95c | ISSUE 13 | AUGUST 2012
PUBLISHERS OF
News and What’s On for Côtes d’Armor, Finistère, Ille-et-Vilaine and Morbihan
New cycle route links UK, Brittany and Spain
Wine stored at sea sold for charity ONE of the strangest wine auctions in the world has taken place on the quayside in Saint-Quay-Portrieux (Côtes d’Armor) – 100 bottles of red wine which had all spent a year in the sea. The bottles of Fitou and Corbières were stored at the bottom of the bay at Saint Brieuc and were put up for sale with a reserve price of €10, raising cash for charity. The scheme was the brainchild of leading chefs, Mathieu Aumont from the Aux Pesked restaurant at St Brieuc and Christophe Le Fur from the Auberge Grand’Maison restaurant in Mur-de-Bretagne. They had heard that wine which has been found on the seafloor or rescued from a sunken ship had, in many cases, aged very well and they wanted to experiment with the idea. They also wanted to help a local charity which is doing work with autistic children in the Brittany region. Î Turn to page 2
by RAY CLANCY
HE PROMISED TO COME IF PRESIDENT - AND HE DID!
PAGE 24
THE Brittany section of France’s longest cycle route has been officially launched – and Breton tourist chiefs are keen to attract more cyclists from the UK with an extension into Devon and Cornwall. The Vélodyssée follows easy routes that are designed to attract families with plenty of signs to make it easier to follow. It holds the French national Accueil Vélo quality label which guarantees that the needs of cyclists are met along the route, including accommodation, bike hire and repair services. Running from Roscoff down the Atlantic coast to the Spanish border, there is also an extension into Normandy and a ferry link joining up with more cycle paths in south-west England. The UK route runs from Plymouth to
Ilfracombe on the North Devon coast with a detour along the Camel estuary in Cornwall. The Brittany section is 500km long and 80% of the route is along smaller country roads without heavy traffic. Maria Vadillo, president of the Brittany Tourist Board, said: “It is not just a cycle route, it is a complete package holiday on wheels. “The route has been selected with versatility and userfriendliness in mind. It allows people to discover parts of our extraordinary countryside on the coast and inland that they may not have seen before.” Î Turn to page 3
M 05226 - 13 - F: 0,95 E
3:HIKPMC=[UU^ZX:?k@k@b@d@a;
Send international money transfers the easy way. Your high street bank offers foreign exchange as part of its service. At HiFX, foreign exchange is our business.
¸ Bank beating exchange rates online or over the phone ¸ Track payments 24 hours a day ¸ Transfer from as little as £50 ¸ VeriSign security used by 97 of the World’s top 100 banks
Don’t let the banks cash in. www.hifx.co.uk