In the heart of west-central Brittany, 3 kilometers off France’s Atlantic coastline between the bustling commercial port of Brest 60 kilometers to the north and the fishing port of Concarneau some 40 kilometers to the south, sits the Manoir de Moellien, a 17th century manor house re-cast as a modern hotel with both Old World charm and warmth and all the necessary modern day conveniences.

Located on the outskirts of the tiny country village of Plonevez-Porzay near the coastline and its beaches, the manoir is an ideal combination of a romantic and relaxing getaway for couples young and old, and a convenient launching pad for delightful and colorful day trips throughout this spectacular section of Brittany.

Whether it’s the breath-taking cliff top views of the ocean from the Pointe du Raz (the westernmost point of the French mainland) or the Pointe du Penhir each about an hour’s drive west of the manoir; the unique spectacle of the Ile de Sein (a 10-foot high island of 200 people an hour’s ferry boat ride off the mainland that is the westernmost French territory); or the charm and beauty of local towns such as Locronan, Quimper, Quimperle, Douarnenez, Audierne, Pont-Aven and dozens of Romanesque villages and ports tucked into estuaries, inlets, coves and hillsides, the Finistere section of Brittany as it’s called (Finis Terra being Latin for End of the Earth) is a delightful experience.

THE MANOIR DE MOELLIEN
Begun in 1642, the Manoir de Moellien (http://www.moellien.com) was completed in the mid 1700’s by its Royalist landowner before gradually beginning to fall into disrepair in the 150 years after the French Revolution. In 1960 the parents of Marie Garet, current owner along with her husband and the manoir’s chef Bruno Garet, bought the property and began a top-to-bottom rehabilitation. Now Marie and Bruno have turned the property into a quality restaurant and inn that remains reasonably priced, even with the current exortionate exchange rate. It’s not a luxury resort; merely a comfortable, serene and well-appointed series of rooms and suites on a beautifully landscaped property dominated by the majestic old stone manor house.

The rooms are divided among three sections. My companion and I stayed in “Les Ecuries” (the stables), a former rectangular stable building turned into 5 ground level duplexes with king sized beds, a huge double sink bathroom, and small individual patios facing a lovely garden. Also available are “LOrangerie” made up 10 slightly smaller bedrooms with Queen-sized beds and a common terrace in a side building, and 3 double-sized rooms in the so-called “Ty Bihan” main building of the manoir. Room rates range from 72 to 145 Euros a night double-occupancy depending on which of the three section you choose.

The manoir has two period-styled dining rooms, one upstairs for as thorough a Continental breakfast buffet as you will ever have, and the one downstairs for a prix fixe, fixed-menu dinner prepared nightly by Bruno. Dinners run about 35 Euros per person and are excellent, usually involving one of the plethora of seafood that Brittany is famous for. We opted to pass on the pre-paid “demi-pension” or “pension” deals favored by some guests because it would have tied us to daily lunch and/or nightly dinner at the manoir. We preferred to be free to roam the region during the days and evenings. But we did sample Chef Garet’s superb dinner fare the first night on site, which we recommend highly, and we happily bought the sumptuous morning Continental breakfast every day for 12 Euros each.

The manoir is easy to get to. We took the 4-and-a-half hour TGV high-speed train from the Gare de Montparnasse in Paris to Quimper some 20 kilometers from Plonevez-Porzay, rented a car at the train station, and followed directions supplied by Mme. Garet. But make sure you have a detailed Michelin roadmap of the area; you’ll need it.

Local highlights besides the sites mentioned above: In the summer try not to miss the weekly open-air farmers’ market days in Plonevez-Porzay and in the completely preserved medieval town of Locronan three kilometers away. In mid-July the week after Bastille Day Quimper hosts its annual Festival de Cournouaille, a week-long cultural festival in the town center featuring indigenous music, art, exhibits, and more food than you’ll ever need to be exposed to. Our thumbs-up favorite beach was at Ste. Anne de la Palud about 3 kilometers west of Plonevez-Porzay, featuring several miles of absolutely flat sand running into surprisingly warm Northern Atlantic waters. The beach also is home to Les Dunes, an open air beachside restaurant with excellent food that is ideal at sunset time.

If you have any desire to explore western central Brittany for a few days while relaxing in quiet romantic comfort, the Manoir de Moellien is a great place to use as a headquarters. If you wish to see some photos, copy and paste this link from my very brief review on TripAdvisor at http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g187094-d309817-r18975188-Manoir_de_Moellien-Brittany.html and check out the photos.