Lorient is a beautiful French town on the Atlantic coast in western France, Brittany region with a population of about 60 thousand people. The town of Lorient was established in the 17th century when the newly founded French East India Company built a shipyard on the opposite shore of the bay to Port Louis. The town's arsenal produced many ships over the following centuries, including the first French battleships.

The town of Lorient possesses the largest French fishing port by value and is the main centre of the Sailing Valley, a commercial port and passenger transport facilities. For this, Lorient is also known by the nickname "City of Five Harbours". In addition, this charming town hosts an annual International Celtic Festival, when around 800,000 visitors come here at the end of July.

The city of Lorient has interesting sights to impress visitors. Eric Tabarli is a multimedia exhibition center in the city, which is the only tourist site in Europe dedicated to ocean racing. Opportunities to experience a sea voyage on older sailing ships are also offered here.

The submarine La Flore- S645, which since 2010 has been a museum in the Submarine Base of Lorient, is an interesting place to visit.

One of the emblems of the town is the signal tower, located on the Faudic hill in the harbour enclosure since 1737. After several reconstructions, its height today is 38 m, with 216 granite steps to the lantern, dating from 1891. The watchtower allows to monitor the approach of ships entering the port of Lorient.

Biche is the last tuna boat to be restored and offers cruises from 3 to 6 days mainly along the Brittany coast in partnership with the National Lighthouse and Beacon Heritage Society.

One of the emblems of Lorient is the church of Our Lady of Victory. Situated in the centre of the town, with its 54m high bell tower, it is dedicated to the English siege of the town in 1746, which was ended after only 20 days. The 12 m high porch of the church is adorned with a magnificent statue of the Virgin Mary, the work of French sculptor René Letourneur.

In the town of Lorient there are magnificent parks such as the Admiralty Garden in the harbour enclosure with many attractive pavilions for walkers to relax. And the coastal river Scorf flows at the bottom of a gorge between two steep and wooded slopes. There are beautiful rapids along its course, which are some of the most famous places in Brittany for white-water sports.

The eateries in Lorient offer a variety of specialties, but as a famous seaport, seafood features most in the local cuisine. One of the town's specialties is langoustines-a type of crustacean-and also hake fish and the invariable fish soup. And to go to Lorient and not try the popular 'Brittany cake' would be a big miss. It is sometimes found filled with prune or raspberry cream, or even salted butter caramel. According to legend, Breton sailors used to take this cake on board their ships as it could be eaten for longer.

With a great view of the harbour with the sailing boats moored there, Lorient is a wonderful place to relax.

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Rating 5 from 1 voted Lorient, France