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Quiberon
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The town of
QUIBERON
itself centres on a miniature golf course surrounded by bars, pizzerias and some surprisingly good clothes and antique shops. The cafes by the long bathing beach are the most enjoyable, along with the old-fashioned
Cafe du Marche
next to the PTT.
Port-Maria , the fishing harbour and gare maritime for the islands of Belle-Ile, Houat and Hoedic , is the most active part of town and has the best concentration of hotels and restaurants. Port-Maria was once famous for its sardines, canned locally, but those days are long gone. In July and August, the special Tire Bouchon train links Quiberon's gare SNCF , which is a short way above the town proper, with Auray. There are also buses right to the gare maritime from Vannes (#23 and #24) and Auray (#24) via Carnac. The tourist office at 14 rue de Verdun (July & Aug Mon-Sat 9am-8pm, Sun 9.30am-noon & 3-7pm; rest of year Mon-Sat 9am-12.30pm & 2-6.30pm; tel 02.97.50.07.84, www.quiberon.com ), downhill and left from the gare SNCF, has an illuminated map outside that purports to monitor exactly which hotels are full, hour by hour. For most of the year, it's hard to get accommodation in Quiberon. In July and August, the whole peninsula is packed, while in winter it gets very quiet indeed. The nicest area in which to stay is along the seafront in Port-Maria. Inexpensive options include the Hotel-Restaurant au Bon Accueil , 6 quai de Houat (tel & fax 02.97.50.07.92;160-220F/€24-34; closed Jan), with a friendly dining room downstairs serving good fish soup and seafood specialities on menus that start at 85F/€12.96, and L'Ocean , 7 quai de l'Ocean (tel 02.97.50.07.58, fax 02.97.50.27.81;160-220F/€24-34; closed Oct-March), an attractive little hotel, with multicoloured pastel shutters and reasonably priced rooms. More upmarket are the Hotel-Restaurant Bellevue , rue de Tiviec (tel 02.97.50.16.28, fax 02.97.30.44.34; 300-400F/€46-61; closed Oct-March), a relatively quiet logis de France , set slightly back from the sea near the casino 500m east of the port, with its own pool and a good restaurant; the comfortable de la Mer , 8 quai de Houat (tel 02.97.50.09.05, fax 02.97.50.44.41; 300-400F/€46-61; closed mid-Nov to Jan; menus from 89F/€13.57), a blue-trimmed hotel at the western end of Port-Maria's seafront strip; and Le Neptune , 4 quai de Houat (tel 02.97.50.09.62, fax 02.97.50.41.44;300-400F/€46-61; closed Jan & Mon in low season), where some rooms enjoy seafront balconies, and the usual seafood menus range from 89F/€13.57 to 198F/€30.33. There's an HI hostel, Les Filets Bleus , 45 rue du Roc'h-Priol (tel 02.97.50.15.54; closed Oct-April), 1.5km southeast of the gare SNCF , and a couple of decent campsites Do-Mi-Si-La-Mi , St-Julien (tel 02.97.50.22.52, www.acdev.com/domisilami ; closed Nov-March), on the sheltered east coast north of Quiberon town and the Camping municipal , Kerne (tel 02.97.50.05.07; closed Sept-June), one of the few sites on the Cote Sauvage, above the cliffs, 1km northwest of Port-Maria.
Once again, the most appealing area in which to browse the menus is along the waterfront in Port-Maria, with its seafood
restaurants
competing to attract ferry passengers. Hotel-owners are very insistent on persuading guests to pay for half-board - at the
Bon Accueil
, for example, that's no great hardship - but there are plenty of alternatives to choose from if you do manage to escape their clutches. Try
Ancienne Forge
, 20 rue Verdun (tel 02.97.50.18.64; closed Jan, & Wed in low season), set back from the road that leads down to the port from the
gare SNCF
, which offers slightly unadventurous but good-value seafood-heavy menus from 85F/€12.96;
Le Corsaire
, 24 quai de Belle-Ile (tel 02.97.50.15.05), facing the ferry terminal and serving fine seafood spreads on a sprawling terrace for 79F/€12.04 and upwards; and
de la Criee
, 11 quai de l'Ocean (tel 02.97.30.53.09; closed Jan, Sun pm, & Mon in low season), which serves fish specialities that change every day, fresh from the morning's catch at the quayside as displayed in baskets arrayed along the front; the 89F/€13.57 menu includes stuffed mussels and fish smoked on the premises. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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France,
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