In Quiberon this week for a few days research. I asked a pleasant woman in the tourist office at Plouharnel if she had anything historical on Quiberon and she told me the office in Quiberon itself would be able to provide what I wanted. So on I went with my travels, and explained to the woman in the correct Tourist Office that I was working on a guidebook, and asked for something about the history of the area. She said she had nothing. Nothing at all, I said with some surprise. No, for history you must go to a mediatheque or buy a book. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In astonishment, I said this was the first tourist office I'd known with no detailed information about their area. She went into the back-room. I heard sounds of the photocopier and minutes later was presented with a detailed, illustrated historical guide. What a strange service!
Luckily I was in Vannes later in the week and the TO there provided their usual helpful and friendly support. They actually seem to like talking to visitors. What after all is the purpose of work in tourism? The Quiberon peninsula is a prime tourist location and full of interest - it deserves better.
I was in Rennes this week to give a guided tour. We covered the usual things - 19th century Italianate cathedral, medieval quarter, neo-classical public buildings and the famous Parliament building. All good, and remarkably quiet on the streets with the 60,000 students on vacation. In my own time I did a lot of walking to look at more modern aspects of Rennes' most interesting architectural range. Not nearly enough emphasis nor information is provided for tourists about this. I was just wondering how they managed to clean the windows at the Cité Judiciaire when the answer appeared rather startlingly. The Champs Libres is the 2006 cultural complex containing the library (glass), science museum (dome of planetarium) and ultra-modern Musée de Bretagne.
