Brittany, France - the place, the culture, the people, the life.

I am currently on holiday in France visiting my grandparents. I've taken my brother with me and we came across on the ferry to Brittany last Tuesday. We're staying at their house in central Brittany until next Friday.

It's a lovely place to be here. The countryside is beautiful and the land is a lot less populated than it is back in the UK. I love that they've still got huge forests out here, and seem to use a lot more renewable energy than we do. I love the style of houses out here and culture that's still kept strong. They have an attitude that if it's not broken then there's no need to replace it, so many people still use old things that we wouldn't. The bakeries here appear to be so traditional, baking fresh bread everday, and also the crossiants, baguettes and fruit tarts (made with patisserie custard which I love!). They also seem more self-suffient than the British, many tending to their own vegetable gardens and keeping animals for produce. The way of life out here is far more relaxed than what we're used to. All the shops in the towns and cities close at midday for their lunch break, but this would be almost unheard of in the UK. It's a lovely place to live out here and a great place to be growing up for the children. The kind of place I'd maybe like to live myself one day. (Just need to learn the language!)

My favourite French dessert.