Course Information

Course: French IB v.3
Unit: 1. EN VILLE
Assignment: 5. La Bretagne
LA BRETAGNE

Look at these beautiful photos of Brittany's coastline, countryside, and small villages. When you travel to
France, this will be one region you'll definitely want to visit.

In this lesson, you're going to join Isabelle and the Martins as they discover this incredible region of France.
Come on, let's go!

OBJECTIVES
 Identify and analyze key facts about the region of Bretagne.

Isabelle, Aurélie, and the Martins took a week-long trip to "Brittany," or la Bretagne in French. La Bretagne is
a beautiful region located in western France that's known for its diverse culture and delicious food.
Take a moment and look at the map below to see where this amazing region is located:

As you can see from the map, la Bretagne borders the Atlantic Ocean. It's one of the regions with a long
coastline, and is defined by its high, rocky cliffs. 
In the summer time, beach enthusiasts make their way to this region to enjoy the nice, mild climate, and of
course, the miles of warm sandy beaches. It's also a popular destination for sailing enthusiasts because of its
windy weather. 

If you traveled to la Bretagne in the wintertime, you'd need to pack an umbrella or raincoat because it's
known for having many overcast and rainy days during that season.

Le saviez-vous ?
Brittany is considered a fervently religious region of France. Traditionally, druidism was practiced in the
forests. During the Roman occupation, the first Christians may have come to Brittany, but there are no factual
accounts of this. During the Middle Ages, there's a record of les septs saints fondateurs, "the seven founder
saints," from Wales and of some Irish monks who came to Brittany to evangelize the people. This impacted
the region with Catholicism. Nevertheless, Middle Age Catholic edifices often display various druid artifacts
such as weather sticks that were believed to predict the weather. 

Apart from its long stretching coastline and its beautiful beaches, la Bretagne is known for its legendary
green forests, and rural landscape that often features ancient ruins and magnificent castles. Just think, if you
went to Brittany you could visit the ruins of la chapelle de Languidou, which is over 800 years old. Now that's
old!
Take a moment and imagine you're on a road trip with your family in Brittany. What language do you think
the signs are in? If you said French, you're right, but you'll discover that in many cities in Brittany the signs
are written in both French and in one of the regional languages: le Breton or le Gallo.

Although only a small percent of the population speaks Breton and Gallo, these dialects are considered
Brittany's regional languages and revival efforts are underway to encourage students to learn them, so they
don't become extinct. 

Breton, a Celtic language, is more widely spoken in Brittany than Gallo. Take a moment and study the chart
below to see just how different Breton is from French.

le français le breton1
Bonjour Demat
Au revoir Kenavo
Merci Trugarez
le cinéma ar sinema
la poste an ti-post
le supermarché ar gourmarc'had

So, how did a French region come to speak a Celtic language? Well, British Celtic immigrants in the fifth and
sixth century immigrated to la Bretagne, and brought their language, traditions, and customs. To this day,
Celtic influence is seen in Brittany's culture, cuisine, music, and language.

While in Brittany, Isabelle and her host family visited many of the main cities of this region including Rennes,
the capital of the region. Isabelle learned a lot of information about many of these cities and kept a journal
for her French class.

Look at the map below to see all the places they went in Brittany.
Now, read her journal entries to learn more about la Bretagne and about each city she visited:
avoir mal à la tête → to have a headache
faire du lèche-vitrine → to window shop
une station balnéaire → a seaside resort

Now that you've read about Rennes, Fougères, and Saint-Malo, complete the following activity to show what
you know.

Isabelle and her host family visited three popular places in Bretagne: Rennes, Fougères, and Saint-Malo.
Rennes, the capital, is a beautiful city and its history can be seen in all the medieval houses that are still
standing. 

Many people who visit la Bretagne stop in Fougères to see le château de Fougères, an incredible medieval
castle that was originally built in the eleventh century.

Saint Malo, a famous seaside resort, is one of the most visited places in la Bretagne. Situated on la Manche,
"the English Channel", this city is famous for its beautiful sandy beach. As Isabelle mentioned in her journal,
the historic part of Saint-Malo, called la ville ancienne, is entirely walled and the streets are still cobblestone.
So, when you walk into this part of the city, it's as if you've just taken a time machine back into the medieval
period of history. It's amazing.

Continue to read Isabelle's journal entries to learn more about some other great cities in la Bretagne.

Take a quick moment to complete the following activity to practice your reading comprehension.
Do you think that you might like to visit Brest or Quimper? Both cities are unique and have a lot to offer
visitors. Brest was bombarded and left in ruins during World War II. However, le Musée de la marine, "the
Maritime Museum" has preserved some of this port's history.
If you went to the Café du port in Brest, like Isabelle and the Martins, you could also drink some apple cider, a
traditional drink in Brittany, and have some delicious galettes, a traditional dish in la Bretagne. Les
galettes are simply crêpes made with buckwheat flour. They can be filled with meat, cheese, or a sweet
filling.

Quimper is also a very beautiful city in this region and is well known for its gothic cathedral, la cathédrale
Saint-Corentin. In the old part of the city, called le vieux Quimper, you can see the medieval, half-timbered
houses, like the ones in the photo above.

Read Isabelle's last journey entry to see which two cities the Martin family visited on their journey through la
Bretagne.

Now that you've read about Josselin and Carnac, complete the following activity to show what you know
about these two cities.
Josselin is another city that you might be interested to visit if you went to la Bretagne. This city is famous for
its beautiful castle, le château de Josselin, as well as for its medieval houses. This small village has preserved
much of the charm of the countryside and is a great place to go to relax and enjoy Brittany's beautiful
landscape.

Carnac is also a famous city in la Bretagne, but for a very different reason. This city has a prehistoric site with
over 3,000 menhirs. Menhirs are single-standing stones that were used by prehistoric people for
astronomical reasons. It's incredible to visit this site and see something that's thousands of years old.
Now that you've read about several places in Bretagne, complete the following activity to show what you
know.

Entrainons-Nous!
Cliquez ici pour voir et imprimer la liste de vocabulaire.

RÉVISONS!

In this lesson, you studied la Bretagne, "Brittany," a beautiful region in western France. Known for its rugged
coastline and beautiful green forests, many people flock to this region to enjoy the beaches or to appreciate
its castles and ruins. This region is rich in culture, history, and languages.

Before moving to the next section, make sure you can identify key information on this region, such as the
following:
languages spoken
principal cities
geography

Don't forget to review the vocabulary in the last section of this lesson.
1
 Bretagne.com. Et si vous parliez breton ? Dictionnaire.
http://www.bretagne.com/fr/culture/langue/et_si_vous_parliez_breton/dictionnaire

Question #1MultipleChoice
Analysez et choisissez la phrase qui décrit le mieux la Bretagne. 
Located in western France, Brittany is known for its beautiful beaches, green rural landscape, and beautiful
castles.
Brittany, located in eastern France, borders the Atlantic Ocean, and has become a popular destination for
sailing and beach enthusiasts.
Located in the eastern France, Brittany is known for its beautiful rugged coastline, and its legendary forests.
Question #2MultipleChoice
Analysez et choisissez la phrase qui décrit le mieux la Bretagne. 
Brittany's rich and diverse culture has strong Celtic roots, which can be seen in its cuisine, music, and
language.
Brittany's culture is a blend of French and Celtic influence, which can only be seen in Brittany's cuisine and
music.
Celtic British people came to Brittany hundreds of years ago, but only a little of their influence remains in
Brittany's culture.
Question #3TrueFalse
Indiquez si la phrase est vraie ou fausse. 
Brittany is a region with a rich culture and history, and some cities, such as Carnac, have ruins that date
back thousands of years. 
True
False
Question #4MultipleChoice
Analysez et choisissez la phrase qui décrit le mieux la Bretagne. 
Breton and Gallo are Brittany's regional languages and are spoken by a majority of the population.
In Bretagne, revival efforts are being made to encourage people to learn Breton or Gallo, the regional
languages.
In Bretagne, Breton and Gallo, Bretagne's regional languages are spoken by everyone instead of French. 
Question #5TextMultipleChoice
Complétez la phrase. 
La capitale de la Bretagne est Rennes.
Question #6MultipleChoice
Analysez la situation et choisissez la ville en Bretagne qui y correspond le mieux.
Isabelle and the Martin family are taking pictures of over 3, 000 megaliths.
Fougères
Josselin
Rennes
Carnac
Question #7TextMultipleChoice
Choisissez la bonne ville en Bretagne pour compléter la phrase.
Isabelle and the Martin family are visiting Saint-Malo, a famous seaside resort situated on the English
Channel.
Question #8MultipleChoice
Analysez la situation et choisissez la ville en Bretagne qui y correspond le mieux.
In _____, tourists can visit the Cathedral Saint-Corentin, a cathedral built in the gothic style.
Carnac
Rennes
Fougères
Quimper
Question #9TextMultipleChoice
Choisissez la bonne ville en Bretagne pour compléter la phrase.
People often visit Fougères , to visit a medieval castle that was built over 800 years ago.
Question #10MultipleSelect
Choisissez la cuisine et la boisson traditionnelles en Bretagne.
cider
la ratatouille
beer
les galettes
VOCABULARY
perdu, -e lost