Collected Traveler - Barrie Kerper [236]
—Mireille Guiliano, author of French Women Don’t Get Fat and former president and CEO of Veuve Clicquot, a subsidiary of LVMH
BRETAGNE (BRITTANY)
Visitors to Paris can easily visit the region of Brittany for a more extended excursion. Trains leave from the Gare Montparnasse; most require changing at Rennes or Vannes, the biggest cities in the region. Those cities are 250–300 miles from Paris, so even with high-speed train service, plan for a couple of days at least. Brittany is quite different from the other regions near Paris because its history is predominantly Celtic, and its unique architecture, culture, geography, and Breton language are distinct from any other region of France. Within Brittany, my husband and I have thoroughly enjoyed visiting lovely Pont-Aven, with its water mills and the Musée des Beaux-Arts, which features works by Paul Gauguin, Paul Sérusier, Meyer de Haan, Émile Schuffenecker, Maurice Denis, and other members of the Pont-Aven School. Though Gauguin was a central figure of the Pont-Aven School, his works do not dominate the museum’s collection, which is rather refreshing, as it allows visitors to discover lesser-known but wonderful artists; for example, it was at Pont-Aven that Sérusier, under the guidance of Gauguin, painted his famed The Talisman (now in the Musée d’Orsay), launching the group known as the Nabis (Hebrew for “prophets”). Not far from Pont-Aven is Quimper, the very same town that the charming ceramics come from, where fans can buy not only brand-new pieces but also deuxième choix (“seconds”) at good prices. At Carnac, check out the mysterious alignements, megalithic stone monuments which date back to the Neolithic period, and throughout the region enjoy eating (too many) of the delicious butter-filled specialties—my favorites are the delicate galettes de Pont-Aven and the thicker traou mad (“good things” in Breton).
When I learned of a new book entitled I’ll Never Be French (No Matter What I Do): Living in a Small Village in Brittany by Mark Greenside (Free Press, 2008), I wasn’t sure I would like it because the title seemed a little too cute; plus, some reviewers said it was “laugh-out-loud funny,” an accolade about which I am always suspicious. But the praise was enough that I broke down and read it, and I’m so glad I did. Greenside has written a positively wonderful book that now joins the pantheon of similar books treating other parts of France.
Not only is the book great, but Greenside is, too. I met him for a café in New York when he was en route to France, at the beginning of the summer. After only a few minutes, it was clear that, despite the cutesy book title, he is genuinely respectful of his Breton friends and neighbors. Greenside currently spends summers and some holidays in Brittany, though he ponders a possible permanent move to France. In his book he notes that after living in the hills of Oakland, California, for nearly twenty years he didn’t know any of his neighbors, but in Brittany, in less than a month, he already knew two families—one that didn’t even speak English—and his social life was fuller than in the States. After more time spent in Brittany, he’s concluded, “This is what I love about France, the small things are large: a bonjour, ça va, a flower, a glass of water. It’s a good way to live.”
When his book was published in French in June 2010, Greenside was a little worried about how it would be received in his village. He decided he really needed to tell everyone, since he couldn’t be sure how people would respond to what he’d written about them. The first person he went to was the insurance guy—when you read the book you will understand why Greenside told me, “He was the one I was most worried about, because of all the characters he was the most exaggerated. I walked in without an appointment, I gave him a book, and I walked him through the chapters that he appears in. At first, I don’t tell him it’s coming out in French, and I explain that obviously I’m giving him this book because I don’t mean