From our special correspondent in French Scandinavia,
It is a country where you can go out in the middle of the day without risking suffocation. A magical land where the air conditioning is natural thanks to a light wind. Often mocked for its capricious skies, Brittany is now one of the most popular destinations in France. Its main argument: its weather. While a large southern half of France is suffocating under scorching heat, the north-west of France is breathing. Like Normandy, Brittany was showered with intense rain in July and early August, much to the chagrin of campers. But since the beginning of the heat wave episode, she has had her revenge. “When we see the temperatures they have in the South, we say to ourselves that we are lucky”, recognizes Sylvain.
Came to picnic with his wife Vanessa and their two daughters, the Breton dared to go shirtless. On the very beautiful Briantais beach, not many of them have risked it. It must be said that the sun is shy on this Wednesday noon and that the mercury is struggling to exceed 23 degrees while 19 southern departments are still on red alert on Thursday. Coming from Iffendic, near Rennes, the family improvised a little extra week of vacation and have no regrets. “We don’t really like the heat. When we come here, we know that we can move during the day, that we will sleep well at night”.
On this family beach in Lancieux (Côtes-d’Armor), there are mostly locals. Everyone knows that summer is hot everywhere else. The Bretons are a proud people of their region. So when she is an exception, they don’t hesitate to brag about it. “We come here to take a breath of fresh air without dying of heat. We can go to the beach with the little one, it’s very pleasant, ”explains Jean-Michel, who has taken out the parasol to protect his young son from the sun, hidden under a light veil. “A few weeks ago, I met a gentleman who came from Marseille. It was a rainy day but he was delighted! He came to seek freshness here because he couldn’t stand the heat at home anymore, ”says Marie-Angèle, seated a little further.
The holidays in Toulon were good too
Present at his side, his daughter Virginie is more mixed. Came in a light dress, she is cold. “I spent three weeks on vacation in Toulon and the weather was nice all the time. At least, there, you don’t ask yourself the question of what you are going to put on for clothing ”. Legs tanned by her stay in the Var, the Breton recognizes that it was “often very hot” there. “For us it was fine, because we were on vacation and we had the pool. But for those who work there, it must be hard.” The Var department is placed in orange vigilance this Wednesday with maximum expected at 35 degrees. That is ten more than in the Côtes-d’Armor.
The heat dome that landed on the southern half of France prompted some of its inhabitants to leave to find cooler regions. If some climb into the mountains, many motorhomes have had the idea of heading west. “When we left Montauban (Tarn-et-Garonne), it was 35 degrees. But this is getting worse and worse. We got the family on the phone, it’s 41 degrees today. I can tell you that they are suffering. When we told them we had been cold this morning, they didn’t understand us,” says Tony. Leaving a week ago, the Montalbanais parked his truck in a small car park not far from the beach of Saint-Sieu where he is preparing to have lunch with his wife Vojsava. “This morning, I put my sweater back on,” she admits. Her dream is however common to that of a large part of France: “I would like to take a shower”, she slips into a smile. Not because she’s too hot, but because she couldn’t find a single campsite with a place for her truck. “Everything is complete, it’s madness. I thought that after August 15, it would be calmer, ”acknowledges Tony.
This is the somewhat unexpected effect of this heat wave. While the tourist peak generally erodes after August 15 in Brittany, it does not seem to fall this summer.
“We had about ten pitches that became available. But we filled it all up last night. People see that the weather is fine, they come at the last minute. Julien, from the Vallon aux Merlettes campsite, in Matignon (Côtes-d’Armor).
“We have customers who come from Lyon and Grenoble. They explained to us that they wanted to escape the heat. Many want to stay longer, they dread returning. Brittany risks becoming more and more popular,” adds Catherine, manager of the Vallées campsite in Saint-Brieuc. A way to compensate for a less sparkling month of July, weighed down by the vagaries of the sky. “Tourism has always fluctuated depending on the weather. There may be a heat wave effect but it is difficult to quantify”, tempers Lisa Fonlupt, in charge of press relations at the Saint-Malo bay of Mont-Saint-Michel tourist office.
On the beaches of Lancieux, we also crossed paths with Nathalie, who lives in Nice year-round. Happy owner of a small second home, she has been vacationing in the Côtes-d’Armor for sixty years. “We arrived at the beginning of August in the middle of a storm. But we know it when we come here. We know that we will find freshness and we are very happy because the climate is more pleasant than at home in summer”. In Nice, she explains that it is becoming “difficult to live without air conditioning” as it is hot. “At night, we don’t sleep because the temperature doesn’t drop, it becomes unbearable.” Tonight, Nathalie, like most tourists, will put on a little woolen jacket to hang around a bit outside. A reflex that Bordeaux, Marseille and Lyonnais have probably forgotten.