Less than a hour by air, Brittany, the land of a thousand legends and France's most westerly region is full of little cottages built of stone and slate.  The gray granite walls enhanced by the golden splash of gorse (a dense evergreen shrub with fragrant golden-yellow flowers), or the cloudy blue of a mop-headed hydrangea.

But it's not just the architecture that suggests Brittany (Bretagne) is a land apart. A peninsula thrusting into the Atlantic like the head of some bizarre sea monster is where France seems to fade out and the bewitching Celtic world takes over.

No place is more than an 60-minutes drive from the ocean. Stunning rock formations, secret bays and little harbour towns that in a former times were feared as pirate strongholds.  Huge expanses of sandy beaches, inland lakes, forests, moors and meandering lanes leading to secluded villages and hamlets take you back to a less hurried, more gentle time.

In this time-lagged land you will feel the easy, carefree pace of your childhood, enjoy the warmth of the local people and partake of Kouign Aman (a sweet sticky traditional Breton cake) with strong French coffee, lay back, stretch and breath in lungfuls of fresh, clean Ozone.