France Guide
Brittany
Baie des Trépassés
The Baie des Trépassés (Bay of the Dead), along the coast to the north, gets its grim name from the shipwrecked bodies that used to be washed up there, and is a possible site of the lost city of Ys. However, it's actually a very attractive spot; green meadows, too exposed to support trees, end abruptly on the low cliffs to either side; there's a huge expanse of flat sand (in fact little else at low tide); and out in the crashing waves surfers and windsurfers get thrashed to within an inch of their lives. Beyond them, you can usually make out the white-painted houses along the harbour on the Île de Sein, while the various uninhabited rocks in between hold a veritable forest of lighthouses.
In total, less than half a dozen scattered buildings intrude upon the emptiness, including the two building of a single hotel, both with tremendous views. The pink 
Hôtel de la Baie des Trépassés ( 
02.98.70.61.34, 
www.baiedestrepasses.com ; Price: Under €65; closed mid-Nov to mid-Feb) is a truly romantic hideaway, sitting alone on the grass just behind its wide, fine-sand beach. The rooms are simply decorated and comfortable – there is one cheaper room without en-suite facilities, and serves menus of wonderfully fresh seafood from €17.50.