From Falmouth, near the southwestern tip of the UK, it’s only about 100nm across the English Channel to France. From there, a daysail through the Chenal du Four and across the Iroise puts a boat on the north coast of the Bay of Biscay in the French region of Brittany.
It’s not that far from a geographic perspective. But from both a weather and a culture perspective, it’s a different world.
In the summer, the low pressure systems that spin across the Atlantic towards Europe tend to be deflected northwards by the Azores High. And the position of this high means that many of the systems track right down the Channel. Once “around the corner” in northern France, the storm track is to the north, and warmer, drier conditions prevail. It feels like summer, with temperatures in the 70s F / low 20s C, and bright, sunny skies.
And culturally, even though Brittany is a stone’s throw from the UK, it feels like being in southern Europe. People seem to move a bit more slowly, linger longer over a coffee to enjoy the day, and generally pay a bit more attention to the food and drink part of life.
We really enjoyed the summer of 2023 in Scandinavia, and the first half of this summer in the UK and then Ireland was also fantastic. But it feels really good to be somewhere warm and sunny, and we didn’t even have to travel very far to get there.
