Lorient, or L'Orient, is a commune and a seaport in the Morbihan département, of Brittany.
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LORIENT , Brittany's fourth-largest city,
lies on an immense natural harbour protected from the ocean by
the Île de Groix and strategically located at the junction
of the rivers Scorff, Ter and Blavet. A functional, rather depressing
port today, it was once a key base for French and English colonialism,
and was founded in the mid-seventeenth century for trading operations
by the Compagnie des Indes, an equivalent of the Dutch and English
East India Companies. Apart from the name, little else remains
to suggest the plundered wealth that once arrived here. During
the last war, Lorient was a major target for the Allies; the
Germans held out until May 1945, by which time the city was almost
completely destroyed. The only substantial remains were the U-boat
pens - subsequently greatly expanded by the French for their
nuclear submarines.
Across the estuary in Port-Louis
is the Musée de la Compagnie des Indes , a pretty dismal
temple to imperialism (Jan-March, Oct & Nov daily except
Tues 2-6pm; April & May daily except Tues 10am-6.30pm; June-Sept
daily 10am-6.30pm; closed Dec). Time would be more enjoyably
spent on a boat trip, either up the estuary towards Hennebont
or out to the Île de Groix . This 8km-long steep-sided
rock is a somewhat smaller version of Belle-Île , and holds
some gorgeous beaches to encourage day-trippers.
Lorient's
tourist office
, beside the pleasure port on the quai de Rohan (July & Aug
Mon-Sat 9am-7pm, Sun 10am-6pm; rest of year Mon-Sat 9am-12.30pm
& 2-6pm; tel 02.97.21.07.84), can provide full details on
local boat trips and organizes some excursions itself. Unless
you arrive during the festival , there's a huge choice of hotels
. Among reasonable, fairly central options are two on rue Lazare-Carnot
as it curves away south of the tourist office: the Victor Hugo
Hôtel at
no. 36 (tel 02.97.21.16.24), with an action-packed menu offering
langoustines, wild pheasant pâté and duck à
l'orange , and the Hôtel d'Arvor , at no. 104 (tel 02.97.21.07.55),
also with a good-value restaurant.
There's also an HI hostel
, next to the River Ter at 41 rue Victor-Schoelcher, 3km out
on bus line C from the gare SNCF (tel 02.97.37.11.65; closed
Jan).
Good central restaurants
include Yesterday's , 1 cours de la Bôve (tel 02.97.84.85.07),
a brasserie near the town hall that serves an excellent menu,
and Le Café Leffe (tel 02.97.21.21.30; closed Jan), in
the same building as the tourist office, facing the port.
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