Our mission: to pass the time until we could book into our holiday cottage, whilst entertaining our 6 year old. Having rejected "just hanging around" and spending the day at l'hypermarche we decided to drive down to Brest, about an hours drive from the ferry port at Roscoff.
GETTING THERE The journey itself was straight forward and all on main roads, UNTIL we got to Brest itself. It was probably the combined effect of a bored child and two sleep deprived parents (no criticism of the ferry here, just it's not quite a long enough journey to get a good nights sleep, and they will insist on crossing the Channel which kept waking us up) but we didn't seem to be able to find any signs for the place. So we headed for the centre of town, thinking such a major attraction would be well signposted. Which it was. Eventually. After an extensive tour of Brest town centre, we made our way down to the end of a long road et voila!
ENTRANCE FEES At 15 euros (about £10.50) an adult, 10.50 (about £7) for a child, this is more expensive than the National Marine Aquarium at Plymouth but it is certainly worth the money. We passed a very interesting four hours there, and would certainly have spent the rest of the day had we not needed to get back to meet the landlady for our holiday home. Parking is easy and plentiful.
THE ATTRACTIONS The site is divided into 3 zones, polar, tropical and temperate. You can visit them in any order you like. Everything is well presented and thought out. There are many tanks and when we went (Saturday morning) it was easy to see everything. Although there is a fairly good smattering of English translations, plenty of exhibits are only in French. My French isn't bad, but didn't stretch to understanding some of the more scientific concepts, and anyway hubby and boy were bored by the time I had laboured over my translation.
But you don't come here to read, you come here to see the fish. And the fish are exceptionally well presented. The viewing areas of the tanks are large, often with places to sit. The polar zone also features a panoramic film which is a bit slow to get going (I guess to allow people to get in and sit down) but breathtaking For me the highlight is the panoramic lift in the tropical zone. Sharks swim up to you as you descend in a huge glass fronted lift - magical.
There is also a temporary exhibition which we had to miss due to lack of time (and interest on the part of a small boy!)
EATING AND DRINKING We only grabbed croissants and coffee, which I seem to remember was actually on the dear side, though not outrageously so. There are plenty of opportunities to buy food and drink as you go round.
SHOPPING The shop is lovely, full of knick knacks and high quality glassware, ceramics and beauty products you don't need but want anyway. My biggest regret is not buying some non-foaming seaweed bath thinking I would be able to get it cheaper somewhere else. We never came across it again.
IF YOU HAVE KIDS YOU NEED TO KNOW that there is an outdoor play area, an interactive area in the temperate zone (the shows are timed, unfortunately we missed them.) and plenty of buttons to press along the way.
IN CONCLUSION If you are going to this part of Brittany, this is a day out you should not miss. It will captivate all ages. And if you do go, could you pick me up some of that seaweed bath? Ta.
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