Car Hire Lorient
Mini guide to Lorient
Brittany's fourth-largest city, Lorient, is situated on a wide natural harbour protected from the ocean by the Île de Groix, and lies at the junction of the rivers Scorff, Ter and Blavet. The town was once extremely wealthy, attracting English and French colonists. However, Lorient underwent heavy bombardment during WWII, and much of the town was destroyed.
As a result of this destruction, many of the beautiful sights no longer exist. The only museum in town is located on the other side of the estuary in Port-Louis. The Musée de la Compagnie des Indes (The India Company Museum) recounts the shrewd workings of imperialism.
Most visitors here tend to spend their time floating around on the many boats, either up the estuary towards Hennebont or out to the Île de Groix. A smaller version of the Belle-Iie, this eight-kilometre steep-sided rock has some fabulous beaches that draw in hordes of tourists.
There is an abundance of restaurants to choose from in Lorient, and one of the best is the Victor Hugo Hotel restaurant, which offers wild pheasant pâte and duck l'orange. Yesterday's, a brassiere close to the town hall, has a great set menu.
Maybe the principal reason people come to Lorient is to see the Inter-Celtic Festival, lasting 10 days from the first Friday to the second Sunday in August. With representatives from all seven Celtic countries and over a quarter of a million people attending, you can imagine what a fabulous time can be had here.
To get to Lorient by car from Paris, head west towards Rennes or Nantes. From Rennes, take the N24; from Nantes, take the N165. In both cases, the drive is about two hours. SNCF has an excellent network of high-speed trains from the main cities and from Charles de Gaulle Airport (Paris). From Paris by rail, the average journey time is 3 hours, 45 minutes.
The nearest international airports are in Brest, Nantes and Rennes; the journey can easily be made by train. You can also fly into Lorient's small airport, Lann Bihoué, which is a mere 20 minutes from the centre of town. There are regular flights to and from Paris Orly and Lyon.
